Why balance is so important?  

Obviously, you need to have good balance to be able to perform well at any sport.  Balance is one of those things that most people just take for granted.  But, when balance goes on you it becomes a big problem fast!  Have you ever seen and elderly person who needs to hold on to everything around then and watch their feet just to walk in a straight line?  In fact, falling is one of the biggest safety hazards for the elderly because their balance starts to go on them. 

Just like the elderly, falling is a safety hazard for athletes.  Balance helps to stay upright and navigate your body around obstacles in your way (ie., other players).  Training yourself to have good balance helps to immunize your from body checks and other parts of the game that might push you off your feet.  Strong balance equates to strong performance.  Doing specific drills can improve your balance quickly.  

Your cerebellum is the “little brain” at the back of your brain at the top of your spinal cord.  Athletes should learn to pay a lot of respect to their cerebellums, because this little brain gives you a great advantage in your game.  The cerebellum does a lot of really important things, but we’ll focus on just 3 of those things here.  They are the ABC;s of movement.

First, A stands for accuracy.  The cerebellum helps you to be accurate when shooting pucks, passing to your teammates, and skating in a straight line.  

Second, B stands for balance.  The cerebellum helps you to stay upright in your skates, do your edges, and stay on your feet when you get rocked by the opposing team. 

Third, C stands for coordination.  The cerebellum helps you to have the fluid and effortless looking movement that is the most obvious in best athletes in the world. 

As you can see, the ABCs of movement can are key to high performance as an athlete.  Just like the other parts of your brain, your cerebellum can be trained to perform better and better…with the right kind of drills and practice. 

Proprioception is a fancy word for how well your brain knows where your body is in space.  The joints in the body have a high number of receptors that send signals to the brain to help the brain know where each joint is at any given time.  

The joints are like satelites and the brain is like the GPS unit.  The better the connection between the satellite (joint) and the GPS unit (the brain), the better the brain will be able to predict and control movement.  The better your brain is able to control your movement, the better you will perform. 

The best way to do "proprioceptive work" is to know how you test individually on proprioceptive assessments, and to do drills that are specific to your individual strengths and weaknesses.  These drills then help the brain have better connection with the parts of your body that are slowing you down...so you can speed up!