Is this skill useful?
01-16-16, 07:03 AM
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It's actually not that hard. It's easier to jump up onto a ball than it is to get to standing any other way. It's not a useful 'skill': it's good to be able to do it, because it works the stabilizing muscles well. I used to do balance drills and squats on a ball like that in my badminton days.
01-16-16, 12:22 PM
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It's actually not that hard. It's easier to jump up onto a ball than it is to get to standing any other way. It's not a useful 'skill': it's good to be able to do it, because it works the stabilizing muscles well. I used to do balance drills and squats on a ball like that in my badminton days.
Jumping on the ball from the floor requires a bit of control and explosive energy, but the main benefit is for stabilizing muscles. A lot of winter sports athletes do this kind of work. Cyclists have traditionally neglected their core muscles, so it isn't surprising that it hasn't bled over. It's not something you do all day, every day.
As usual, Sagan was showing off. I've seen far, far worse more glaring examples of people showing off on fit balls. Breaks the tedium of the gym, I suppose.
01-20-16, 04:39 AM
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Useful for twisting ones ankles, yeah. Honestly, the jumping and balancing bit I get, but onto a ball? My ankles hurt just looking at that.
01-20-16, 08:22 PM
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To be honest, I did my jumping on boxes and did the balancing part after stepping off the box onto the ball and supporting myself. The risk of it moving out from under me and me landing on my neck was a little more than I was willing to risk for an activity that wasn't my primary goal.
I haven't done it in years, and don't miss it much. Initially it did tighten up the core pretty well in a comprehensive fashion, but once you got the control down the returns diminished somewhat. It got boring after a while.
01-20-16, 11:50 PM
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Maybe I should have labeled the thread after David Letterman's "stupid pet tricks"...
This was his PE assignment.
.be
This was his PE assignment.
Last edited by Doge; 01-20-16 at 11:58 PM.
01-21-16, 01:38 AM
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Been trying to learn the trackstand without hands, but haven't had much success so far. I need a perfect slope and still can't do it more than a couple seconds. This junior on my team is always doing wheelies, but I'm scared to fall backwards on my ass!
01-21-16, 04:53 AM
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Yeah, I wasn't thinking of the jumping up part, I was just imagining landing on the ball wrong, and what would happen if it rolled sideways.
01-21-16, 08:50 AM
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A friend of mine is a strength and conditioning coach for a college football team. He has his quarterbacks stand on balance balls and throw passes.
01-21-16, 09:15 AM
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Followed Marve's concepts for my daughter for goal keeping.
Not sure of the use for cycling to have all around strength / quickness.
Not sure of the use for cycling to have all around strength / quickness.
