The Wobble Board And FOF Training

Since 06-26-08

The Wobble Board and FOF Training
(Force on Force, Proprioception and Kinesthetic Awareness Training)

R. Coplin, DC, S.I. Staff Instructor

You are walking to your car in the parking lot of your local grocery store. It is dusk and you have not yet adapted to the low light of the parking lot compared to the glare of fluorescent lighting inside. Without warning, from somewhere to your right side and slightly behind you, someone jumps towards you. You can make out a weapon of some sort in his hand but you hear clearly the unmistakable demand of, "Gimme yo money homey!" You explode to your 11 o'clock while clearing your cover garment; gripping the firearm hidden in your waistband. Suddenly, you are flying onto your face as your left ankle twists violently and unexpectedly. You are down on the pavement, your pistol skidding uselessly across the parking lot, coming to rest underneath a parked car.

Not a pleasant scenario. Certainly not that for which we have trained!

Professional athletes who participate in sports such as football, soccer, tennis, baseball and basketball know that they must move quickly to any position of the clock. They train to move with speed, fluidity and without injury. One component of this skill is structural, i.e., strong muscles, ligaments and tendons. The second component is neurological. Ankle and knee stability and strength are extremely important for explosive movement off the X. Here is one method to strengthen and reinforce the musculo-tendonous structures and neural pathways utilized in dynamic movement.

The wobble board or balance board consists of a flat platform, usually disc-shaped with half of a hard ball attached to the bottom. Typically it is used to rehabilitate ankle and knee injuries. Prophylactically, it can also be used for strengthening the muscles, tendons and ligaments of the ankle and knee areas as well as reinforcing balance, kinesthetic sense (perception of the body in motion), proprioception (static position sense, a continuous feedback mechanism of joint-tendon-muscle tension and stimulation) and graduation of force.

Training for Force on Force requires the proper integration of the components of Body Equilibrium: balance, kinesthetic sense, proprioception, body symmetry and proper force application, all of which are essential for dynamic and safe movement off the X.

You need to be able to move quickly, explosively, dynamically in all directions without the benefit of being proactive. In other words, given the likely surprise nature of an attack you will be OODA deficient and require reactive movement towards safety while accessing your weapon. This can occur on slippery, uneven, loose or broken terrain, all of which increases the likelihood of slips, falls or injury.

Standing on a wobble board for a few minutes a day while maintaining balance and practicing your drawstroke will yield many benefits including the aforementioned muscle-tendon-ligament strengthening as well as neuromuscular conditioning, the brain-body connection.

If practiced in front of a full-length mirror you can actually see how your body reacts to the continually moving substrate of the wobble board. If you pick a "target" you can see how you compensate for the movement with your lower body while maintaining an acceptable index on your target.

Initially, it is preferable to practice on the wobble board without a firearm. Simply get used to balancing and recovering. Start with two legs at first until you are reasonably comfortable and eventually transition to one leg at a time. You can also do a partial "squat" or twist your upper torso to the sides to increase the difficulty as you progress in your training. Try closing your eyes to eliminate the visual component of balance.

Eventually you can add the firearm to the wobble board training. Concentrate on the fundamentals of drawstroke and target indexing just as you would with stable ground training. For more precise shooting, it is possible to hold a very good sight picture/sight alignment while on the wobble board with practice.

The final evolution will be using an airsoft pistol. Stand on the wobble board, present your pistol as though you were being attacked by surprise and shoot the airsoft at predetermined targets. The results will surprise you and reinforce your ability to get solid hits without having a stable shooting platform.

The entire progression will provide the benefits of:
1.Increased muscle-tendon-ligament strength in the ankles and knees, which translates into less chance of injury.
2.Improved proprioceptive mechanisms to keep you balanced and spatially oriented.
3.Increased coordination of the "stable" upper torso platform for precise shooting relative to the constantly adapting lower extremities during motion.

Wobble board training is not intended to supplant actual repetitions of the Pekiti Take Off or other methods of exploding off the X, it will however, supplement their effectiveness and safety.

Though beneficial for anyone, wobble board exercises for aging athletes are highly recommended for balance, agility, knee/ankle strengthening and for the neurological and proprioceptive benefits