page_title: Power Balance
section_title: Criticisms
hierarchical_section_title: Power Balance / Criticisms
caption_attribution_description: English: Former U.S. President and President of the Interim Comission for Haiti Reconstruction (CIRH), Bill Clinton (wearing a Power Balance Power Band), watches the work done by artisans in one of the craft workshops in Village de Noaille, Croix des Bouquet, outside Port Au Prince (Haiti), 16 August 2011, during his 2-day visit in which he will meet Haitian president Michel Martelly.
context_page_description: Power Balance is the original brand of hologram bracelets claimed by its manufacturers and vendors to "use holographic technology" to "resonate with and respond to the natural energy field of the body", and increase sporting ability. Numerous independent studies of the device found it to be no more effective than the placebo effect for enhancing athletic performance, and the manufacturer was forced by the ACCC to retract any previous claims in 2010.
  The product was originally promoted at trade shows in the beginning of 2006 utilizing applied kinesiology as its most effective sales tool. They then began selling the product in 2007 and had amassed countless celebrity endorsements many free and some paid they had become a trend among high school, collegiate and professional sports in 2008-2012 although bands are regularly sighted on athletes today, those 5 years were the biggest boom for Power Balance. Leading one journalist to say that "a growing number of professional sportsmen and their attendants are starting to sound like New Age crystal healers." Another journalist gave Power Balance the CNBC Sports Product of the Year in 2010.
context_section_description: Many experts are of the opinion that the Power Balance bracelet is nothing more than a placebo. Victor Thompson, a sports psychologist based in London, is quoted by the Daily Mail as saying: "I'm not aware of any research that supports the technology behind these bands". Greg Whyte, professor of applied sport and exercise science, Liverpool John Moores University observed that "For generations there have been devices that claim to mediate the body's flow of energy, from acupuncture to copper wristbands and, latterly, magnets ... In most instances, the 'proof' is based on anecdotal evidence."
  The Center for Inquiry noted Power Balance's use of pseudoscientific applied kinesiology tests, which it described as "problematic and full of flaws". The illustrative videos on the company's website were considered vague and unclear, and the Center noted that "most people's flexibility seems to improve from their first stretch to their second stretch regardless of whether they are wearing the bracelet".
  In the Skeptical Inquirer in 2010, Harriet A. Hall wrote that she would believe anyone who claimed that a Power Balance product made them feel better, or that their performance was improved, but would not be convinced that "the improvement has anything to do with bioresonating frequencies in the holograms—or even with the cards themselves.  It's like the tooth fairy. Tell me money appears under your pillow, and I will believe you. But that won't convince me that the tooth fairy did it." 
  Australian consumer advocate group CHOICE recognized Power Balance in their 2010 "Shonky Awards". The Shonky Awards are intended to "name and shame the shonkiest rip-offs and scams." The Sydney Morning Herald concluded the Power Balance bracelets “did little else than empty purchasers’ wallets”.
  In November 2012, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban criticized an endorsement deal between the NBA and Power Balance. When a similar product was pitched on the ABC reality series Shark Tank, which features Cuban as one of the "sharks", he dismissed the product, stating "No, I'm allergic to scams. Seriously, this is not new. It's been disproven. What you saw is the placebo effect. There's athletes that wear it. It's a joke. It's a scam. It's not real."
  A study by Verdan et al. (2012) examined the effects of the Power Balance band on static balance, hamstring flexibility, and arm strength in adults. The study involved 10 male and 14 female subjects. A counterbalance, double-blind, placebo, controlled within-subject design was used. Each of the subjects participated in 3 treatment sessions, consisting of Power Balance, placebo band, and no band. This study found that there were no statistically significant differences in strength, flexibility, or balance with regard to the treatments used. Therefore, these results suggest that the Power Balance bands did not have an effect on strength, flexibility, or balance. This study is important in disproving the claims made by Power Balance since it controls for the placebo effect and indicates that any perceived benefit from using the Power Balance is due to the placebo effect.
caption: Former US president Bill Clinton was reported to wear a Power Balance Power Band.[16]
exif: {}