Roadblocks in Your Dance Balance Training

During your balance training exercises, you will inevitably encounter periods of ‘balance block’, where you could swear you’ve ticked all the boxes, yet you’re still wobbly as a newborn kitten.

Treat these roadblocks as tests, making sure you are really committed to your ballroom balance training. In the end, you’ll always find something that was missing, accelerating your body control and awareness. To speed you along however, these are some common causes of balance block you may encounter.

Problem 1: The Wobbly Foot

What is it: Every step, or balancing on one foot, feels like you’re walking on ball bearings. You always feel like your foot is about to collapse inward or outward.

What to do: First, try again with lower or no heels - it’s possible you don’t yet have the strength to balance yourself in the heels you like to dance in. Make sure your weight settles on the front part of the foot, not back towards the heel.
If your balance training continues to suffer, try walking directly towards a mirror or a camera, and watch your ankles for signs of folding inward or outward as you step. If your ankle bends, focus on stepping down the centre of your foot, pushing through your second and third toes. Often we pick up little structural imbalances, caused by past injuries, that can affect our gait and balance. Check in with a paediatrician or a sports massage therapist to find and correct the imbalance.

Problem 2: The Tack to the Side

What is it: It’s like one side of your body is weighted, pulling you over. When you lose balance, you always fall in the same direction, and when you walk, you may curve in that direction too.

What to do: Scar tissue or tight muscles in our back and chest can pull our spine slightly towards them, causing us to lean in that direction. This is especially common with people who use one side of their body a lot, like rowers or baseball players. You can usually correct the problem by stretching out the tight muscles, or exercising the opposite side of your body.

Problem 3: The Overbalanced Step

What is it: The biggest hurtle in your balance training is stopping your movement; you always feel like you are falling forwards or backwards, and have to catch yourself. You dance partners may complain of being pulled or pushed off balance.

What to do: The strength of your push-off should be just enough for your body to cover the length of your stride. So if you are falling forwards or backwards, it most likely means you are applying too much or not enough strength to get you there. Without leaning or changing the length of your stride, focus on changing the power of your push off, aiming to settle your weight over the centre of the ball of your foot.

Three down, three to go! Next week, we’ll look at correcting issues with turns, rising and falling, and when your muscles can actually work against your balance training. Stay tuned!