Proprioceptive Accuracy & Repositioning
-
B.1
-
B.2
-
B.3
-
B.4
-
B.5
-
B.6
-
B.7
-
B.8
-
B.9
-
B.10
Centre Joint Position Error (JPE) Test
Sit upright with feet flat. Close your eyes, turn your head 30 degrees to the left or right, then return it to where you believe centre is.
Open your eyes to check if the cross-hair aligns with the central target.
Alternate sides each repetition.
Why it matters?
This simple but important exercise helps train your ability to feel where your head is without using your eyes.
It shows whether your head naturally returns to the middle, which is important for balance and coordination.
This skill is often affected after injury or illness and needs to be rebuilt to support confident movement, walking, and looking around.
Wide-Yaw Joint Position Error (JPE) Test
Sit upright and place the cross-hair on a central target. Close your eyes and turn your head 45 degrees to one side.
Return to what you believe is centre, then open your eyes and compare your cross-hair position to the centre mark.
Why it matters?
Turning your head further increases the challenge of staying accurate.
This exercise helps you control large head movements safely, which is important in real life when scanning for cars, turning to talk to someone, or checking your surroundings.
It helps prevent overshooting or under-turning when you are not looking directly at something.
Flexion Extension JPE
Start from a neutral seated position. With eyes closed, nod your head down 20 degrees or extend it 20 degrees upwards.
Return to where you believe centre is, then open your eyes to confirm alignment with the cross-hair.
Why it matters?
This helps you improve control of head movements up and down.
These movements are common in daily life, such as reading, walking on slopes, or looking up at signs.
It also helps if you tend to carry your head too far forward or if you struggle with neck pain from screen use or poor posture.
Lateral Flexion JPE
While seated, close your eyes and tilt your head 15 degrees so that your ear moves toward the shoulder.
Return your head to centre and open your eyes to assess alignment.
Why it matters?
This side-tilting movement improves your awareness of whether your head is upright and balanced.
Many people unknowingly hold their head to one side, especially after neck injury or dizziness.
This exercise helps you retrain your body to recognise and correct that imbalance, which reduces the risk of falls and supports better posture.
Delayed Reveal JPE
Sit upright and align the cross-hair at centre.
Close your eyes and rotate your head 30 degrees to the left or right.
Hold that position for three seconds before returning to centre.
Open your eyes to verify accuracy.
Why it matters?
This exercise helps you train your short-term memory for head position.
By pausing briefly before returning to centre, your brain has to hold onto where your head is in space without using your eyes.
This mimics real-life situations where you might move your head while focusing on another task, such as listening to someone speak while cooking, navigating a busy street while on the phone, or looking over your shoulder while driving.
Graduated Angle JPE
With eyes closed, rotate your head to 30 degrees, return to centre, then repeat the task at 45 and 60 degrees.
Open your eyes after each return to check cross-hair alignment.
Why it matters?
This exercise builds up the difficulty gradually, helping you stay accurate at bigger angles.
It helps your brain learn how to control different levels of movement and shows where your limits are.
This is helpful for safely returning to full head movement after injury or long periods of reduced mobility.
Prompted JPE
Sit upright with eyes closed.
Have a partner randomly call out “left” or “right.”
Rotate your head 30 degrees in the instructed direction, then return to centre and open your eyes to confirm cross-hair position.
Why it matters?
This mimics the unpredictability of real life, where you need to react quickly to sound or movement.
It trains your reflexes and your ability to control your head even when you are not expecting to move.
This is especially important for people who drive, play sports, or move through busy spaces.
Coloured Notes
Place four coloured notes on the wall in a 60-degree arc at eye level. Calibrate the cross-hair to the central colour.
Sit upright. A partner names a colour.
With eyes closed, turn your head to where you remember that colour being, return to centre, and open your eyes to check accuracy.
Why it matters?
This exercise combines memory and movement, just like you do when turning towards a voice or object you saw earlier.
It trains your ability to move based on past visual information, not just what you can currently see.
This helps with everyday actions like finding someone in a crowd or responding to your name from behind.
Perturbation Hold
Sit upright with the cross-hair fixed on the centre target.
A partner gently taps your shoulders at irregular intervals.
Maintain steady head position and cross-hair alignment throughout.
Why it matters?
This helps you stay steady even when the environment around you is moving.
It strengthens the muscles in your neck that keep your head from wobbling and improves your reaction to bumps or jostles.
This is especially helpful for people who feel unsteady in crowds or lose balance easily.
Peripheral Distraction
Fix the cross-hair at centre and maintain your gaze.
While doing so, a partner moves objects or their hands slowly at the edges of your visual field.
Keep head and eye position steady throughout.
Why it matters?
This helps you stay steady even when the environment around you is moving.
It strengthens the muscles in your neck that keep your head from wobbling and improves your reaction to bumps or jostles.
This is especially helpful for people who feel unsteady in crowds or lose balance easily.