A great way to stay in shape and maximize your core muscles is to practice using a hockey balance board for a half hour or so every day. As soon as you step onto the board and begin to balance you can feel your core become engaged. When you engage your core and keep it tense for prolonged periods of time, you ultimately blast your core muscles into tip-top shape. If you want to improve your stamina, endurance, and overall balance skills the best thing you can do for yourself is to train regularly on a balance board for hockey.
Choose Your Balance Board Type
There are a few basic types of balance boards. There are round balance boards that have a half-dome ball on the bottom that allows for balance, these are great for some types of people. There are the balance boards that are connected to a stand that allows for balance practice, these can be effective if used correctly. The most popular kind of balance board is shaped a bit like a skateboard and comes with a round base roller that the board sets upon in order for the user to practice extreme balance. You can either put the roller lengthwise or short wise through the middle of the board. A word of caution; if you choose to go lengthwise it will be a bit more difficult than short wise. We recommend that you always use safety precautions whenever you use a balance board of any type. It is good practice to wear a helmet and have padding to land on if you fall.
Roll the Board
For this particular exercise, we will be referring to the kind of hockey balance board that is shaped like a skateboard and comes with a roller. This is the kind of board that we recommend using for training because it delivers the best kind of workout. Also, we will be talking about placing the roller in the center of the board on the short side of the board, not lengthwise. The roller will go on the floor, and the board will sit atop of the roller like a “T.”
- Place the roller on the floor first, remember that the board is going to sit on top of it so that the edges are perpendicular to the edges of the roller.
- After you place the roller on the floor, set the board on top of it and let one of the sides touch the ground, while the other one is upward from the ground.
- Put whichever foot you want to start with on the side of the board that is on the floor, then gently raise your other foot and place it on the side of the board that is up in the air.
- Push your foot that is up in the air downwards and shift your body weight so that you lift the side of the board that is on the ground.
- It may not be as easy as you would think at first, but you will catch on in a moment and learn to balance yourself.
Keep At It
Continue to practice on your balancing board as often as you would like. Because it is lightweight and portable you can use it just about anywhere. As your balancing skills get stronger you will be able to incorporate different strategies into your workout like squats, and stickhandling techniques. You might be surprised at the different hockey training aids that you can incorporate into your workouts. Just keep practicing and training every day and you will become a master in no time.
***Sniper’s Edge Hockey loves Canada! We proudly ship all of our products to Canada and offer the same return policies as we do for everybody else. We realize the exchange rates for the Canadian dollar are not the best right now, so we’re trying to help by giving you free shipping and no customs/duty.**