Balance board

[blue62]

Has anyone ever used a balance board to train for or improve their offhand position?

What type of training regiem was used?
did you just stand on it to learn to improve your balance or actually try to dryfire or live fire while using the balance board.

any and all sugestions would be welcomed

[2650 Plus]

Just my opinion but maximum benifits result by setting up the boards at the distance you spread your feet , standing on the boards , placing your rifle in your standing position amd making small movements until you find a place of best balance and then relaxing into the most perfect stillness you can achieve. Have a way to measure the stillness [ ie:vertical and horizontal lines in your settling area} and mentally evaluate the balance issue. Can you detect improvement in your balance from week to week ? How about stillness ? You should see improvement in no more than a week for both. Good Shooting Bill Horton

[xcrunner8k]

i shoot live with balance boards. if your feet are positioned correctly and your center of mass isn't being thrown around, you should be almost as stable as a regular standing position... i'm not even kidding. normally on the USA target i am 95-97 standing and starting out on the boards i was low 80's... after the third live session i was shooting 93-95. you can really feel where your body's center is and where it should be. here's one thing i realized: you want the fulcrum of the board to be directly under the center of the boot. if the fulcrum is in the center of the board, then your boot must hang about an inch over the front of the thing. i guess what i'm saying is that if you make a pair, make the fulcrum about an inch behind the center of the board.

[blue62]

it seems you are both talking about an individual board
(rocker) under each foot.

Hmmmm I built mine as a single platform measuring 18" x 24" with double rockers ( on the outside edges) going the lengh of the platform. didn't think of doing a small on for each foot. wonder what the advantages or disadvantages to each are.

I have to confess I have never tried anything like this before. not even sure if my idea would acomplish anything
The idea just came to me so I thought I would try it and see what happened.

thanks for the input for both of you

[methosb]

Alot of people here just have two wooden blocks, 1 for each foot. 1 side if flat, other is rounded. Some people put a little rubber or something on the bottom to stop them from slipping sideways... I need to do that. Picture below:

[WarWagon]

I could be seen at every NCAA match I shot standing on a pair of these before the offhand stage of every match. I used them pretty extensively in training as well.

They really helped fine tune my position so that I was using balance and bone support to support the rifle, as opposed to forcing my muscles to change my NPA or move the rifle for me. Any muscle movements you use to hold yourself in place normally are amplified when standing on a pair of these.

Psychologically, they were a huge advantage when used just before the match. You go from feeling off-balance or teetering on a pinpoint while on the blocks, to a "my legs are cemented in concrete" feeling when you step back on the ground. Even if my hold didn't physically improve from a few minutes on them, it certainly FELT like there was less movement.

[blue62]

thanks for the replys and the picture

[laxratnd]

I really need to start training more on these, anybody know where i can get a pair.

Thanks

Lax

[2650 Plus]

Take a belt sander and two 4X4's about two inches longer than your foot. Round off the bottom from end to end on each and you are there. Maybe you could even find an out of work carpenter that can do the trick. Good Shooting Bill Horton

[laxratnd]

yeah i can do that myself. i have all the tools. Maybe ill do it this weekend have a band saw and everything.

Thanks

Ill be shooting outdoors a lot so will get some good practice with them.


Stephen.

[atomicbrh]

There is a PDF file available from Ohio State University Medical Center for a device called the "Baps Board". I found this through a Yahoo search. This is a tough plastic circular board with different size teeter balls that you can interchange for different skill levels of balance. It tilts in every direction and is frequently used by Physical Therapy departments in Hospitals. I am curious about how much detail the book "Ways of the Rifle" goes into teeter boards but I am spending too much money on pellets and Smallbore ammo to buy the book. The variety of the designs of commercially made teeter boards is astounding when you search for them. I think balance and weight distribution work is critical to the standing position and as said before in this thread not fighting the position using muscle to push or pull into a certain point of aim.

Bobby R. Huddleston

[2650 Plus]

The real advantage of having a good reference book is to keep you out of blind alleys. Should you train to use an incorect technique until it becomes a habit you may find that it is imposible to completely eliminate the problem. Pullem And Hannecrats book Position Rifle Shooting is a lot less expensive yet still provides good insight into the fundamentals of our sport. But since you have found this forum nearly every issue in competition is discussed somewhere in the posts. Pick an aurthor and pull up his/ her posts. Also USAMU has books out that were written by their top shooters and they are available on line. Please dont deprive yourself of the information you need to excell in this sport.