Spinning Balance Board Drills: 15 Exercises in Locked, Spinning and Flipped Mode

A spinning balance board gives you three kinds of training on one board: steady balance work with the spin locked, turn and turnout work with it unlocked, and raised two-foot drills with the board flipped over. The 15 drills below are grouped by those three modes and run from beginner to advanced, each with sets, hold times and what it trains.

They are written for the Double Spinning Balancer, the Bellenae board with a lockable spin, and they suit dancers, gymnasts, figure skaters and cheerleaders. Parents will find the safety steps and a simple 15-minute session near the end. Start locked, keep a barre or counter within reach, and move up only when a drill feels quiet and steady.

The Short Answer

All 15 Drills at a Glance

Sets, reps and hold times are with each drill below. Levels are a guide: move to the next drill when the last one feels steady on three sessions in a row, not before.

Before You Start: Set-Up, Safety and the Three Modes

The Double Spinning Balancer has two spring platforms on one acrylic base, with three professional-grade springs and a spinning mechanism you can lock. The product page lists three ways to use it:

• Locked. The spin is locked and the board works as a standard double-foot spring balance board. All balance, no rotation.
• Unlocked (we call it spinning mode here). The lock is released and rotation is added to every exercise: turns, turnout, promenade.
• Flipped. The whole board is turned over, so you stand on the flat base and its non-slip mat. Both feet share one raised platform.

Lock and unlock the board the way the instructions that come with it describe, and check it is locked before every locked drill. A board that is meant to be locked but turns underneath you is the most common surprise.

Set-up. Use a hard, smooth floor, never a rug. Clear about an arm's length around the board. Put it beside a barre, a kitchen counter or a wall, so a hand can go down at any moment. Bare feet or soft ballet slippers give the best feel for the mat.

For parents of younger athletes. The product page describes the Double as a board for intermediate to advanced dancers. If a younger or newer dancer is using it, stay in the room, keep every drill locked for the first few weeks, and keep a hand on the barre for anything on one foot. If your child is coming back from an injury, ask their physio or coach which drills to skip.

The one rule. Stop the drill when form goes: a heel that drops, a hip that hitches, shoulders that creep up, a spot that gets lazy. Practising the wobble does not help. Then always finish with a few minutes on the floor, so the floor stays the reference.

Locked Mode: 5 Balance Drills

Locked mode is where every athlete starts, and where advanced athletes come back to warm up. The springs move in every direction, so the feet, ankles and core keep correcting even while you stand still.

1. Two-Foot Parallel Hold

Level: Beginner · Dose: 3 × 30 seconds · Trains: ankles, foot control, core

Step on with one foot on each platform, feet parallel and hip-width, a hand on the barre. Soften the knees, lift through the top of the head and let go of the barre for the hold. Aim for quiet feet: small corrections in the ankles, not big ones in the hips. Rest 20 seconds between holds. When 30 seconds feels easy, hold first position instead of parallel.

2. Relevé Rises and Holds

Level: Beginner · Dose: 2 × 10 slow rises, then 3 × 15-second holds · Trains: ankles, calves, the relevé line

From the parallel hold, rise to relevé over four counts and lower over four. Keep the weight over the second toe, not rolling to the little toes. After the rises, hold relevé for 15 seconds with one hand resting lightly on the barre, then try the last hold with no hand. Skaters and cheerleaders can keep this in parallel. Dancers can move it to first position once parallel is steady.

3. Plié to Relevé

Level: Beginner+ · Dose: 2 × 8 · Trains: knee and ankle alignment, push-off control

Demi-plié for two counts, press up to relevé for two, hold for two, lower for two. The knees stay over the toes on the way down, and the platforms should stay level. If one side dips every time, that is the side to watch. With the resistance band add-on, a band just above the knees makes the knees work to stay apart in the plié.

4. Passé Balance on One Platform

Level: Intermediate · Dose: 3 × 10 seconds each side · Trains: the pirouette position, standing hip, core

Stand with your whole standing foot centred on one platform, a hand on the barre. Draw the other foot up to passé (retiré) and find the position you would turn from. Hold 10 seconds, lower with control, switch sides. Gymnasts and skaters can use a parallel passé. This is the same shape the spinning drills will ask for, so it has to be steady here first.

5. Port de Bras, Then Eyes Closed

Level: Intermediate · Dose: 3 rounds · Trains: balance without relying on the eyes, a quiet upper body

In a two-foot hold, take the arms slowly through first, second and fifth position and back, keeping the ribs down. That is one round. On the last round, close the eyes for five seconds with the barre right beside you, then open them. Expect a lot more wobble with the eyes closed. That is the point: the feet and ankles have to do the job the eyes usually do. Keep it to two feet; never close the eyes on one foot.

