Balance Boards Debunked #1
Which balance board on a ball is best, and why?
How can you choose between the increasing array of balance boards? Where can you get an honest appraisal? All the manufacturers make the same claims, and most of the ‘review’ sites peddle the same half-truths, YouTube is virtually useless on the subject, and alas many Amazon reviewers are either ‘paid’ with free product or are simply not balance board experts. Due to the effects of affiliate marketing (another debunking blog I’m writing) the truth in products is getting harder and harder to find.
But I will take the risk. I stand by my words and would happily say so in a court of law. But I may run into problems in using the other boards brand names here…. So if anyone wants to re-post this anywhere so that it’s somewhere for people to see I’d be much obliged. The truth will out!
So here is my appraisal, and yes, of course I will have some bias, CoolBoard is my baby…. But I also have 17 years’ experience of designing and making balance boards, I managed to get a First Class Honours Degree in Aeronautical Engineering, and I pride myself on being honest, even if it means saying a competitor is better, e.g. if you want to do tricks you are probably better off with a roller board. Balancing on a roller board gets quite easy and, pardon the pun, one dimensional quite quickly, so tricks is how you try to keep it interesting. That said, pulling of a pop-shove-it on a CoolBoard is awesome!
Legally I am potentially on dodgy ground writing this and naming and shaming, but no one else is speaking the truth, so I have decided it is time to stand up for what I believe. I am passionate about product design, I love our wonderful planet, and the more poorly thought out and badly executed products that are bought, the more crap ends up in your cupboard until it finally goes to landfill.
So here goes.
Unlike many balance boards, CoolBoard is far from a one trick pony, so I will break this down. This blog post covers why I believe CoolBoard is the best balance board that balances on a ball. This is how CoolBoard started, and what I patented. I will write other posts on the difference between other types of balance board in the future.
Quick links to all balance boards on a ball (I have decided to omit brand names for now!):
Why is it so difficult to make a balance board on a ball work?
The over-engineered and rather expensive balance board from the USA
The balance board with the apparently strengthened Inflatable ball
The balance board from Barcelona made by three skateboarders that looks like a poorly made CoolBoard
The dead cheap and nasty balance board on Amazon that also comes with a roller
The Ball Balance Board
Such an easy and simple idea yes? A bit of wood on a ball – done. Alas often in life simple solutions are far from simple to make work.
The most difficult component to get right is the ball – the ball is key to the movement of the board, and that movement is why you want a balance board in the first place. A bike with rubbish wheels is virtually un-ridable, a shopping trolley with a dodgy wheel is rather annoying and can send you careering towards other shoppers, and the same is true here, the ball is key.
The ball has a simple job to do. It must remain round enough whilst supporting the mass of a human such that is can roll freely. But I believe it should not feel twitchy or jerky, it should have a silky smooth, utterly consistent movement that inspires confidence and makes it a joy to use.
This is easy to achieve if you are happy with an extremely fast moving balance board. Any solid ball will do, let’s take a bowling ball, fill in the finger holes, chuck a plank on it, and off you go… Well, I wouldn’t, and I’ve been riding CoolBoard for over 17 years. It will move so fast it would be like a bucking bronco turned up to max, trying to send you flying in every direction. It might be a fun challenge for a balance ninja, but it is no good for most of us, known as the 95 percentile.
So the ball (or board or floor) need to have some give, some softness to dampen down the movement to make it a suitable speed for you, me, and most other people, to make balancing on it attainable. Now this is where it gets very tricky, and this is the nub, this is what I spent years developing, and what I believe makes CoolBoard the ONLY balance board on a ball worth your money.
I make and sell three speeds of ball, each available in three sizes, but let’s focus on the ball I supply with all CoolBoard packages – the Standard Speed Medium Size Ball – because it’s what makes CoolBoard work for most people.
We now know a ball that is too hard will be too fast to get the hang of and enjoy riding. So we need softness. The problem is if the ball is too soft it stops acting like a ball, it will no longer roll properly, or smoothly or consistently. Why? Because the weight of the rider is now squishing the ball so much it is no longer a ball. It will start to act more like one of our Easy Start Balance Discs, but a very poor one! You’ll just wobble about a bit without getting any proper movement.
