We took the six-pound medicine ball we had used for playing catch during our lateral movements and used it differently. Following the toss and catch that moved us up and down the turf floor. The trainer had me sit on the turf with my legs pointed forward. The next exercise would be one for working on my foot work. Trying to gain better coordination in the way I move my feet. There seem to be many exercises for helping coordination in foot movements. I have worked with a ladder that sits flatly on the floor. Moving my feet into and out of small boxes, making up the ladder. I have also used small hurdles for jumping over and stepping over, while moving laterally and in a forward direction. Working with the six-pound medicine ball, when seated on the floor, was something I hadn’t experienced with another trainer. I was feeling apprehensive when he asked me to sit on the floor with the medicine ball between my feet. As if being exported back to something I might have done during a therapy session, when I was younger. The trainer asked me to move the medicine ball back and forth with my feet. When he had me sitting on the floor and described the objective of the exercise, it sounded easy enough. However, gently kicking the ball back and forth with my feet, didn’t turn out to be as simple as I had thought.
It feels like the idea for working on moving the medicine ball between my feet was thought of from kicking a soccer ball. Not long after beginning to play catch with the football. We started kicking around a soccer ball. While, playing with the soccer ball for some time, I found kicking with my left foot to be extra challenging. There wasn’t much experience during my youth of playing with a soccer ball. I would kick a soccer ball around with friends every once in a while. But, soccer wasn’t a sport I spent much time playing, even in the neighborhood. So, when the trainer thought of bringing out the soccer ball, I was intrigued. Working on the small skills of dribbling the ball between my feet proved pretty challenging. Trying to develop the skill had me feeling off balance, often. It was good for helping me with coordination, but might have been a little challenging, at the time. Working on a good kicking motion with a single foot, proved to be a good enough challenge. Even then, we found my ability to generate a good kick with the right foot, far exceeded my abilities on the left side. When attempting to perform a good soccer kick with the left foot. The ball would come off my foot softly and rolling in no particular direction. Not only was I struggling to generate power, I was challenged with sending the soccer ball in any intended direction, with my left foot.
There are times, when it feels like the impact of cerebral palsy gets broken into simpler forms. Where we try and take a particular challenge like kicking the ball with the left foot. The trainer decided to make the movement simpler. He did this by sitting me down on the floor with my feet extended out in front. He put the 6-pound medicine ball in between my feet. Their goal was for me to kick the ball with my right foot to my left foot. Having the left foot stop medicine ball, when even stopping it from moving to coordination. The easiest part was kicking it with my right foot, while stopping the ball with my right foot, was also relatively simple. The challenge in the task would be completely on my left side. It would be difficult to both stop the ball moving from the right foot and as well as kick the ball back with my left foot. The left side of my body is the most impacted by cerebral palsy, therefore making the mobility in the left foot the most challenging aspect of this exercise. I understood all this information when the ball got set on the ground. I was as prepared for the challenge as I could be. But I didn’t know what was going to be more difficult stopping the ball with my left foot or kicking the ball with my left foot.
I am writing this blog a couple months after the exercise was completed. Making it a little challenging to completely remember what I might have been feeling at the moment. One thing that does stick out in my mind, was my frustration in the lack of mobility with the left foot. The ability to kick the ball back on that straight line was incredibly challenging. I kept trying to make contact with the medicine ball using my left heel, but I could never make that contact consistent. It would send the ball back to my right side on awkward paths. Relying on my right foot to make a play, for lack of a better term. The right side of my body has often been responsible for trying to make up for the mistakes of the left side. So, in this instance, my right foot, which has the better mobility. Was able to move easily, closer to or further away from my body, in order to stop the challenging kick direction of the left foot. In contrast when I would kick the ball with my right foot, I could kick it pretty straight making it easier to stop with my left side. Because there has been good mobility in my right foot the direction of the kick from that side, remained pretty consistent. Giving my left foot a solid kick to practice stopping, created a good environment to work on the mobility in that left side. The most challenging part remained kicking the ball back with my left foot.
This drill felt like one of the best I had ever done. The exercise had the ability to isolate each of my feet. Giving them the opportunity to work individually on kicking and fielding the medicine ball. One of the most valuable things to work on with my cerebral palsy, especially inside of the gym, has been to isolate each limb of my body. Allowing each of the limbs of my body to work Independently without the assistants of the corresponding limb. In a situation where it feels like the entire body could help one arm or one leg. This drill felt like it was all about improving the independent movement of my ankles and feet. Moving the medicine ball back and forth with a gentle kick, then stopping the kicked ball with the opposite foot felt like it had good implications toward life outside the gym. The exercise felt like it could be broken down into improving the ability of footwork. My ability to use my feet productively has been hampered by my disability. As we concentrate on improving the pathway between my feet and brain by using exercises like kicking the medicine ball back and forth. The implications become far reaching, like an improvement in my ability to walk. Even improving my success with hobbies like skiing or playing golf. Gaining added motor control inside the gym, using exercises like this one with the medicine ball, can only improve my functionality out in my daily life. Even though it can be challenging and frustrating work. The outcome does seem to translate to feeling better in the world.
A Journey With Cerebral Palsy 