Was walking through the clinic the other day and saw this great idea for working on single leg stance. I’ve also tried it with a few other kids and it’s great!
Start with a softer, squisher ball to make it easier. We like to use a Gertie style ball. Have the child stand next to a wall and place the ball between the wall and their leg that will elevated off the floor. In the picture above the ball is at the knee. I have had some trouble with getting kids to coordinate holding the ball in this position so I have moved it up to the hip and had more success. You also want to make sure that they aren’t leaning into it so there may be a fair amount of adjustment that needs to happen initially. Ideally the child is standing up straight and the ball is being held agains the wall without all the child’s weight being shifted into it.
Have the child pick their foot up off the floor and start playing catch. The closer to the knee the ball is being held the more the are also activating their hip abductors so you ideally want to get them to the point where they can stabilize with the ball at the knee and not at the hip.
Make sure you do this on both sides so that you are keeping things even! You can progress by having the child stand on an airex pad or another unstable surface.
What other ideas do you have?
