In this video we discuss how to improve your coordination skills, including how to improve hand eye coordination. We go through several coordination exercises and drills that can help you develop better coordination, more efficient movement and better balance.
Transcript/notes
Every day in life you use coordinated movements, which is the ability to use different parts of the body together smoothly and efficiently. In this video we are going to go through some exercises that will help you improve your coordination, which in turn, can help improve your athleticism and make everyday movements easier.
The 1st exercise is actually a 2 part exercise of tossing a ball against a wall, and then catching the ball as it returns to you. Practice throwing the ball overhand at a target on the wall, then fielding it like a ground ball in baseball with one hand and tossing it at the target again.
You can do this throwing with and fielding it with the same hand, and you can do this by throwing with one hand, fielding it with the opposite hand, and exchanging it back to the throwing hand once you have fielded it. You can also do this with a baseball mitt, and increase the pace as your ability increases. This can help improve your hand eye coordination as well as your movement efficiency.
Another great exercise is dribbling. Start by just standing and dribbling a ball with one hand, then the other hand. Next you can switch hands between dribbles. Then you can jog and dribble, doing one hand dribbles, then switching hands. Once your abilities have improved, you can do this moving to the side, or set up some cones to dribble around, which can improve your multi directional movement. Dribbling and jogging or running is a great way to improve coordination and improve cardio at the same time.
Next is a foot eye coordination exercise. For this you can kick a ball at a target spot on a wall and sort of catch the ball with your feet as it returns to you. Do this with both your left and right foot as this can help improve your coordination and lower body movement efficiency.
You can also do exercises to improve coordination when you are doing strength training. For instance, doing a lunge but adding a side raise with lighter dumbbells as you lunge forward. Doing a squat into a curl, into a shoulder press is another great example of coordinated strength training movement.
Jumping movements are also a great way to improve coordination. Doing twist jumps where you jump up and turn 90 degrees, or jumping lunges where you lunge forward then jump up and switch leg positions, or even jumping rope where your hands and feet have to work together are all great exercises to help improve coordination.
And finally sports, any sport. I've kind of covered some baseball and basketball, but if you have access to a racquetball court, go in and practice hitting a ball against the wall and moving in different directions, tossing a football around is a coordinated movement, or go and play in an open volleyball game.
When it comes to fitness, we often focus on lifting weights and doing singular directional cardio, and while those are both extremely important, improving coordination often gets overlooked.
Timestamps
0:00 Overview of coordination
0:16 Throwing and catching a ball against a wall
0:52 Dribbling a basketball
1:22 Kicking a ball - foot eye coordination
1:38 Strength training combination movements
1:53 Jumping movements
2:12 Playing sports