How can I improve my physical coordination; would that help?

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Rational
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21 Apr 2012, 4:27 am

I feel that my bad physical coordination is the source of (or at least a contributing factor) my bad control of what I express and my voice tonality. Additionally, it's very likely to be the reason for my stiff posture, and clumsiness always gives bad impression in social situations, especially for a man.

First of all, is it true that if I improve my physical coordination, that would help me with all the above, or just the clumsiness? Has anyone tried it?

Second, how exactly can I improve it? Is there a way at all?

(since it might have effect on everything I have mentioned, it might have further effect on my awkwardness, that's another positive side of improving it)



ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
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21 Apr 2012, 5:23 am

You can improve it with physical therapy. Activities like catching a ball, juggling, running or walking backwards are just a start. Practice handwriting and drawing with a pencil. Trace pictures. Typing very quickly. You can try complicated maneuvers like skipping sideways, then hoping on one foot, then skipping sideways. Stuff like that. This might help with clumsiness. Regardless, it's good brain exercise. Anything that challenges you to think while you are moving will improve your coordination.



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21 Apr 2012, 5:38 am

Coordination can be improved if you walk a lot. It's just practice, that's all.

As for whether it'd help you in general--well, it sure can't hurt. Everybody should get out and move. We're not really built to sit around all the time.

Don't expect it to work miracles or anything. Still, the only way it could hurt is if you decided to do your walking within the territory of the neighbor's badly-trained Rottweilers. :)


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21 Apr 2012, 5:46 am

I spent years playing sports, I found I was best at one that involved repetitive movements such as cycling, swimming and running. I dont have the fancy skills others have but got the basics with practice. When I was younger I learnt tennis, cricket, soccer, volleyball, gymnastics, etc to a basic level.
I would suggest you find a sport that interests you and see if there are lessons/classes etc. offered in your area, or maybe you know someone who can teach you?
Other specific areas that you lack coordination- try practicing them to improve them.


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kirayng
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21 Apr 2012, 9:34 am

Mindfulness of action combined with specific exercises to increase coordination is key, IMO. If you're fully present and performing an action you will have less chance of messing it up than if you carelessly do it. I type ridiculously fast and fairly accurately; but it took years of daily typing. So keep at anything that will help strengthen coordination for you.



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21 Apr 2012, 11:21 am

i've not personally done this but i think there is good evidence that tai chi allows you to learn how your body moves better and improve proprioception which is an important part of balance. the fact that the movements are so slow helps you learn to isolate control of specific muscles. I sometimes like doing stuff like that and think it does work. i often use latex exercise bands to try to improve control of specific muscles. once you start thinking about it it helps a lot.


sports will help a lot and general physical activity. you will likely see improvement quickly but not overnight. the most important thing is to do something fun so you have a good reason to continue doing it



CloudLayer
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21 Apr 2012, 12:48 pm

It seems like singing is the t'ai chi/ballet of the voice, for what that's worth. Might help as "exercise" to bring you to a point where you feel like your voice expresses what you want it to.



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21 Apr 2012, 1:10 pm

My son's Occupational Therapist suggested Riding for the Disabled as an option to improve muscle tone and posture. Unfortunately, I've not been able to get that sorted put yet, and I know that waiting lists are very long.



RobotGreenAlien2
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22 Apr 2012, 9:01 pm

When I was a kid fell down stairs constantly, Mashed plates even punched through a glass door
trying to knock on it. Martial art worked wonders. Boosted my confidence too.
I particularly liked Kickboxing.



legomyego
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22 Apr 2012, 11:29 pm

wrestling/sports helps some....

but for the most part im still the clumsiest person i know and am often an unwelcome guest due to the fact that I often spill and break things on accident.



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22 Apr 2012, 11:37 pm

For me ice skating, specifically figure skating, helped loads. It especially improved my posture and the way I carry myself, as posture affects everything when you're on the ice. Figure skating is pretty much as hard as taking up a martial art, though, and can be expensive, though. For me it's cheap as I basically just "play around" on my own and learn by asking people and reading stuff instead of hiring a coach, definitely takes longer that way, though. That and my rink is stupid cheap for the public ice time. But yeah, figure skating taught me to stand up straight and not look at the ground. Yay.



mike_br
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23 Apr 2012, 12:00 am

exercise and videogame (no... really, it helps hand to eye coordination).
Since I can't stant group-related activities (football, basketball etc) I tend to stick to bodybuilding, martial arts training etc.

Good luck!



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23 Apr 2012, 3:04 am

I had difficulty with warm ups due to balance issues but I found that walking on the treadmill helped.



Dan_Undiagnosed
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23 Apr 2012, 5:36 am

Hi Rational,
I never knew or even thought I had some condition until just a few years ago. As far back as my teens though I knew I was clumsy and would sort of play hand tennis against myself on a wall. I'd get a tennis ball and bat it at the wall and try to see how long I could keep it off the ground. Or I'd just throw it at the wall and catch it over and over again. Now that I think about it it was probably a kind of stimming too.
Having said all that my shoulders still hit corners, walls and door frames and when I lean down to pick something up I still nearly lose my balance and topple over and people still tell me I move awkwardly/strangely. But I feel like with ball games and shadow boxing at 3/4 speed with 5 pound weights in my hands I have increased my hand eye co-ordination and also hand speed.



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23 Apr 2012, 1:37 pm

I think one thing you gotta consider, balance is only related sort to activity. It's like how if you do a bunch of, say, bicep curls, only your biceps will get stronger, your legs won't get stronger just because your biceps do. So it's the same way in my opinion with balance, your balance won't improve overall if you just do one type of balancing. Like there's obviously carryover to some activities, but specific balance issues need to be worked on by themselves, imo. Like there'll be some carryover in all balancing activities, but not as much as you can sometimes expect. Like for me, I ice skate, and I'm not a fantastic ice skater, but I'm definitely better than the average person off the street at it. Most people go "wow, ice skating, you must have good balance" and I still don't have good balance in some things. A big example is like, doing squats, I still tend to shift my weight to my toes, which is entirely related to balance, so even though ice skating is a VERY balance intensive sport, it didn't carry over to doing backsquats.



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26 Jul 2012, 2:30 am

CloudLayer wrote:
It seems like singing is the t'ai chi/ballet of the voice, for what that's worth. Might help as "exercise" to bring you to a point where you feel like your voice expresses what you want it to.

Hi, I think this works. I Have mono-tone too, and clumsy in singing. But I am going to sing alone at home with the same repeated song to improve myself.


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