Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey and Golf Blog

Mathieu Flamini refuses to blame the pitch for Arsenal’s draw at Wigan on Sunday. There was plenty of ’surface tension’ at the JJB Stadium over the weekend as Arsène Wenger’s side saw their title hopes hit by a goalless game played out in difficult conditions.

However Flamini’s words afterwards were as no-nonsense as his performance. Yes, the pitch and the midweek trip to Milan were a factor but, he said, “when you want to win the title you have to be ready to fight”.

“Of course, it is very frustrating,” the 24-year-old commented. “We gave a lot on Tuesday and had to give a lot again at Wigan. It was not easy because it was difficult conditions. But it was important to stay focused defensively and offensively. I think we missed a little bit although we were unlucky. “The pitch was horrible but what can you say? It was the same for both teams. Of course we like to play and we had to play more long balls so it was more difficult for us.

“But you cannot moan. You just have to score goals and we didn’t so now we have to work harder in training and be ready for Middlesbrough [on Saturday].

“It’s always difficult especially after big games like Milan, you need to be 200 per cent concentrated. But we had five days to recover.

“We missed a little bit in the final part. But it’s like that sometimes. We have the quality and we are strong so we just have to keep going.”

Golf instruction is ultimately an investment in your greatest asset: you. Golf Instruction is vital for you to develop your game if you want to shave a few strokes off your handicap. With the growing number of golfers getting on the net, online golf instruction is becoming mainstream. Another trend in today’s golf instruction is the more personalized golf school.

Golfers tell us the 3 main reasons why they would quit the game are: It’s too frustrating, It takes too much time and It costs too much. Instructional topics can involve basic fundamentals, full swing with woods or irons, chipping, putting and specialty shots, as well as club selection and course strategy. Instruction is available for men, women and children of all abilities levels. I have heard horror stories from golfers how spent upwards of $2,000 for a BIG name golf school for a weekend, and came out worse than before they went in. All too often, golfers are looking for the answer to just one swing problem.

Golfers seek out every latest teaching fad, instructional tip and equipment breakthrough as if it were the cure for cancer, hoping that “this will be the one. Golfers often find themselves in a struggle on the golf course between what they are trying to do and what their bodies will let them do. These days, beginners and professional golfers alike ask me the same questions that I was asking about the golf swing 20 years ago, except now I have answers for them that work and they’re getting fast results. Most golfers tell me that they are just looking for a simple way to swing the club that will get good, consistent results.

Lessons are usually hit and miss, disconnected “do this”, quick fixes that last about as long as it takes you to walk off the lesson tee. If you’ve taken golf lessons, you’ve probably experienced band-aid golf instruction. Obviously,tips, lessons and traditional lessons have not helped most players.

However you receive it, good Golf Instruction is worth its weight in gold. Golf instruction is required by every player looking to get better at this game. Being a good golfer is fine, but if you want to get ahead and try to break into the PGA possibilities of pro golfing, a high standard of golf instruction is a must. Basically, you need to know that it is going to be a long, slow adventure and you will need to posses the fortitude to be able to continue to practice even when you’re hitting the ball badly, and take my word for this, you will go through periods when you do hit the ball badly.

There is a huge need for strength training for all football players. The ability to put together a strength program takes planning to get the most out of your athletes and to structure it properly. It is both an art and science to plan a strength training program.

Here is a quick list of facts that you need to keep in mind concerning your strength training for football. It isn’t just about how big and bulky you can get - quite the contrary actually.

o Bigger muscles are not necessarily stronger muscles o You need to not only develop the size of a given muscle; you need to actually be considering the muscle’s strength. That’s what it’s all about.

o A strong muscle is more than big; -.

o Many a big muscle is torn loose from the joint that it is meant to move. A torn muscle can literally take months, even years to heal fully. Some never do.

You develop tendon and ligament strength by taking your training seriously. Don’t attack your weight training like a crazy fool. Take your time. Pay attention to strict form in every rep. Perform your reps slowly and with full control. Haphazardly jerking or throwing the weight up and calling that a successful rep is not only careless; it is a false achievement. Weight training is about far more than just moving the weight from point A to point B. Remember that!

o Bulky muscles too often yield decreased speed, agility and finesse. o Especially for wide receivers, defensive backs and tailbacks, muscles need to be specifically trained for bursting power and speed. They have to be able to start right now, stop right now and absorb some seriously unexpected impacts. Football is no game for wimps. It is also not an event for big, slow, overly bulky pigs just because they might be able to bench 400 lbs in a quirky, jerky, off-balance fashion. Be real!

