Gross & fine motor-control
These types of practices sit within coordinative training because they force the practitioner to manage control, stability, and precision under changing task demands, rather than simply producing force or repeating fixed movement patterns. The use of objects like sticks and balls introduces a continuous need to regulate the body in relation to something external, which immediately increases the coordination demand of even simple positions or transitions.
What makes these tasks coordinatively rich is that they sit at the intersection of whole-body control and small, local adjustments. At a gross level, the practitioner must organise posture, balance, and movement through space - often while changing levels, rotating, or transitioning between positions. At a finer level, there is constant micro-adjustment happening through the hands, feet, or contact points to keep the object stable, aligned, or under control. These two layers have to operate at the same time without interfering with each other.
A key coordinative demand here is the ability to stabilise some parts of the body while other parts remain adaptable and responsive. For example, maintaining overall structural control while the hands or feet make precise adjustments to prevent an object from falling requires a continuous redistribution of attention and tension throughout the system.
Another important aspect is spatial organisation under constraint. Because attention is partly occupied by the object (balancing, tracking, stabilising), the body has to self-organise more efficiently in space without relying on rigid pre-planned patterns. This develops a more responsive form of coordination where movement is adjusted in real time based on feedback.
Overall, these practices improve coordination by training the nervous system to handle simultaneous demands of stability and variability. The practitioner becomes more capable of maintaining control while moving, adjusting, and interacting with external objects, which transfers into broader movement skill by improving adaptability, precision, and whole-body integration under unpredictable conditions.
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Head-ball Balance
THE WHAT:
A tool to explore gross & fine-motor control in the context of balancing a tennis ball on the fore-head. Begin with simply trying to BALANCE the ball.PRELIMINARY MILESTONES:
- 1 minute balance time on the head, standing
- 1 minute balance time on the head, in squat
- 1 minute balance... -
Lying ball & stick rotation
THE WHAT:
Variations of a "movement riddle" presented with the Feldenkrais method.How to begin such a task? First thing's first: MAPPING. Explore how far in each direction you can move the stick - and how much is too far. Reach the stick toward the head, the feet, left, right, and everything be...
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V-finger Back-roll (1/2 tennis balls)
THE WHAT:
A sister-task to the 'Tennis-ball/s on feet & back-roll' context. Both follow the same pattern, the backward-roll, but now the hands are removed from the equation as they are occupied by balancing either one or two tennis-balls in the 'V-finger' position. Note that the ball is balanced ... -
Tennis ball/s on feet & back-roll
THE WHAT:
A movement task which requests and develops gross (backward-rolling pattern) & fine (balancing of tennis ball/s on feet) motor-control. Frustration management is also requested, lest the task be deemed a "waste of time" or "without point". This experience, in itself, is the point.CONT...
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Tennis-ball arm-extension & retraction
THE WHAT:
Awareness, patience, and truth; these are the three main qualities which you must exercise in this simple context. There is no 'movement hierarchy' & no movement is better than another, until a specific objective is defined. So here we bring attention to the small-frame, putting somethi... -
Balance short stick on foot (60" ea.)
THE WHAT & HOW:
Dimensions of the "short-stick": diameter of NO MORE than 1.5 inches/4cm, and length ca. 12 inches/30cm.Task: Balance the stick for 60" on each foot & record yourself.
There is no specific technique or method to be found - it must simply be practiced.
As will any long-sustained... -
Stick-balancing 1: Long-stick
THE WHAT:
An open-end movement frame for exploring & developing fine & gross motor control and experience in 'object manipulation' with a stick. Work initially within & toward the given contexts/"benchmarks", and, as proficiency develops, investigate other available potentials.0:05 - CONTEXT A:...
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Single-leg tasks with a tennis-ball
THE WHAT:
Context for practice to be opened as 'Movement projects', developing both "soft" & "hard" qualities through the process of their exposure and completion. Initially they are framed under the theme of leg-oriented 'gross & fine motor-control', the former in relation to the motor-control t... -
Basic finger-patterns 1: DISintegrating
THE WHAT:
Novel patterns acquired from a good friend, practitioner, & great guitar player. Here they are extracted & presented as both movement 'riddles' (no instructions - watch, do, and figure out the patterns) and for the development of finger dexterity. Take them for no more than the isolated...
