Power Balance silicone bands...????

[Gioguy21]

(didn't know which thread section to put this in but wth...) Does anyone out there in golf land use these? Does it REALLY help all that much? I was given a hands on demonstration from someone i work with who owns one, and i'll leave my opinions out for now till i get a response or two...


www.powerbalance.com (for reference if you don't know what i'm talking about)

[Aquaguru]

There has been two studies (one was done by Wisconsin Whitewater University) that have recently been published disproving the Powerbalance has any positive effects on balance, flexibility, and strength.  They tested the Powerbalance against a 50 cent livestrong band.  THe study was a double blind randomized control trial which showed that which band the participant was wearing second showed better test results.  This is called the learning effect-or- second pass effect.  When you go through the same test a second time your body knows what to expect and the outcome will be better.

It is all a scam along with any other band or necklace that says that it improves anything.

The owner of Powerbalance made a statement saying that he cannot backup the effects of Powerbalance %100 but the placebo effects are there.

All it is a good advertising.

[wrx_junki]

Pro athletes wear it as a fashion piece more than a performance enhancer.

[jamo]

As Aquaguru said, there is zero science to back up any benefits, and the owner has admitted as such.

[PaddyHarrington]

Pure scam,I feel sorry for anyone that is stupid enough to think its anything other than that.

[TheGeekGolfer]

I was watching football yesterday and they went to a sideline shot and there was a player or maybe coach? (not sure who) that was wearing about 10 bands on his left hand.

[Naterater]

So Gio, you got a few responses. would love to hear your opinions of the demo you got from a co-worker.

[Gioguy21]

alright, (waiting for the laughs and feedback on this reply) well to lay it out for you guys. I don't believe it's entire bs. My co-worker decided to do a few tests on me to give me an idea of how it works. (i, as you guys, was not only skeptical, but flat out said it's not gonna work) I've been wearing my livestrong band for going on 6 years straight now, never taken off. he told me to take it off so i don't have some sort of bias kinda thing as you guys mentioned about a placebo. My coworker then told me to stand with my feet together, arms at my sides. He told me to cup my right hand towards my leg, didn't say wat it was for. going behind me he then used his hand to push straight down on mine, making me lift my left arm, and left leg to stabilize myself. Now, i put the band on and this time he had me do the cupping with my left wrist, and tried again. i didn't move. i told him it was bogus. so he said ok, i'll do it again. reversed it and put the band on my right arm and tried it. i didn't move. then he said for me to try one more thing for flexibility. I sat on the floor (yes this is at work), legs in a v, to do a stretch test. he had me put the band on, and stretch as far as i could, hands straight out and marked it with a peice of masking tape. then, took the band off and did it. 3 inches difference. i stretched 3 inches farther with the band, muscles not warmed or stretched prior to doing this exercise. Personally i've drawn my own conclusions. Do i believe in the science of it? eh, no b/c there isnt' any to back it. Did i notice that i was able to show improvements from wearing it? yes.

[Aquaguru]

Again, its the learning effect that your body goes through during testing.  Did you notice how he made you not wear the band for the first run through of tests.  Then the second time you did the same tests you had the band on.  You probably have never had any of these tests done on you before so the first time you didn't know what to expect.  Your body adapted the second time around making it seem like the band had something to do with it.  Tell him to do two different tests again but wear the band the first time then take it off for the second go.  I bet you get better results the second time without the band.

It is also in your head when you put a band on that makes you think you will do better you unconsciously.

Also try this.  Get 3-4 different bands (livestrong, Powerbalance, breast cancer band, etc).  Have him put each of the bands on without you seeing which band is on.  The more you do each test the better it will be.

[Gioguy21]

note, i mentioned in the second test i had the band on FIRST, took it off and noticed a detriment. The first time, yes, i knew was was coming, however i did the test without, then with, then without and noticed the effects. Think as you may, but it wasn't a placebo effect. it was genuine.

[toddtheharpoon]

Yes it's a scam...how it fools anyone I don't know...I have a degree in Behavioural Psych, and I remember these experiments from first year...there have been thousands of studies on this...from the early psychology of Pavlov...to WWII survival tricks...you name it...I think Space Jam had something like this...ahh yes..."Michaels Secret Stuff"

Aquaguru, you nailed it. It's nonsense.

Gioguy21, the fact that you knew about the experiment at all, throws all psych data out the window. I would imagine for an accurate statistical study of this it would have to include at LEAST 25 bracelets, and hundreds of balance tests.....a humans learning curve is very very steep at the outset of any movement pattern, and then plateaus..subjects in a study would have to achieve a level of balance with no bracelets, so as to determine whether the bracelets had an effect...triple blind study?

Also, there is nothing fake about the placebo effect, it is as real as it gets. There is just no relationship to the tested variable (in this case the bracelet). The difficult part is determining which unknown variable the performance gain/loss is attributed too...

Cheers all and some great comments,