Do yourself and your team a serious favor and ensure that you will be around season after strenuous season to help out. Take your strength training for football very seriously. Slow down while at the gym. Develop your tendon and ligament strength along with your bulk. The end result will be superior, lightening fast, impossible to rip, explosive muscles that have the true strength of a beast! Now that is what you are after.

There are several types of strength training for football to consider. Football is versatile and needs versatility in strength training programs. Here are the types that we will address:

o Functional strength training for football Ø Hypertrophy strength training for football Ø Maximal strength training for football Ø Power strength training for football

First, we will define each one and then address how to combine them all into the total athletic package for football.

Functional strength training for football:

Football can really put a hurtin’ on your body in a lot of different ways. Your body is twisted, bent, bounced and forced into uncountable positions of unnatural strain. You need to ensure bilaterally symmetrical development while engaging your strength training. That means that you give equal, animalistic (but controlled) effort to both sides of your body. You want symmetrical development, not lopsided malformation.

You also need to ensure that you never get so wrapped up in the development of your prime movers (quads, biceps, pecs, etc.) that you neglect your supporting muscle (hamstrings, triceps, calves, posterior delts, lower trapezius, etc.). The message here is that you must maintain balance. If you fail to develop your body in a symmetrical, holistic fashion, you are begging for injury.

Hypertrophy Strength Training for Football

Don’t let the hard-to-pronounce name fool you; an increase in muscle fiber size makes up for the improvement and increase in the muscle mass. This is the type of strength training for football that everyone thinks of. You get to concentrate on muscular growth and sheer bulk. Remember that even linemen should only dedicate roughly half of their strength training to hypertrophy strength. More than that and you are entering into the slow zone - the zone of painful injury because you lack agility and speed.

Maximal Strength Training for Football

In a nutshell, this refers to the development of cross sectional areas of each muscle. It is responsible for explosive power. You have to lift maximal loads in order to promote the development of these “fast twitch” motor units. Strength and power are close cousins. When you are performing maximal strength training, you explode into the lift. You fire a burst of energy into the weight propelling them to the desired destination. You must remember the first lesson about strict and proper form. Do not ruin your workout by flopping like a fish under the weight. If you have to do that, then take some of the weight off of the bar. Remember: you didn’t really lift it at all if you flopped your way through it. More importantly, flopping and squirming invites bench-sitting injury. Believe it!

Power Strength Training for Football

You have to possess the ability to instantly convert all of your strength into booming power to prevail on the football field. The stronger and more powerful athlete is the one who will best survive a collision. You have to accentuate your functional, hypertrophy and maximal training sessions with power strength training. You want your CNS to recruit fast twitch muscle fibers as quickly as possible. Now that you understand that more than just going in and fish-flopping through your workouts is needed in order to develop the total package for football, you need to understand something else: Cycle training. If you wish to optimize your strength training for football, then you have to incorporate all of the above training methods.

Develop a timeline. Construct a program to cycle through each of the training types in succession. Functional training is followed by hypertrophy work. Follow that with 4 weeks each of maximal and power training and then repeat. Vary your training. You do not want your body to plateau so training cannot be the same consistantly. Think of your body as a multifaceted machine that needs different care at different times. Always take your time with each individual rep to ensure proper form. Develop symmetrically. Develop tendon and ligament strength. You must develop size and power!

Release your inner beast through diverse and intelligent training and rule the field!

Ice hockey is a Canadian sport in tradition and leadership which began in the early 19th century, and is now played seriously in 20 countries. Some of those countries include: Canada, USA, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Slovakia, and many other nations. Today, it is an Olympic sport and the most popular team sport played on ice. Traditionally, it’s most popular found in areas that are cold for natural, reliable seasonal ice cover, though with the increase of indoor artificial ice rinks, it has become a year-round pastime at the amateur level in major metropolitan areas such as cities that host an NHL or other professional-league team.

It is played on a rectangular rink that consists of curved corners whose length may vary from approximately 184 to 200 ft, and its width from approximately 85 to 98 ft, plenty of room to have some fun. It consists of three periods of equal length. Typically, each period runs for 20 minutes at most levels, but often 12 or 15 minutes in youth classifications. In soccer, a “soccer ball” is used. In basketball, a “basketball” is used. In the case of hockey, it is a puck that is used, which is made of vulcanized rubber in round shape. When all is said and done, and the facts have been looked at, it is clear that ice hockey is superior to field hockey.

The main difference between men’s and women’s ice hockey is that for women, body checking is not allowed. Even today, hockey is one of the fastest growing sports in the world for women, with the number of participants increasing more than a whopping 400 percent in the last decade.