Spinning Mode: 5 Turn and Turnout Drills

Unlock the board only when drills 1 to 4 are steady. In spinning mode the springs still move, and now the platforms can rotate as well, so the body has to control balance and rotation at the same time. Go slowly. Every drill here is about controlling the turn, not making it faster.

6. Still Hold on Free Platforms

Level: Intermediate · Dose: 3 × 20 seconds · Trains: core control against rotation, quiet feet

Stand in parallel with one foot on each platform, a hand on the barre. Now hold still and do not let the platforms turn. It sounds easy. It isn't: any twist in the hips or shoulders shows up under the feet straight away. Take the hand off when you can hold 20 seconds with no drift. This drill teaches what a clean turn needs most, a still centre.

7. Turnout Rotations

Level: Intermediate · Dose: 2 × 8 · Trains: turnout from the hips, rotation control

From parallel, rotate both feet outward towards first position by turning from the tops of the legs, not by twisting the feet. Stop at the turnout you can hold on the floor, never further. Hold five seconds, then rotate back to parallel in control. The knees should keep pointing the same way as the toes the whole time. Skaters can use this for hip rotation; dancers will feel exactly where their turnout runs out.

8. Passé, Then Let Go of the Barre

Level: Intermediate+ · Dose: 3 each side · Trains: the pirouette position under rotation

This is drill 4 with the spin free. Standing foot on one platform, hand on the barre, draw the other foot up to passé. Hold five seconds while the platform stays still. Then take the hand away and hold three more. Put the hand back before you come down. If the platform turns while you hold, the standing hip or the shoulders are twisting. Fix that here before adding any turn.

9. Slow Promenade

Level: Advanced · Dose: 1 full circle each way, 2 sets · Trains: promenade, control in a held shape

On one platform, take a held shape you know well: passé, attitude or a low arabesque. Using small rotations of the standing leg, turn the platform a quarter of the way round, stop, and hold for three seconds. Four quarters make a circle. The shape should not change while you turn. Ice skaters can use a spiral or a held edge position. Keep a hand near the barre for the first few weeks.

10. Quarter Turns with a Spot

Level: Advanced · Dose: 2 × 4 each direction · Trains: spotting, a clean stop

Put a mark on the wall at eye height. From passé on one platform, turn a quarter, snap the head back to the mark, stop clean and hold two seconds. When quarters are clean, try halves, then a single. Turn both directions, not just the easy side. Stop if you feel dizzy. Straight after this drill, do three turns on the floor: that is where the work has to show.

For more on what spotting problems look like, our turn board vs spinning board comparison covers the difference between a balance problem and a spotting problem.

Flipped Mode: 5 Two-Foot Drills on the Flat Base

Turn the whole board over and the flat base becomes the standing surface, still raised on the springs. Both feet are on one platform, so the board moves as one piece instead of two. That makes flipped mode good for strength and two-foot stability, and for athletes who want a wider stance than the two platforms allow.

11. Weight Shifts

Level: Beginner · Dose: 2 × 10 shifts · Trains: weight transfer, ankle control

Stand with the feet a little wider than the hips, hand on the barre. Shift the weight slowly to the right foot until the left feels light, back to centre, then left. Then forward and back. Keep the platform as level as you can. Gymnasts and cheer bases often feel this one: it is the same small transfer of weight that a landing or a stunt asks for.

12. Two-Foot Heel Raises

Level: Beginner · Dose: 3 × 12 · Trains: calves, ankles, even push through both feet

Feet parallel, hip-width. Rise on two counts, lower on four. Because both feet share one platform, uneven pushing tilts the whole board, so you get instant feedback on which side works harder. Aim for a level rise every time.

13. Slow Pliés and Squats

Level: Intermediate · Dose: 3 × 8 · Trains: leg strength, knee alignment under movement

Dancers: demi-plié in first or a small second position, four counts down, hold three at the bottom, four counts up. Gymnasts, skaters and cheer: the same rhythm in a parallel squat to about chair height. The knees track over the toes. If the platform rocks at the bottom, make the plié or squat smaller.

14. Sport Arm Patterns

Level: Intermediate · Dose: 3 × 30 seconds · Trains: core stability while the arms move

Hold a steady two-foot stance and run the arm patterns of your sport. Dancers: port de bras. Cheer: motions such as high V, T and touchdown, sharp and on counts. Skaters: the arm positions of a spin entry or a jump landing. Gymnasts: beam arm positions. The legs stay quiet while the arms work, which is harder than it sounds on springs.

15. Hands-On Plank

Level: Advanced · Dose: 3 × 20–30 seconds · Trains: core, shoulders

Place both hands on the flat platform, shoulders over the wrists, feet on the floor behind you, and hold a straight plank. The springs move under the hands, so the shoulders and core keep working. Start with 20 seconds. Skip it if the wrists or shoulders complain, and keep it slow: this is a hold, not a place for jumps or kicks.

