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The initial reason I created the SRF Board (Stability, Rotation, Functional Board) was to provide dancers with a way to strengthen and improve motor control of the inner thigh muscles - but ultimately I created a device that does much more.
Having danced on Broadway and then becoming a physical therapist I was very aware of how weakness in hip muscles of dancers contributed to injury and limited the quality of performance on stage. All the equipment on the market at the time failed to strengthen the adductors and abductors of the hip in a functional standing position.
What was needed was a device that could challenge balance and stability of the spine in standing while allowing disassociation and freedom of the hip muscles as they performed resistance work in functional ways. To achieve this I created the SRF Board. Dancers loved the device because it allowed them to stand on two discs and feel the freedom of "turn-out" while simultaneously being able to push and pull the legs together or apart against resistance. In particular, the isolation of combined adduction and external rotation of the hip was a revelation to many dancers and helped them find muscles they did not know they had.
I soon began to play with all the variations of strengthening and balance the SRF Board could provide to non-dancers, both injured and healthy, and this is where I began to realize the real potential of the SRF Board. It is unique in that it teaches proximal spine control on top of freedom of hip motion in a standing functional position. The SRF Board is a great transition from interventions such as spinal stabilization exercises and isolated lower extremity strengthening to full return to sports and activities of daily living. I have had great success using the SRF Board on patients who are post-stroke to those who are high level athletes.
Marshall Hagins, PhD. PT