--- canonical: https://aderettherapy.com.au/resources/why-doesnt-more-practice-improve-balance/ title: Why doesn't more practice improve balance? slug: why-doesnt-more-practice-improve-balance date: 2026-08-03 type: podcast status: published image: 2026-08-03.jpg image_alt: Aderet Therapy Weekly podcast cover: silhouette of a child on a ride-on toy in a blurred living room with pink sofas, 3 August 2026 summary: Balance is three systems, not one - so more practice at the wobbly thing rarely helps. Plus motor planning and why coordination is uneven day to day. keywords: balance in children, proprioception, motor planning, developmental coordination disorder, dyspraxia, ADHD coordination, gross motor skills, early intervention, paediatric physiotherapy, paediatric physiotherapy Campbelltown, NDIS podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/57W3h3OQIJvUFDnv9DL1dr --- Balance sounds like one skill, so when a child keeps wobbling the obvious answer is more practice at the wobbly thing. That is usually the wrong answer, because it never tells you which of the three parts of balance is the one struggling. Balance is three separate systems working together. The biomechanical one: strength and alignment. The sensory one: knowing where your body actually is. In the sensing system, information arrives three ways, through vision, through the movement sensors in the skin, muscles and joints, and through the inner ear, where the body's balance organ sits. And the neurological one: the brain taking what the senses report, putting it together with what the body can physically do, and building a plan for the movement. Which one is the weak link decides what helps. Then motor planning itself, the thinking that happens before and during a movement. It has four steps, having the idea, working out the sequence, carrying it out, and reviewing it, and a child can come unstuck at any of them. Motor planning relies heavily on executive function which is why individuals with ADHD and developmental coordination disorder have difficulties. The three usual difficulties are sequencing, timing and dual tasking. At home that looks like slow dressing, buttons and laces, handwriting that does not match how bright they are, bumping and spilling, trouble with a multi step instruction, and quietly avoiding sport and craft. Movement in these children is described as slow, inaccurate, awkward and inconsistent from one day to the next, and that inconsistency is what catches parents out. When to check is otherwise not a threshold and not an age. If you are worried about how your child moves, that is reason enough to talk to your GP. **Topics covered:** balance in children, proprioception, body awareness, motor planning, praxis, sequencing, dual task, ADHD and coordination, executive function, developmental coordination disorder, dyspraxia, clumsy child, coordination, paediatric physiotherapy, gross motor development, early intervention, Campbelltown, Macarthur, NSW. ## Read more from Aderet Therapy - [Balance. What is balance?](https://aderettherapy.com.au/resources/balance-what-balance/) - [ADHD and Motor Planning](https://aderettherapy.com.au/resources/adhd-motor-planning/) ## Support lines - NDIS early childhood approach, for children under 9. No diagnosis needed to start: [1800 800 110](tel:1800800110) - Pregnancy, Birth and Baby: [1800 882 436](tel:1800882436) - PANDA and Beyond Blue for the emotional load - 13YARN [13 92 76](tel:139276) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents ## Sources behind this episode Aderet Therapy: Balance. What is balance? Aderet Therapy: ADHD and Motor Planning. ## In this episode - 00:00 - Intro - 02:02 - Song: The Wobble Comes First - 04:05 - Balance: three systems not one - 08:26 - Song: You Know Where You Are - 10:28 - Motor planning - 15:46 - Song: Slower Is How You Learn It - 17:51 - Wrap up ## About the show Aderet Therapy Weekly is a short weekly podcast for parents of babies and young children, from the paediatric physiotherapy team at Aderet Therapy in Campbelltown, in the Macarthur region of south west Sydney, NSW. Every episode takes one thing parents worry about, explains what is actually known about it, and says plainly what is not known. No judgement, no jargon, no scare tactics. Aderet Therapy: paediatric physiotherapy, early intervention key worker support, communication physiotherapy and AAC, aquatic physiotherapy, equipment prescription, school holiday programs, and the free Little Movers League community sessions. ## Contact - Website: [aderettherapy.com.au](https://aderettherapy.com.au) - Phone: [02 4949 7276](tel:+61249497276) - Address: Suite 10, 261 Queen Street, Campbelltown NSW 2560 ## Disclaimer Everything in this episode is general information only. Every child is unique, and nothing here replaces a conversation with your GP, your child and family health nurse, or your physiotherapist. The voices in this podcast are AI.