A Few known Facts About Hockey Players

In today’s hockey game, about roughly thirty percent of the games players are not North American. Under IIHF rules, each team may carry a maximum of 20 players and two goaltenders on their roster. During normal play, the hockey rink consists of six players per side on the ice at any given time. The five players other than the goaltender are typically divided into three forwards and two defence man.

Hockey players control the puck using a long stick with a blade that is commonly curved at one end, also known as a “hockey stick.”

These “hockey sticks” are used to pass, stick handle and shoot the puck, and to propel their sledges. Players are also well padded with hockey equipment. These mainly consist of: knee, hip, shin, shoulder and elbow pads, thick gauntlet type gloves, long stockings that fit over the knee pads, padded shorts that lace up at the front, and sweaters in team colours over everything.

In all, there are many articles, and information in general, that you can find on the Internet about the sport of ice hockey. Hopefully, the information you read here, will help spark some interest in this great game we call “Hockey.”It is a game that consists of relatively simple rules, yet at the same time is every bit as fun to play today as it was when it was first released nearly a century ago.

It’s a fast paced, exciting, family friendly spectator sport with fans that range from ages 5 all the way to 95. Let’s face it, once that puck drops, it instantly becomes a blast to play. In reverse, it also becomes a very enjoyable game to watch. The game’s been around for a very long time, and quite frankly, it’s going to be here for a very long time. If your one that really enjoys sports in general, but have yet to try a game of ice hockey, what are you waiting for? Put on those skates, and hit the ice! I promise, you won’t regret it. Good luck!

Have you ever wondered why certain basketball players don’t measure up to their potential? Players that have incredible skills and abilities but then can’t make it beyond organized high school basketball are a dime a dozen. There are many possible theories out there why this is so but we feel that the reasons are few and simple. Our purpose for this article is to explain those reasons and give players the awareness they need to stand out from their peers and to make it to the level of competition they desire.

Lack of Focus
For most players it is very easy to get bored with details when it comes to fundamentals and technique. Let’s admit, it’s a lot more fun to play pick up games than to work on things like proper foot movement, shooting technique, ball control and etc. Because of this most players neglect to focus on small details of their game. All great players have spent countless hours in the gym working on the fine details of their game and have made the commitment necessary to learn the proper drills and fundamentals that will enhance their skills. At the High School level of competition a good player can still stand out and dominate their competition without focusing on the little things. However once they get to the next level, if they haven’t developed the proper fundamentals and techniques of every facet of the game they will almost always under-perform and have serious regrets. So when you have spare time during the week, instead of organizing a pick up game start focusing on the small detailed fundamentals of your game and work on perfecting them.

Lack of Drive
Playing big time basketball requires a lot of your commitment and time. Many players think they have the passion it requires to excel at the next level when in reality they aren’t even close. Liking to play lots of basketball and pick up games doesn’t qualify you for having the necessary drive. Those that really have the drive give up many meaningful things in their life just to dedicate more time to sharpening their basketball skills. It’s a tough thing to do because when you’re young there are so many things that you want to get involved in. You want to spend time with your friends, you want to go to parties, you want to spend every waking hour with your girlfriend/boyfriend and that’s just to name a few. The reality is, the game of basketball has become so competitive that if you don’t make it your #1 focus and then back that up by setting your priorities around it, you’ll be left in the dust. Certainly we don’t feel that it’s necessarily wrong to have other interests than basketball, we just want to make it clear that those players that really have the drive make basketball their top priority. Once again a player can actually do very well during high school with a lack of drive but once they get to the next level they will face the consequences.

Lack of Intensity
This is sometimes what people are referring to when they say that a player has the “it” factor. Basketball players that are intense almost always succeed because they absolutely hate to lose or perform poorly. A lot of players are extremely gifted and have tremendous skills but because they lack intensity they can never win the big games and will not be able to make it beyond High School Basketball. Some argue that intensity is something that cannot be taught or learned. They claim that it’s something you are just born with. We adamantly disagree with that. A player can learn and acquire intensity if they make an effort to do so. Nobody can do it for them though and that’s what is so frustrating for most coaches. You have to make the decision that you are an intense player and then you must perform with aggression and passion over and over again until it becomes a habit. Once you truly develop intensity you will play with a very aggressive attitude and you will not tolerate poor performances by yourself or your teammates. If it doesn’t bother you very much when you lose or under-perform you have a lot of work ahead of you.

