Just thought I'd share a fun little thing I've been doing this winter.

A few months ago I wanted to supplement my exercise & kiteboarding learning with something fun & related to the sport; I was looking around online (wiki it), read about balance boards and the different types, so I thought I'd make myself one.

I made mine out of ply wood, 1200mm long x 410mm wide, shaped kinda like a kiteboard, I used pine to make 50mm wide rails shaped to the edge of the board and bought a cheap soccer ball to balance on.

Apparently these & similar types of balance boards are used a lot as surf trainers.
When I progressed into learning to get up on the board in the water, the balance board had given me that little bit of extra awareness of how the board was positioned & what I was doing with my feet & legs, which I feel helped me progress a little bit quicker than if I hadn't been using the balance board.
Obviously it didn't make me a kiteboarding champ straight off, that'll only come from on the water training.

I've gotta say, the balance board is a lot of fun to use, gets you puffing & gives you a good workout & exercises muscles that you may not normally be using in daily life.
It really improves your balance & body awareness, which has good carry on effect into your everyday activities.

When you first get on its tough just to keep your balance, lots of falling off , but as you get better you can progress to doing spins, 90 degrees, 180 degrees etc without letting the board touch the ground.
Apparently there's a lot of other exercises you can do with them as well, balance push ups etc, but I'm still having fun just trying to keep my balance on it & spin.

I highly recommend making one.

It's also good entertainment to get your mates on one after a few drinks. [}:)]

Cue the cheesy pic (ugly mug censored to protect your monitors):




P.S.- no, the thongs aren't joined onto the board, it's strapless- wake skate style ; I had thought about fixing some thongs to the board, but determined that it'd only end in tears