Soon after an ankle sprain, gentle range of motion, stretching, and strengthening exercises are the focus combined with elevation, compression, and icing. However, as the athlete gets further out from the time of injury and can better walk on the ankle, exercises that challenge his or her balance should become the focus. For example, standing on one leg is a great balance exercise and can be made more challenging by standing on a towel or pillow, closing the eyes, or passing a ball back and forth with a teammate. Utilizing equipment such as balance disks or wobble boards can be advantageous as well. An athlete can then progress to hopping exercises. For example, hopping forwards to backward and side-to-side on one foot and hopping at diagonals. Different variations of lunges and box jumps can also be used in rehabilitation. It is also important to incorporate agility and sports-specific drills into the later stages of rehabilitation such as cutting, turning, shuffling and backward running.