Power Balance Bands

[Ghost Dog]

Re: Power Balance Bands

Sounds like something Kerry Anne would hock off on mid day TV.
But then again, these days look at the money poured into sports science departments?

[Before I Die]

Re: Power Balance Bands

I had always thought that it was supposed to improve the circulation, can't remember where I read that. However, there is absolutely no proof behind it, or the concepts which it purports to be utilising.

I'm studying to be a physio, and one of the main things they teach us is to ensure we have evidence to back up any treatment or techniques. So, no Power Balance bands for me.

One quote I read which made me laugh:
"Your Balance Band may improve your balance, but I have a ring that keeps dragons away. I have worn if for years and never seen a single dragon."
If you don't have proof for your power band, why do I need proof for my anti-dragon ring?

Where can I buy an anti-dragon ring? Do they also work on other mythical beasties? I have always been a bit concerned that I may bump into a Jaberwocky some day.

Elite sports persons are famous for all sorts of good luck rituals and carrying or wearing good luck charms. These bands are probably no less useful than a lucky pair of jocks (and certainly no better).

[Scorlibo]

Re: Power Balance Bands

Definitely no magnets in them (dunno about the blood circulation part though) ... They have a holographic disc in them ... The same sought that you use to stop static electricity when working on computers.

Hmm.. I'm no scientist, but this makes be slightly less skeptical, if a holographic disc can prevent you from exerting static electricity, then who knows what other effects it could indeed have on the electrical signals within nerves.

It just seems absurd that a product like this could gain worldwide acclaim from athletes, and still be a hoax. Wouldn't they have been done for false advertising or something?

[LostDoggy]

Re: Power Balance Bands

I think the only science in this whole project has been in figuring out what the financial threshold is that someone would pay before a placebo effect takes hold. Too cheap and people figure that it can't possibly be true so negates the necessary self-delusion, too expensive and it puts it out of the reach of common folk.

Looks like their research settled on $60. Did I hear anyone say 'psychosomatic'?

[Scraggers]

Re: Power Balance Bands

I think the only science in this whole project has been in figuring out what the financial threshold is that someone would pay before a placebo effect takes hold. Too cheap and people figure that it can't possibly be true so negates the necessary self-delusion, too expensive and it puts it out of the reach of common folk.

Looks like their research settled on $60. Did I hear anyone say 'psychosomatic'?

Its not that I disagree with what you are saying, because the conscious / level headed side of me agrees 100% (particularly about it being psychosomatic) ...

BUT ... Why do our players (and other AFL players / and other sports for that matter) wear them ??? surely there is something to it even if it is in the membrane !!

[Greystache]

Re: Power Balance Bands

Where can I buy an anti-dragon ring? Do they also work on other mythical beasties? I have always been a bit concerned that I may bump into a Jaberwocky some

I don't have a ring for dragons, but I do have a rock that keeps away tigers, it has 100% success in West Melbourne, however I can't guarantee its effectiveness if you were to carry it in other locations such as Africa or Asia!

[Throughandthrough]

Re: Power Balance Bands

a couple of senior footballers i know wear them. They agree 100% that they must be nothing more then hocus pocus, BUT swear that they feel better while they are wearing them. So they agree its all in the mind, but wont take them off!

[The Underdog]

Re: Power Balance Bands

Its not that I disagree with what you are saying, because the conscious / level headed side of me agrees 100% (particularly about it being psychosomatic) ...

BUT ... Why do our players (and other AFL players / and other sports for that matter) wear them ??? surely there is something to it even if it is in the membrane !!

Because despite what we want to believe, sportsmen ain't necessarily scientists, rocket or otherwise. They are also superstitious as ****.
But hey I'm the most cynical person I know

[hujsh]

Re: Power Balance Bands

I looked into this a while back and found this article.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/power-of-holograms-or-just-a-big-scam/story-e6frecj3-1225849554095

What convinced me they were bogus is this extract from the website. "Power Balance is performance technology that uses holograms embedded with frequencies that react positively with your body's natural energy field to improve balance, strength and flexibility," the Power Balance website claims.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Power Balance Bands

Because despite what we want to believe, sportsmen ain't necessarily scientists, rocket or otherwise. They are also superstitious as ****.
But hey I'm the most cynical person I know

This.

If we believed there was basis to something simply based on what elite sportspeople did we would have to believe that there was merit to putting one shoe on before another, sticking cricket bats to the ceiling of changerooms, wearing tattered blue college shorts under your NBA shorts, only eating chicken on gameday, having 300PRFCTGM license plates, carrying charms on your gamebag, starting your round of golf only with odd-numbered clubs, and not stepping on the lines on a tennis court.

All elite sportspeople know at the end of the day the line between winning and losing is so fine that they are happy to acknowledge the whims of fate as represented by a relatively nonsensical random superstition. It's a way of explicitly claiming some sort of control over what they know implicitly they have no real control of.

[EasternWest]

Re: Power Balance Bands

This.

If we believed there was basis to something simply based on what elite sportspeople did we would have to believe that there was merit to putting one shoe on before another, sticking cricket bats to the ceiling of changerooms, wearing tattered blue college shorts under your NBA shorts, only eating chicken on gameday, having 300PRFCTGM license plates, carrying charms on your gamebag, starting your round of golf only with odd-numbered clubs, and not stepping on the lines on a tennis court.

All elite sportspeople know at the end of the day the line between winning and losing is so fine that they are happy to acknowledge the whims of fate as represented by a relatively nonsensical random superstition. It's a way of explicitly claiming some sort of control over what they know implicitly they have no real control of.

There isn't? I've been doing it all wrong.

[AndrewP6]

Re: Power Balance Bands

Sounds like something Kerry Anne would hock off on mid day TV.
But then again, these days look at the money poured into sports science departments?

A matter of time before Foxtel's TVSN starts flogging them. Not so long ago, they were flogging a treadmill, and the presenter used the logic "Hey, by nature we're all hunters and gatherers"!!!! He was on about our intrinsic need to keep active. Or something.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Re: Power Balance Bands

I don't have a ring for dragons, but I do have a rock that keeps away tigers, it has 100% success in West Melbourne, however I can't guarantee its effectiveness if you were to carry it in other locations such as Africa or Asia!

I guarantee you it will work in Africa as well.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Power Balance Bands

I guarantee you it will work in Africa as well.

And most parts of Asia.

[Mofra]

Re: Power Balance Bands

They are also superstitious as ****.

Absolutely. One former Brisbane Lions player always had to be the 7th player to run out on the ground. Some players avoid the banner. Some have to swim in seawater on the morning of each game.

For the superstitious types, anything that works on a psychosematic level would probably have some benefit. There's plenty of material around debunking the hologram theory, and material that suggests a placebo works just as well.