We need the Goldilocks Ball. Hard enough to work as a ball and keep you challenged for years of use and fun, but soft enough that within a couple of sessions you start to get the hang of it, and the addiction of that lovely movement takes over until you’ve fully got it!
I cannot stress enough, this is the key. This is very difficult to achieve. I believe I am the only person worldwide to have cracked it. Don’t believe me? Buy a CoolBoard and any other balance board on a ball, give yourself a couple of weeks to really get to know them, and you tell me.
So – to my poor competitors and copycats, here are my honest thoughts. I will attempt to run through them in the order they launched.
The beautifully over-engineered and rather expensive balance board from the USA
I have much respect for the creator of this product. She started making her balance boards around the time I started, and like me, she has fought valiantly to make a business from it. Her products are very well made and she is a fitness and physio expert.
If you want the absolute ultimate balance board on a ball get one of these. They are awesomely designed and built. But you will need a small mortgage to get the real deal…. And you’ll need some freeking ninja balance skills to master it. If you want to be able to push yourself as far as possible and price is no object, this is your puppy.
But…. Those balls are hard, they are even faster than our Quickness Balls… And the entire board is cusped, so it’s trying to run away from you all the time… And the safety ring is huge, for massive movements, but not much safety. And it costs a fortune. Bit in many ways, it is still the best if you are the right person for it.
They do offer a much more affordable range, much smaller balls and simple boards with a flat surface…. But the ride will still be fast, very fast.
As much as I respect them, I would say the main boards are too well made! Her original and best boards are over engineered in my opinion. The rail system is complex, the entire board is cusped, making it even harder to balance on, her balls are huge, and crucially from conversations I have had with customers who own this board and a CoolBoard – the USA balls are too fast – and that opinion came from a fitness influencer who incorporates a lot of balance work into his regimes.
Sum up
Beautifully made
Very expensive
Too fast for most people
These guys now make a more affordable range, but the speed of ball is still the limiting factor – I’d say for expert users only.
The balance board with the apparently strengthened Inflatable ball
Oh my days! I believe these were the first to copy me and the originator of the above USA board. ‘The one with the apparently strengthened Inflatable ball’ was the cheapest on the market – and it shows! When they launched their website looked uncannily like my previous website, it made all the same claims, including being the only balance board on a ball – really, they must have forgotten to Google ‘balance board on ball’?! But alas they sell what I believe is a terrible product, a landfill product.
The main issue is again the ball. They use an inflatable ball. They claim they have had a special and unique design and manufacture such that the ball will stand up to use. So it is rather ‘funny’ that in their own FAQs on their own website they admit that their balls warp quite easily and so need replacing frequently. You can see for yourself…
https://www.skillboardusa.com/pages/faq
Scroll down a little to where they mention warped balls.
When I first created CoolBoard many moons ago I also used inflatable balls. They were the only ball I could find that sort of worked. But only sort of worked. I used two sizes of mini basketball made by Molten – probably the industry leaders in basketball design and manufacture.
Trouble is, an inflatable ball is just not up to the job. It is so damned fiddly to get the pressure just right so it acts like a ball and actually rolls rather than just wobbling. These guys will tell you this is a useful feature as it allows you to increase the pressure in the ball as your skills grow.
Sorry, but I believe this is utter rubbish. At lower pressures the ball just become a rubbish balance pad / disc. Then you get the pressure right, and it rolls as it should, but with two main problems. Firstly you will feel the ridges in the surface of the ball. These are there to help basketball players grip and spin the ball. This is not good for balancing on, you feel the ridges, it makes the movement inconsistent, potentially making falls more likely. And if these guys had these balls specially made for them, why oh why are the ridges still there?
Now the second issue with inflatable balls, and why I chose Molten as my original ball of choice – is strength, durability and longevity – i.e. what these guys claim to have addressed, but admit in their own FAQs that they haven’t?! When you get the pressure in the ball high enough that it actually works as a ball should, the ball will wear out and misshapen fairly quickly. How quickly depends on many factors, but let’s just say I was very happy when I was able to discontinue selling inflatable balls.
