#16 Balance Board

Balance boards are so cool and so useful for enhancing your balance on your surfboard…..which by default will increase your balance in every activity! There are many different types out there. My wife uses a neat circular one for her practice as a pilates teacher. In acting grad school we simulated the shipwrecking thunderstorm of Shakespeare’s, The Tempest, using 10 balance boards. The most popular model in the surf world is the Indo Board.

I have been eyeing them for a long time but just couldn’t justify spending nearly $200 for a board and a log. Still, the ‘neat surf toy’ factor kept drawing me back to gaze at it when browsing the surf shop. In an effort to satisfy my curiosity I decided to McGyver my own.

The design is as straightforward as they come. It is literally a board and a cylinder. The board was simple enough: a piece of plywood thick enough to retain stiffness. The cylinder was the tricky part. It needed to be stiff enough to support my weight rolling over it without losing its shape. A roller with a flat spot or an egg shape is not so fun. I found and 8” cylinder tube but it had no structural integrity. I had to reinforce it with some support ribs. I added some stain and barefoot friendly grip tape to boost the stylie points.

The whole thing cost me about $50. This is the end result:





I love it! I can’t say definitely that it has improved my surfing but I’m sure over time it will have an effect. I can say that it is ridiculously fun!!!

I am on the verge of becoming the Father of my 2nd Daughter. I probably won’t be getting as much ocean time as we welcome the newest family member to planet earth. The balance board will help keep my sea legs. If I get really desperate I could throw on our ocean ambience cd, jump on the board, close my eyes and teleport myself to the wave of my choice around the world….