Lack of Confidence
If you don’t think you are going to make every shot you put up you don’t have much of a reason to be on the court. Great basketball players have enough confidence in their abilities and skills to take the shot when it’s there. When players suffer from poor shooting or poor performance it often times has nothing to do with their mechanics or abilities and everything to do with their head. Do whatever you have to do to develop confidence in your abilities. If it requires you to spend hours and hours in the gym so be it. Also work on your mental preparation. Thinking about your shots and imaging you making them is just as important of a pre-game activity as stretching and warming up. Don’t ever go into a game where you haven’t spent a good ten minutes meditating about your performance. Go through scenarios in your head and imagine yourself handling them with confidence. Make yourself aware of the fact that you will miss some shots from time to time but that it won’t hinder your concentration and confidence one bit. It seems silly to a lot of people and that’s one reason why it doesn’t get done very often but it’s something all great players do.

Lack of Humility
It’s one thing to be confident about your abilities but if you’re so confident that you deny the weaknesses in your game you’ve hit a wall that will block your progression as a basketball player. Nobody is perfect. The minute you think you are so good that you don’t need to practice is when you start setting yourself up for failure. If you’ve become better than most players in your school and in your area, rest assured that there are players all over the world that have twice the skills as you and are competing to play at the same level you are.

Summary
Good skilled basketball players exist all over the world. With the game of basketball becoming so popular and so competitive only the best of the best have what it takes to play at the next level. Although it can be very difficult players can turn themselves into stars if they have the focus, drive, intensity, confidence and humility that is required to stand out.

The English have always prided themselves in having the best domestic cup competition in the world but until this season there has been very little evidence of that claim.

But this season alone we have seen a non-league side like Havant and Waterlooville go to Anfield and take the lead against the mighty Liverpool before eventually losing gallantly by 5-2.

Luton Town, a team about to go into administration because of immense money problems holding Liverpool to a home draw, Oldham winning at high-flying Everton, Huddersfield being on level terms with Chelsea at half-time at Stamford Bridge and Barnsley going to Anfield an winning by 2-1 with the winning goal right at the death.

This and other results made Manchester United and Chelsea the clear favourites to win the FA Cup. By the quarter-final stage the draw pitted Manchester United at home to Portsmouth, Chelsea away to Barnsley, Middlesboro at home to Cardiff and West Brom at home to Bristol Rovers.

These meant 4 teams from the premiership, 3 from the championship and 1 from league one. You would have got long odds in not having 3 premiership sides in the semi-finals before the start of play but what transpired was so astonishing that most people still cannot believe it.

On Saturday, Portsmouth travelled to Manchester United hoping at most for a draw to take them back to Fratton Park but fate was to play a huge part. United missed a lot of chances in both halves but perhaps the most telling event was when goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Saar was uneable to come out for the 2nd half due to a groin injury and his replacement Tomasz Kuszczak was sent off for bringing down Milan Baros as he bore down on goal.

There was no doubt it was a penalty but the decision to send him off was very harsh as the rule states that if you deliberately stop a goal scoring opportunity then you have to be sent off but from replays it did show that Kuszczak accidentally brought down Baros and should have got a yellow card at most. Rio Ferdinand went in goal as there was no other goalkeeper on the bench but Sulley Muntari dispatched the penalty brilliantly to put the favourites out.

Another point that was controversial was that Wayne Rooney and Anderson were behind the goalkeeper so he was not the last man but Chris Kamara on Sky’s Goals on Sunday stated that the rules have been changed and it does not matter if you are the last man or not but later that day I did see Barcelona goalkeeper deliberately bring down Villareal’s Leo Franco thereby stopping a goal scoring opportunity with defenders like Gaby Milito and Lilian Thuram about but all he was shown was a yellow card.

The talking point was Cristiano Ronaldo being denied a penalty when Silvian Distin clearly barged into him in the penalty box. Personally I thought it was a foul but an indirect free kick in the penalty box as it was an obstruction and not a push. The game ended 1-0 to Portsmouth and Chelsea had a clear way to the FA Cup or so it seemed.

Chelsea kicked off in the evening against Barnsley confident that they would retain their trophy but Barnsley had other plans and almost totally dominated the premiership side before their striker Kayode Odejayi, who had not netted in 28 games, previously rose majestically to head home the winner to the astonishment and sheer delight of the Barnsley supporters and neutrals around the country.

If those were not enough, on Sunday, Cardiff City went to Middlesboro and totally outplayed the premiership side winning by 2-0 with Guy Whittingham scoring the goal of the round to put his side in front before Roger Johnson headed in the winning goal to make it 2 championship sides in the semi-final.

West Brom then defeated Bristol Rovers 5-1 to make it an astonishing 3 championship sides in the semis and 1 premiership side to bring the romance back to the FA Cup.