Why did I choose Molten Basket Balls – well, they supply mini basket balls for wheelchair basketball, and with the extra beating the balls get being rammed and crushed by strong people in metal wheelchairs moving at speed – well, the balls never lasted long. So Molten spent a fortune to design the strongest basketball they could, and from personal experience, they did a good job, they are far stronger than any other basketball I have tried. But, I was still glad when I got the proper CoolBoard Balls working and stopped supplying inflatable balls. Even the powers of Molten couldn’t make a ball strong enough.
The final issue with the inflatable balls is how damned fiddly it is to get that pressure right. If you share a board with someone of a different weight, the pressure must change to maintain the same speed of movement. On a cold day it will need more air in it, and on a hot day it will need less. So if you want the perfect ride every day, you will be fiddling with a pump every day.
I won’t bother saying much about the board these guys supply, because there is not much to say! It’s quite thin ply, simply cut out, a quick bit of varnish or lacquer, and optional sandpaper type grip strips. It’s about as basic as you can get, and there is no safety ring on the underside, but that’s fine because most of the time that ball won’t be rolling right, so you won’t need a safety ring anyway!!
Sum-up
I am not sure who is writing their reviews on their website (I will write another blog article on ‘reviews’ soon), but the reviews seem more kosha on Amazon – have a read! And if you really want ‘The balance board with the apparently strengthened Inflatable ball’ Board get your local wood store to cut you a board, buy a Molten size 5 or 3 mini basketball and off you go. Then come back and get a CoolBoard!
The balance board from Barcelona with the weird spelling made by three skateboarders that looks uncannily like a poorly made CoolBoard
When they started advertising on Instagram I had so many friends and customers messaging me saying ‘who are these guys – they’ve totally ripped you off, even their website looks just like your last website!’.
The good news for me is… no… they haven’t quite copied me, they haven’t quite got it right, and they certainly haven’t got the quality. These guys from Barcelona once again claim to be the first balance board on a ball – seriously, when I created the first CoolBoard they were literally in nappies – get a grip!
But I will give it to them, the whateveritscalledBoard… Is the closest to CoolBoard that you’ll get, but I’d still advise a CoolBoard! Why – two reasons, quality of the board, and yes, you’ve guessed it, the ball.
Have a close look at their product photos…. The construction is just a bit rough for my liking, and the safety ring looks a bit small which will mean you’ll be bumping into it quite a bit ruining your flow. But it will work, its uncannily similar in shape and size to our PortoLT Board, and it’s not a bad price considering….
Until you get to the balls! Their balls move too fast. Watch the videos on their website and socials – even they cannot get a smooth flow going, its again a bit of a bucking bronco, too fast to chill on, very difficult to incorporate other moves on, practicing with a hockey stick for example. If it’s not attainable and enjoyable, you’ll probably tire of it quite quickly.
I believe the problem they have with their balls is a lot down to size. The smallest Ball I sell is 100mm or 4inches in old money. Considering the cost of CoolBoard Balls is one of the biggest cost drivers of the whole product, and the amount of material directly relates to the cost of the ball, it would make sense to make the ball as small as possible to keep the cost down. This saving could be passed onto the customer and/or pay for more slick marketing to get more sales. But I will not go smaller than 100mm because once again the Ball really starts to struggle to keep acting as a ball under the riders’ weight.
Think about it, the bigger the ball the more material, and so each bit of material has to do less work to support your weight. Subsequently a small Ball has to work extremely hard to support your weight and still roll nicely. Personally 100mm is as small as I’d go, and I find our Medium Size at 125mm works much better, and our 150mm Balls even better, but they get far more expensive and a bit chunky to carry around easily. Personally I think our Standards Speed Medium Size Ball is the Goldilocks ball.
The whateveritscalledBoard supply balls at 80 and 82mm. Do the maths – at 80mm they use just 0.268 litres of material. CoolBoard Small Ball at 100mm contains 0.524 litres – so that tiny increase of 2cms in diameter means our 100mm ball has roughly twice the amount of material compared to the whateveritscalledBoard’s ball. This doubles the cost of our Small Ball, but means the material is worked half as hard and so works much better.
