Posts Tagged ‘Play’

by Oliver W

Determining how to condition properly for hockey is a controversial subject that is debated by coaches from the atom ranks all the way up to the pros.  When it comes to designing an off-season training program, most experts agree on how to best develop strength, speed and power in young hockey players, but there is always disagreement on how to best develop conditioning.

Slow & Steady Does NOT Win the Race

The game of hockey is characterized by short, explosive, high-intensity efforts interspersed with periods of complete rest.  The best hockey players in the world are the ones who are strong, fast, agile and powerful – not those who can run at 10 miles in the fastest time.  Hockey is simply not an endurance sport.  In fact, the best players on the ice tend to be the ones who perform poorly on off-ice tests of endurance.  

The challenge is that players feel as though they are becoming more fit for hockey by focusing on increasing their endurance in the off-season.  Players who go for long slow distance runs over the summer will definitely develop their endurance, but this enhancement will come at the expense of their ability to perform at the highest intensity level consistently throughout the game.

Do You Want to  Be “Fit” or “Fast”?

Ultimately, on the issue of proper conditioning for hockey, it comes down to choosing between being aerobically ‘fit’ or being strong, fast and powerful.  Players must make a trade-off when it comes to conditioning.  They can either possess a high level of endurance or game-breaking speed and quickness.  It is physiologically impossible to develop both of these qualities to their highest extent in athletes.  

Elite hockey players are speed and power athletes and must train to enhance those qualities.  Players must develop their ability to perform repeated high-intensity intervals and maintain their ‘jump’ and explosiveness throughout an entire game, instead of focusing on their ability to go for long distances at a moderate pace.

In the majority of cases, young players are simply unaware that the endurance training they are devoting so much time and energy to is actually detrimental to their overall performance on the ice. 

Bottom line:  When young players focus on doing long slow distance training instead of high-intensity interval-based training, they are quite often training themselves OUT of hockey shape and are making themselves SLOW. 

More Hockey Articles

by Paolo Camera

Horse Racing on Lake of the Isles, Minneapolis, 1929


Image by John McNab
I live two blocks from this lake; winter excitement there is sorely lacking these days.

If you want an easy winner in a horse race there is one situation that produces proven winners every day.  It is also one of the quickest spot plays to find because it stands out.  All you have to do is scan a race and these winners will jump off the page at you, and yet, they are still going off at good prices, in fact, some are even long shots.  If you think these claims are a lot of hot air, I’ll prove it to you with actual examples that I recently cashed tickets on and you can judge for yourself whether this is just another come on.

On Saturday, August 28th, 2010 at Del Mar Race Track, I cashed two good winning tickets on horses that it took seconds to spot.  One of those winners paid .60 and the other paid .20.  For a base bet of I collected .80.  I admit they don’t win all the time, but you’d be surprised at how often these spot plays do win.  I have written countless articles about these spotplays and yet, the crowd still lets them go off at good prices.

I am talking about the spot play that I call, “The Only One.”  The only one simply means that the horse is the only one in the race who has won at both the distance and the race track.  It is the only one in the race who has demonstrated the ability to do what is being asked of it.  It is so easy and quick to find these great winners.  Just scan the race and look at the figures for races at the track and distance.  If you find a horse with a win in each one, and it is the only horse in the race who gets a check mark in each of those two categories, it is a play.

In the past I have had huge winners this way and have also documented them in other articles.  So which horses am I talking about at Del Mar?  In the 6th race, “Where’s the Remote,” was the only horse with a win at Del Mar and a win at the distance.  In fact, the gray-roan gelding had just won over that very course on the turf.  He was at 5-2 in the morning line, but was bet down to 6-5 and paid, .20.  More than doubling my money on such a horse was nice, but the best was yet to come.

In the feature race of the day, the Grade l Pacific Classic Stakes, only one horse had won at the distance and at Del Mar.  Other horses had won at Del Mar and other horses had won at the distance, but not both.  Not only was there an Only One in this race, but the horse had also won the same race last year!  “Surely this horse had to be the favorite,” you’re saying to yourself.

“Richard’s Kid,” the horse I am writing about, was the Only One and he went off at 9-2 and paid .60.  I couldn’t believe that the crowd let him go off at such generous odds, but easy winners and quick picks are what this amazing spot play is all about.  I have been handicapping for decades and make a living teaching other people how to handicap.  When I tell them about such spot plays and then they go looking for them, they are always amazed at how easy it is to pick winners and how much common sense is involved.  These horses are truly best bets and proven winners.

