Yesterday, my high school soccer player came in for a singing lesson. She's starting to learn what it means to have her core support available for her singing. The core muscle strength is developed already from her sport, so the trick is in the carryover to singing. Since the core muscles that balance us are also the core muscles needed for support in singing, we needed to activate them for her while standing. Time for the balance pad.
I learned about the use of the balance pad as a training tool from Cathy Madden at one of her Alexander Technique workshops. Airex has one on the market that is usually used at fitness gyms for core training during strength building exercises. It's made of a high density foam and you stand on it. Because the surface under your feet is now flexible instead of fixed, your core muscles activate to balance you. It also gives back to the student marvelous information about the micro-movements related to balance.
So, back to my soccer/singer... first I had her balance on one foot and sing. Then I had her stand on the balance pad and sing. She's very strong, so this was not difficult for her. I got some response from her core muscles that reflected in her tone (stronger & clearer), but I also got a response from her back and leg muscles, which I wasn't looking for. How to really activate those core muscles? Finally, we tried having her balance on one leg on the balance pad. Now that's tough to do! But it also did the trick for her; her core muscles activated fully, her breath deepened and out came this new firm, clear sound, that she said felt easy on her throat. The whole process made her laugh. :) Once she got the connection, of course, then the balancing act was no longer necessary.
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