The CoolBoard Medium Ball is 125mm, having 1.02 litres of material, so four times as much as the whateveritscalledBoard, and twice as much as our Small Ball. Our bigboy CoolBoard Large Balls are 150mm, using 1.76 litres of material, so not quite double our Medium, but containing 6.5 times as much material as the whateveritscalledBoard’s ball! Now maybe you can start to understand where the cost, and the quality of CoolBoard Balls comes in.
Sum-up
I damn good effort at coping CoolBoard. But built down to price, the biggest issue being a ball that is just too small to ride nicely. My advice, if price is important, and it often is, get one of our BareBones boards – built to price whist focussing on function.
The dead cheap and nasty balance board on Amazon that also comes with a roller
I believe this is what happens when someone sees a decent products and thinks ‘I can make that for a fraction of the price and flog it on Amazon’…. Well, some costs can be cut, hence why we made our BareBones board, but some costs most certainly shouldn’t be cut.
As a roller board I am sure it works just fine…. But as a ball balance board – I seriously doubt it. Hand on heart, I am yet to try one, but at some point I will, and I’ll video it and share it with you.
For now what I can say is that I have had several customers come to me having tried this Balance Board…. Why – well you’ve probably guessed it – the ball! ‘Terrible’ and ‘Simply does not work’ were the comments I got.
I have tried to find a video of this Balance Board being used on the ball they supply so I could add a link for you to see – but I couldn’t find one, not one, anywhere on the net – I wonder why?!
Sum-up
Fine as a roller board, but if you want proper 3d balancing on a Ball – get a CoolBoard!
CoolBoard – is it really that much better?
I have spent 17 years constantly honing and improving CoolBoard, it’s a process the Japanese call kaizen, and I believe is the way products should be developed.
I could write a small book on the subject of the CoolBoard Balls alone, and in trying to replicate our Standard Speed Ball, the best ball for most people, I have had industry experts in material science scratching their heads – even they do not know everything, its partially science, and partially dark arts! It has taken dedication and a little luck on the part of my manufacturers and myself to get it right.
The exact formulation of the material used to make CoolBoard Balls is one secret I will keep. I will happily tell you how to make a board for yourself, you can make a dead simple cheap one, or you can go to town with your woodworking skills and tools. But then come to us and buy a CoolBoard Ball to make your creation work.
So that’s more than enough about CoolBoard Balls – what about our Boards?
CoolBoard Medium and Large
The best boards for balancing on a ball (or Easy Start Balance Disc), for both home and professional use. They provide a rock solid platform on which to balance, have plenty of room for your ideal foot placement, and come in two sizes.
The overall size difference is fairly small, and makes no difference when using the Disc, but the significant difference is in the size of the indented safety ring on the underside. The larger ring of the Large Board allows the board to move further over the Ball in all directions, allowing for bigger movements and more dynamic riding. The smaller ring of the Medium board limits the amount of movement, which can be good for people with smaller feet or who are nervous. If you want advice on this just drop me a line by phone, WhatsApp or email and I’ll get you sorted with the best board for you.
The safety ring, specifically the size and shape of it, was another part of the design that took quite a bit of experimentation to get right, and although I was hoping to create a one size does all, we found the two sizes were useful.
Finishing…. I wanted to provide a board that would look and feel lovely, and stand the test of time and the abuse some people like to put their balance board through! I want it to look good enough to be on show in your living room or kitchen, not hidden in a cupboard.
We use high quality birch ply – the only ply consistent enough for engineers to give a strength rating to! Each board is crafted mostly by hand. The edges, 25mm thick, are rounded over and lovely and smooth – not just nice to look at, but comfortable for when you hold the Board for doing the (highly effective) floor exercises. Each board then gets treated to 4 coats of eco-friendly lacquer.
Finally the Boards are topped off with a soft, grippy, comfortable and durable top surface, made from EVA foam, the same stuff used on good quality paddleboards. If you look carefully at the photos you will see that the logo and graphics run right through the pad – which means, unlike most other balance boards, the logo won’t start to rub off after a couple of months of use. With a little care and the odd clean your CoolBoard will look fresh and lovely for years to come. ‘like a good bit of Swedish Design’ was how one of my customers put it, and that made me a happy man!
