Why practice something so basic? More and more, researchers are connecting balance to mental, not just physical, functioning. "When kids stabilize themselves from an unstable pose, they learn how to focus faster and more efficiently," says Catherine Jackson, Ph.D., chair of the department of kinesiology at California State University at Fresno. Kids with learning problems, who often have less than optimal balance, can particularly benefit from balance training. "If you use half your mental energy to control balance, you have only the other half to process information," explains Dr. Williams. "But if you have to use only one-tenth of that energy for postural control, then 90% is available for cognitive things.