The Science in Balance Board Rock Design

Balanceboardology™ - The scientific study of balance board design.

When I initially designed and patented the Vew-Do balance board my goal was clear. Develop a multi-directional balance board that would allow me to duplicate the moves, tricks and motions common to snowboarding, skateboarding and countless other sports.

Back in 1989, the only balance boards on the market were poor imitations of Mr. Stanley Washburn's Original 1950's Bongo Board. Although these boards were helpful in enhancing a rider's "for and aft" balance, they were limiting in their range of motion and often quite dangerous.

With Stanley's blessing, I began experimenting with tapered rocks, multi level sub-deck systems as well as proportional rock to deck designs. These improvements allowed for a more controlled "for and aft" ride, while increasing the overall mobility of the rider by allowing for toe and heel motion as well. When combining the 2 motions, we achieved a "pitch and yaw" motion that rendered our design unique to any prior boards. This allowed riders to experience the world's first multi-directional, multi-functional dynamic balance board.

Even though this new design was certainly a dramatic improvement of an old idea, we now needed to address the issue of "Run-Off." Run-off is what a rider will experience when balancing on a deck and roller that does not have a rail to maintain alignment and even distribution of pressure on the roller. This inferior design appeared in many of the Original Bongo Board imitations, and in some cases, still exists in the marketplace today.

For boards without a rail system, to maintain a constant "for and aft" motion over the rock without experiencing run-off, the rider, the board and the rock would need to maintain static pressure while remaining in constant and perfect alignment. This is just about impossible given the variations in speed, body positioning and foot pressure.

Even the slightest movement from any part of the body will change the alignment of the board on the rock. This result is the potentially dangerous motion of "running-off" the end of the roller causing the rider to quickly dismount the board. They have to place the board back on the rock to continue.

To better understand my point, imagine the alternator belt in your car. Without the slots in the pulleys, the belt would eventually work its way off unless the pulleys and the belt remained under constant pressure and in perfect alignment. The same is true on a balance board without a rail.

Vew-Do's unique, and proportionally designed sub-deck, rail and rock system allows our decks to maintain constant, and even alignment with the rock even during dynamic 360-degree rotations.

Vew-Do patented tapered rock

Finally we needed to address the problem of "Slippage". Slippage is when the rock slides, or slips out from under the deck due to a lack of friction between the rock and the bottom of the deck. This can happen when pressure is applied to one end of the board or the other. The problem was evident on many of the Original Bongo Board imitations and is still exists on some inferior models today.

During the design process of our boards, slippage was even further emphasized due to the tapered shapes of our rocks. We obviously needed to be overcome this problem before bringing our product line to market.

Slippage stems from the fact that during heel/toe dynamic carving and balance training, the downward pressure on the loaded end of the rock creates a near frictionless contact zone on the unloaded end. That makes the unloaded end skid or slip under the board, making the rider dangerously unstable.

To combat this problem we found that applying a specifically designed Vew-Do Friction Tape™ (sandpaper-like tape) on the bottom running surface of the sub-deck With the Vew-Do Friction Tape™ we created the proper friction ratio between the board and the rock thereby eliminating the slippage. This Friction Tape design improvement, combined with our patented sub-deck and rail system allows the deck to remain in full contact with the rock regardless of the amount of pressure that is applied to the rock.

These are just a few of the many design considerations that needed to be addressed when it came to studying Balanceboardology.™ I am just proud to have personally been able to study and work under the guidance of Professor Stanley Washburn himself.

By: Brew Moscarello

Vew-Do sub-deck rail system

Balanceboardology™ is a trademark of Vew-Do Balance Boards.

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YES, Now I know why all balance boards are not the same. Let me find out even more about about Vew-Do Balance Boards and the New Plyometric Training Rock System. Take me where I can get the ultimate balance trainer... The Vew-Do "indy" Balance Board pictured above. “'Vew-Do Balance Boards are a great addition to our training and rehab programs while adding fun, challenge and excitement to our workouts.' - Jim Ramsey, Head Athletic Trainer, New York Rangers.