Porto LongTail, aka PortoLT
Originally designed to be a portable version of CoolBoard, ideal to take away with you…. To the office, on holiday, make your hotel room a mini fun gym, keep it in the van to switch on your surf legs before you paddle out, or use it in the ski lodge before the drinks kick in! But what came out was better than expected.
The PortoLT is light and neat, yet packs a ring as large as that of the Large CoolBoard, so its maximum balancing fun in minimal form. The shape is pleasing and neat, and has now unsurprisingly been copied! It is thinner and smaller than the CoolBoard so it won’t eat into your luggage allowance, and it still has the smooth rounded edges and the same comfy grippy top, just again slightly thinner to save a little more weight.
But the surprise was the feel of the ride. It has a different character compared with the CoolBoards. It feels more chuckable, flickable, even more fun. I am quite large, size 12UK shoes, 6”2 and 100kgs. I probably spend 70% of my balancing time on a Large CoolBoard, but I do love to pop out my PortoLT and have a little dance on it, it just feels a little more fun and fresh somehow.
BareBones
Our newest and by far the most affordable balance board on a ball that actually works. With all our costs soaring due to the pandemic and Russia invading the Ukraine, the cost of the full fat CoolBoards had to keep rising to keep just a little profit for us to eat. But I really wanted to be able to offer something for people with a little less expendable cash, especially with the cost of living crisis hitting us all hard.
So I went into our workshop and got working. Just how simple can I make a CoolBoard that still works as well as I want it to, something I am still happy to put my name to. Well it was a success, the BareBones was born, and it works. Is it as nice as our other boards? – of course not, how could it be, it costs half as much. But does it give you the CoolBoard smile of lovely silky smooth 3D balancing – oh yes!
So how have we slashed the costs in half?… It’s got no varnish, so it might pick up a little dirt. Its got no comfy grippy top surface, but the bare wood looks good and is grippy enough whether barefoot, in socks or shoes, and the laser etched logo costs half the amount of the pads while still looking good. It comes with our least expensive Small Ball in Standard Speed, which instantly halves the cost of the Ball, a saving we pass straight on to you… and it has no safety ring, massively simplifying the manufacture, the underside of the BareBones is plane and flat.
So is it safe? Yes, as much as any balance board on a ball. It does need using with more of a sensible head as you feel out the limits of your own balance. It’s a bit like rocking back on a chair…. You inherently know when you are coming close to the tipping point. It is your choice whether you play it safe, or push it a little further, but most importantly, you will know, your body will tell you. The other factor making it safer is the smaller Ball which means the board is closer to the floor, so if you do come off you are far less likely to go flying!
To be fair, even with a safety ring, it is really up to you how hard you push it. If you hit the safety ring on the CoolBoard or PortoLT hard, you can pop over it and fall. As I have always said with CoolBoard, use it with a sensible head and it will do you a lot of good and give you a big smile. But jump on it like an idiot before you know what you are doing, and it might well bite you!
HAPPY BALANCING MY FRIENDS
:-)
THIS ARTICLE IS THE OPINIONS OF NIC SMITH, AND FOR LEGAL REASONS SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN AS FACT.
I WILL ALLOW ANYONE TO COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE SUCH THAT WE CAN HAVE AN OPEN AND HONEST DEBATE.
BUT NO KEYBOARD WARRIORS PLEASE. I WOULD LIKE COMMENTS TO COME FROM PEOPLE THAT HAVE ACTUALLY USED BALANCE BOARDS, HOPEFULLY PEOPLE THAT HAVE EXPERIENCE OF MULTIPLE BALANCE BOARDS AND SO CAN COMPARE AND CONTRAST.
I MAY WELL BE ONE OF THE LEADING EXPERTS IN BALANCE BOARDS, BUT I DO NOT KNOW EVERYTHING, AND I LIKE TO LEARN FROM OTHER PEOPLES EXPERIENCES.