A 15-Minute Session

You don't need all 15 drills every day. A good session picks a few from each mode, warm-up first, hardest part in the middle, two-foot work to finish. Here is a session for an athlete who has a few weeks of locked work behind them.

Brand-new to the board? Spend the whole 15 minutes on drills 1, 2, 3, 11 and 12 for the first couple of weeks. Advanced athletes can swap drill 8 for 9 or 10. Three or four short sessions a week is plenty to start. On days with a long class or practice, a five-minute locked warm-up is enough.

Which Drills Matter Most for Your Sport

• Ballet and competitive dance: 2, 4, 7, 8 and 10. Relevé, passé, turnout and the spot are the base of every turn. Our guide to at-home dance training equipment covers what else is worth having at home.
• Gymnastics: 1, 3, 11 and 15. Two-foot stability, push-off control and a strong plank carry over to beam and landings.
• Figure skating: 4, 6, 9 and 13. A still centre under rotation and held positions in promenade suit spin and jump-landing practice off the ice.
• Cheer: 11, 12, 13 and 14. Weight shifts and quiet legs under sharp arm motions help bases and flyers alike.

Ready for One Foot? The Single Spinning Balancer

Drills 4, 8, 9 and 10 already put one foot on one platform. Some dancers want to go further and do all of their turn work on a single-foot board. That is what the Single Spinning Balancer is for. The product page describes it as the Bellenae Mini with a lockable spin added: one foot, three springs, two modes (locked and spinning).

Locked, it works like the Mini: passé holds, arabesque balances and relevé on one foot. Unlocked, the same positions can turn. It suits intermediate and advanced dancers who already hold a steady passé on two-foot boards. It is not a first board, and it does not have a flipped mode.

Who This Board Isn't For

A spinning balance board is not the right first buy for everyone. If a dancer only wants spotting practice and doesn't need the springs, a flat board from our spinning boards range is simpler, fits in a dance bag and costs less. Our pirouette drills for a spin board are written for exactly that kind of board.

And if your athlete can't yet hold a steady relevé on the floor for 15 seconds, build that first. The board makes balance harder, not easier. Once floor relevé is solid, locked mode is the next step. You can compare all our spinning balance boards side by side; across the full range, Bellenae boards run $199–$500+ CAD.

Putting It Together

Three modes means three stages on one board. Locked mode builds the steady ankles and the passé that turns depend on. Spinning mode adds rotation one small piece at a time: holding still, turning out, letting go, a slow promenade, then a quarter turn with a spot.

Flipped mode gives both feet one platform for strength, weight shifts and sport-specific arm work. Keep sessions short, move up only when a drill is steady three times in a row, and finish on the floor. Handcrafted in Canada by five sisters who danced their entire lives.

Frequently Asked Questions

What exercises can you do on a spinning balance board?

On a board with a lockable spin like the Double Spinning Balancer, you can do three kinds of work. Locked: two-foot holds, relevé, plié to relevé and passé balances. Unlocked: holding still while the platforms are free, turnout rotations, passé release, slow promenade and quarter turns with a spot. Flipped over: weight shifts, heel raises, pliés or squats, sport arm patterns and a hands-on plank. Start locked and move up only when each drill is steady.

Can kids use a spinning balance board?

It can be used by younger athletes with an adult in the room and a barre or counter within reach, but Bellenae describes the Double Spinning Balancer as a board for intermediate to advanced dancers. Keep a newer or younger dancer in locked mode for the first few weeks, use a hard floor with clear space around the board, and stop any drill once form goes. If your child is returning from an injury, ask their physio or coach first.

What is the difference between locked, spinning and flipped mode?

Locked mode turns the spin off, so the board works as a standard double-foot spring balance board for balance and core work. Unlocked, or spinning, mode lets the platforms rotate, which adds turn, turnout and promenade work on top of the springs. Flipped mode means turning the whole board over and standing on the flat base with its non-slip mat, so both feet share one raised platform for two-foot drills.

How often should you train on a spinning balance board?

Three or four short sessions a week is plenty to start, about 10 to 15 minutes each. Short, focused work beats long sessions, because the useful part of any drill ends when form starts to slip. On days with a long class or practice, a five-minute locked warm-up is enough. Move to a harder drill only when the current one has felt steady on three sessions in a row, and always finish with a few minutes on the floor.

Can figure skaters, gymnasts and cheerleaders use a spinning balance board?

Yes. The drills just change emphasis. Figure skaters get the most from still holds on free platforms, held positions in a slow promenade and controlled squats, which suit spin and landing practice off the ice. Gymnasts lean on two-foot holds, plié to relevé and the hands-on plank. Cheer athletes do well with flipped-mode weight shifts, heel raises and arm motions on counts while the legs stay quiet.