Neck left/right training
Decide whether each person has turned their head to their own left or right. Answer as quickly as you comfortably can.
How to do it
- Look at the head, compared with the shoulders. Has the person turned their head to their left or their right?
- Watch out for back and side views. When you see someone from behind, their left is on your left. From the front, their left is on your right.
- Just judge, don’t copy. You don’t need to turn your own head. Keep still and let your brain do the work.
- Keep sets short. A set of 20 takes about a minute. Rest between sets if you need to.
New to this? Start with no time limit and feedback on. The beginner’s guide explains how to build up slowly and what your scores mean.
About the photos
There are 60 photos of adults of different ages and backgrounds, seen from the front, the side and behind, sitting and standing. With mirrored photos switched on, each photo can also appear flipped, which reverses the answer, so there are 120 possible images. Each set is drawn at random, never shows the same photo twice, and favours photos you haven’t seen recently. Every photo has been checked against its answer.
All photos are AI-generated. They don’t show real people.
Common questions
What counts as a good score?
In a large study of 1,361 adults without pain, people judged neck turns in about 1.6 seconds on average, and half of them got 92.5% or more right.8 That study used different photos, so treat it as a rough guide. Comparing your own results over time, and your left with your right, is more useful.
Why is one side harder for me?
Many people are a little better at one direction. In the same study, people were more accurate for heads turned to the right.8 Some research suggests people with chronic neck pain are less accurate overall.9
Does this work on a phone?
Yes. Tap the Left or Right button under the photo. Each set loads only the photos it needs, about 0.7 MB for 20.
Where are my results stored?
Only in your browser, on this device. Nothing is sent to us. Clearing your browser data removes them.
Please read: this site is for education and practice. It is not medical advice and does not replace care from a qualified clinician. If an exercise makes your pain or other symptoms worse, stop and rest, and talk to your clinician before trying again.
References
- Wallwork SB, Butler DS, Fulton I, Stewart H, Darmawan I, Moseley GL. Left/right neck rotation judgments are affected by age, gender, handedness and image rotation. Manual Therapy. 2013;18(3):225–230. Link
- Wallwork SB, Leake HB, Peek AL, Moseley GL, Stanton TR. Implicit motor imagery performance is impaired in people with chronic, but not acute, neck pain. PeerJ. 2020;8:e8553. Link