Related Horse Racing Articles

by The Library of Congress

[Miller Huggins, St. Louis NL (baseball)] (LOC)


Image by The Library of Congress
Bain News Service,, publisher.

[Miller Huggins, St. Louis NL (baseball)]

[1914]

1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.

Notes:
Original data provided by the Bain News Service on the negatives or caption cards: Huggins, Cards.
Corrected title and date based on research by the Pictorial History Committee, Society for American Baseball Research, 2006.
Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).

Format: Glass negatives.

Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.

Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

General information about the Bain Collection is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.ggbain

Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.14395

Call Number: LC-B2- 2843-6

Ask any baseball fan what it takes to succeed as a baseball player and usually talk about bat speed, arm strength, foot speed and power. You rarely hear about the mental skills needed to excel in the game. The major mental techniques include focus, concentration, confidence and serenity. It is therefore important to start teaching techniques of baseball early in the mental development of a player.

By learning to play baseball, most people start playing league baseball as a child. As you get older, baseball, because a large part of his life that could play in high school and college choice. As you age and improve in the game, there are some pieces of equipment that is likely to use as they learn and practice. Equipment such as pitching machines, baseball weighted, and even baseball training aids help you or your child feel better and better at baseball in the time passes. Baseball is a very popular sport that usually gives a lot of discipline and long term, the lessons, so it can be a great sport for kids of all ages.

Choose one child from each team. Decide who goes first. Give your child a Bible review question. If he / she will correct it, you now have the opportunity to choose a card from the bucket. If they choose the card only move to first base, fold the card moves to second base, triple card moves to third base and the Home Run card gives an automatic home run. Place the chosen card back into the bucket. At this point in the game, both teams have had their first players’ at bat. ”

There is evidence that something works out watching over and over again that lesson will lock into your mind. If you are able to do something perfect and then apply it to their practice, is more likely to succeed. In baseball, this is especially true. The practice is one of the most important aspects of baseball. It is the reason why teams spend six weeks in spring training each year before the start of the season and the number of games. They head to the warm temperatures in Arizona and Florida to play over and over again have been practicing all his life. These are professionals who are doing this, so imagine how good it will do for the beginner, child, or the fan who wants his recreational softball game!

Each game revolves around a baseball bat and a ball. The ball has a cork center is wrapped in string and then covered with a layer of leather which are then stitched. The bat is made of metal or wood, usually maple or ash. metal bats are not allowed in professional games, but many minor league and Little League teams to enter.

Once the batter begins his swing, the back leg which is still housing approximately 60% of body weight will rotate in what is known commonly as the pivot. As the rotation occurs, look to see if the weight and flexion of the hind leg is still present. A simple way to know if this has happened is to see if there is an imaginary vertical line that goes from the inside shoulder through the hip, knee, back through the end of the swing.

BlueClaws, Monmouth to play exhibition
The Lakewood BlueClaws and the Monmouth University baseball team will play an exhibition game at FirstEnergy Park, Lakewood, on April 5, two days before the BlueClaws’ season opener. Ticket proceeds from the exhibition game will benefit BlueClaws Charities . read more
Read more on Suburban

Hendrickson to offer free baseball seminars to local youngsters
Nine-year major league veteran Mark Hendrickson will help lead a sports development seminar at Phases Fitness in York Township later this month.
Read more on The York Dispatch

by The Library of Virginia

Who said girls can not play football? I am a girl and I love football. I also call kicking a round ball ‘football’. The phrase ‘football’ is used to associate in kicking anything. I like to say ‘in playing football with a paper ball’ or ‘I am just playing football with a bottle’. The word football is commonly used in kicking something around. I have seen people play football with anything like bottles or cans. They usually just state that it is a kick about. But from this it is a sport which can relax your mind and divert your attention to something more competitive and fun. When I am walking down the street and I spot a stone. I sometimes kick it until I lose it. This is a skill of handling direction. Anyone can play football; it is not only a boy’s game. It is stereotyped to be a boy’s game, but the larger the sport is going, all genders are getting involved. I play with a bunch of lads. It is a bit tougher but exciting. Who said girls do not understand the off side rule. I do. So do not think football is just a boy’s game. It’s a girl’s game too. It is a extremely healthy sport so get your girls involved in football courses. childrens football organizations would allow any gender to play together properly to a certain age. While they are young, probably up to the age of 6, they could play together.  After the age of 6, lads tend to get excited and play a bit rough, however it is still a safe and clean match when in supervision of a coach through football courses.

