Power Balance.

If any of you know me pretty well, you know that I love the game of basketball. Weather it be high school, college, or pro, I love me some basketball. Lately in the basketball, and sports world in general, there has been a new trend going around (other than drug and sex scandals.). It's called Power Balance, and it's a little silicon bracelet that "Is embedded with a range of frequencies found in nature that react positively with your body's energy field." and "improve[s] balance, flexibility, and strength as well as contributing to an overall sense of well being among its users." I know what you're thinking because I thought the same thing when I heard about it; bull crap. There's no way that this silicon bracelet helps you! Except that all the NBA players swear by them! Shaq, Kobe, and Derrick Rose are just a few that claim they improve their performance. Now, I didn't really buy any of this, but I thought they looked cool and, hey, what would I lose if I bought one right?

So when I was walking around the mall with E on Saturday, they had an entire kiosk of these Power Balance bands right outside of Hollister! I had seen them advertised on their website for $29.95 plus S&H, and there was no way I was paying that amount of money. To my surprise, this kiosk was selling them for only $14.99! So I thought, "Why not?" and bought one.

Shaq, Kobe, and D. Rose better watch out now...

After E and I got home, we decided to test it out using two tests the box illustrated. One was where you stand on one foot with both arms extended to your sides, and then someone pushes down on one of your arms to try and get you to fall. You perform this without the bracelet, and then with it on (obviously). The entire time leading up to this test, I was thinking to myself, "There's absolutely no way this is going to work!". So we go ahead and perform the test and to my utter disbelief, it actually improved my test result when I had the bracelet on!

Now, I know that I've only had the Power Balance band for a few hours, and yes the test E and I performed wasn't scientific by any means, but the results don't lie! In my honest opinion (or IMHO if this were AIM) though, I'm going to say this is all a mind over matter deal. Your mind EXPECTS the band to work, so your confidence in it actually improves your performance. It's just like any other lucky charm that one may have.

Even though the Power Balance band may not posses supernatural powers, or harness the natural energies of the Earth, it is pretty cool to have. Plus, anything I can have to make me more like an NBA superstar never hurt anyone.