HOW WELL CAN YOU BALANCE?

Your balance is measured by the Centre of Foot Pressure (COP) exerted on the instore floor-plate as you stand on one leg. You get a separate result for each leg.

BETTER AGILITY

Your balance or ‘sensorimotor control’ indicates the effectiveness of your stance and your ability to control movement. It is your balance, combined with the joint stabilisation of your lower limb muscles, which interacts with the stabilisation of your upright stance to affect how well you can walk, run and jump.

The better your balance, the less likely you are to suffer from injuries and the more agile and alert you are likely to be when making complex movements. A sports player with good balance needs to concentrate less on his stance and so has greater freedom to focus on what’s happening around him – whether that’s the action, free space, a team-mate or an opponent.

MORE INSIGHT

Take the time to look at the ‘bilateral deficit’ which exists between the results for your left leg and your right leg. The closer together the scores, the better. Lower scores are often the result of old ligament injuries in the ankle or knee. Note that most people have a dominant leg which performs better.

NOTE You can improve your balance through training whatever your age or gender. Balance is a core skill which is very responsive to training.