Revolutionary or an expensive scam? The Power Balance band. Credit:Craig Sillitoe Condon had been introduced to the band during a paddleboard lesson in Bali with his girlfriend, and the instructor had run through a series of Power Balance 'tests', convincing the pair of its benefits for balance. Power Band's US website claims the band's mylar holograms are embedded with naturally occurring frequencies designed to work with the body's natural energy field for improved balance, strength and flexibility. What do you think of the bands? Add your comment below

O'Dowd says he remained highly sceptical until he tried a series of balance tests on his mother, aged in her 80s, without and then with the band, which he believed showed a dramatic improvement.

“That was a freaky moment for me,” O'Dowd said. So convinced was he, that he decided to go into business with his plumber nephew, the pair travelling overseas to find out more before buying the Australasian importing rights. One year later, the business, based in Melbourne, is turning over millions of dollars, and the band is being worn by some of the world's famous sportspeople. But critics, including the Australian Medical Association vice-president Steve Hambleton, say the bands have no basis in science. "The mechanism action is so biologically implausible. It's highly unlikely they'd change anything other than your motivation," Dr Hambleton said.

Scientist Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, who regularly appears on media including Triple J, goes further, describing the band as "a total con". "How do they sleep at night?" he asks. Whether they work or not, there is no denying the intense interest the bands have created. O'Dowd and Condon launched the bands in Australia at the Royal Adelaide Show last September. “Supposedly it (Adelaide) is the try-out capital of Australia. I'd say it's a more conservative market and if it works there it works everywhere,” O'Dowd said.

“All we were doing was just saying 'g'day, how are you going, do you want to try this?"' But the stand was packed day and night, he said, with at least 50 bands a day sold over the show's 10 days. Today Tonight visited and did a fairly positive story, O'Dowd said, and that's when sales really began to spike. They later produced a negative report which aired nationally, but oddly sales increased even more, he said. O'Dowd said the product went “viral,” based on the Power Balance tests. The interest is such that O'Dowd's wife has asked him not to show the band when they go to restaurants. Once, at an anniversary dinner, he sold more than 50 bands after being asked about it, he said.

Some of those who have purchased the Power Balance band have reported better sleep, a loss of pain and relief from neurological disorders. O'Dowd can't explain how the band works in detail, but says he doesn't promise anything either, only saying: “it works positively with your body's energy flow”. He says about half of all AFL players are using the band, along with surfers including Andy Irons and Mick Fanning, soccer star David Beckham and "over two-thirds" of the Tour de France peleton this year. Power Balance Australia pays about a dozen athletes to wear the band, including footballer Brendan Fevola, the NRL's Benji Marshall, basketballer Andrew Bogut and The Biggest Loser trainer Shannan Ponton. Ponton, who said he was initially very sceptical, began using the band this year of his own accord, about a month before being approached by Power Balance.

He said he had noticed big improvements in balance and core stability during training sessions in sports including yoga, wrestling, running and surfing. "Wearing the band day-to-day is not going to give you a massive result, it's really for athlete performance," Ponton said. The trainer said he had recorded his own experiences over a two-week period and found consistent improvement. The AMA's Dr Ambleton says the Power Balance tests may only appear to work because the subject sub-consciously prepares for the test, and only a "double-blind" test would prove anything. Dr Hambleton said while the bands were "not claiming to cure cancer," buyers should only part with their money - the bands retail at about $60 a pop - with their eyes open.

"If you believe in something and it focuses the mind..I think that's what we pay sports psychologists to do. As long as we're being open and honest about what we're doing and what we're selling," he said. Dr Kruszelnicki is more scathing, saying it wouldn't matter that we didn't know how the bands worked - after all he said no one really understood how anaesthetic or aspirin worked - but the point was the Power Bands didn't. 'They do two tricks to make them seem as though they work," he said. The first was the "memory factor" - that when the tester leans on your wrist once, you are then mentally prepared for it a second time. The other, he says, revolves around the tester applying subtle pressure on your shoulder during the test, in a way that makes you appear stronger.

The internet is flush with "scam" claims, including posts such as: "Does anybody know the deal with these power balance holograms? It's gotta be a trick but can't find any information on what the gag actually is. People I know who are normally quite sane believe these things are real. Anybody???" From a sales point of view, it seems the criticism hasn't had a huge effect. O'Dowd says turnover is “in the millions”. The company, based in Port Melbourne, began last August and already has 12 full-time employees. The band is sold in at least 700 places around Australia, including sports stores, surf stores, golf stores and by massage therapists, chiropractors and physiotherapists. “The only thing that's dented our growth has been the growth of the market in selling counterfeit product,” says O'Dowd, who says there are hundreds a day advertised on sites such as eBay. O'Dowd and his nephew approach their jobs like any other entrepreneurs, and take the criticism to heart. O'Dowd says most of it comes from people who haven't tried the band.

He has hit back at suggestions the product is a scam, saying a 30-day money-back guarantee is available to anyone unhappy with the product. He says only about 1 in every few thousand people go down that path. Loading O'Dowd says he and his nephew can't really explain how the bands work in detail, instead trusting the feedback, which they say is highly positive. O'Dowd says: "At the end of the day I'm a carpenter. I don't know or profess to know how energy waves work.”