Getting your girls involved in kids football can enhance them to develop skills that they use whilst growing up. Believe it or not, girls have professional football teams too. For example England has a girl’s football team. From the sports England’s active survey in 2008, they state that 260,000 women and 1.1 million girls play some form of football in England. There are also 26 million girls that play across the world.   Achieving the professional level,  20,000 females have successfully accomplished a position in the FA coaching qualification. Women’s football has a highly recognized name in player’s pathway and a strong center of excellence.  Getting your young girls involved in kids football will not turn them into boys, it will build their self confidence and improve and develop new and existing skills.

Many girls love to play football. Allowing your girls to join football courses and getting involved in kids football will allow them to experiment in a exciting but mentally and physically stimulating sport. Girls tend to love footballers; I use to fancy Michael Owen.  I see great players like Michael Owen as a role model. I want to play like then even though I have a soft spot for him. Playing childrens football is not always a dangerous match. Accidents do happen but the skills needed, like these great players, consist of a lot of mental and physical strength.

childrens football is one of the most renowned games, especially for the younger generation. So, girls lets show these boys what we are made out of.

More Football Articles

by The Library of Congress

[Smoky Joe Wood, Boston AL (baseball)] (LOC)


Image by The Library of Congress
Bain News Service,, publisher.

[Smoky Joe Wood, Boston AL (baseball)]

[1912]

1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.

Notes:
Original data provided by the Bain News Service on the negatives or caption cards: Wood, Bosox.
Corrected title and date based on research by the Pictorial History Committee, Society for American Baseball Research, 2006.
Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).

Subjects:
Baseball

Format: Glass negatives.

Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.

Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

General information about the Bain Collection is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.ggbain

Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.10314

Call Number: LC-B2- 2387-13

Sports are fantastic hobbies to pursue and involvement in sports can be beneficial for the overall mental and physical health. Baseball is the most iconic American game that never fails to attract more and more players into it. For enjoying the baseball game one needs to have the proper baseball gear so that the highest level of enjoyment and expertise can be achieved.  There are several types of baseball equipment available in the market and therefore, choosing the right kind of equipment can be a daunting task.

Baseball gear is must to have for a great game and a high score. So whether you are a player or a coach, you definitely need to get the right turf shoes, the right baseball bats and the right baseball gloves. The materials from which these baseball accessories and equipments are made have changed dramatically over the years. One company, Akadema, has been making baseball equipment for years, and over the years has retained the same quality by using quality leather for its baseball gloves and only the best wood for the quality Akadema line of baseball bats that baseball players have grown to know and love.

The players no longer use the plain old baseball bat but it has been replaced by precision crafted baseball bats. The baseball products of today are specifically made to provide the player with the best of comfort and ease of use. But choosing the branded baseball gear is always better though it can be a bit heavy on your pockets, unlike Akadema brand baseball gear. Spending a few more bucks on branded equipment and accessories can get you many advantages, but with brands like Akadema, from www.MyOnlineSportsDepot.com you can have the same quality equipment at a much lower cost. Akadema brand will last longer, and take a beating, while giving you a firmer grip on the baseball or that extra drive behind the ball when batting to help you to play with much more dexterity and power. It will also have the best of breathable and lightweight materials that can enable you to play without getting exhausted.

If you are looking forward to buying yourself some good baseball equipment then the internet is the place to find the best deals. There are plenty of websites that cater to the need of providing you with the most common baseball accessories at an affordable price, like www.MyOnlineSportsDepot.com. Not only that but there are online deals and stock clearance sales or other discounts offered on the internet.

More Baseball Articles

by The Library of Congress

[Honus Wagner, Mike Donlin, manager Fred Clarke, Marty O'Toole, Pittsburgh NL (baseball)] (LOC)


Image by The Library of Congress
Bain News Service,, publisher.

[Honus Wagner, Mike Donlin, manager Fred Clarke, Marty O'Toole, Pittsburgh NL (baseball)]

1912.

1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.

Notes:
Original data provided by the Bain News Service on the negatives or caption cards: Wagner, Donlin, Clark, O’Toole – Pitts 1912.
Corrected title based on research by the Pictorial History Committee, Society for American Baseball Research, 2006.
Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).

Subjects:
Baseball

Format: Glass negatives.

Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.

Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

General information about the Bain Collection is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.ggbain

Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.10375

Call Number: LC-B2- 2394-3-x

In this article is how to learn to play baseball fast review based on the ebook of Joe Brockhoff’s Learn Baseball Hitting.

Click Here For Learn Baseball Hitting Instant Access Now!

The Super 8 Hitting System guide authored by Joe Brockhoff will teach you all the techniques on becoming a better hitter and makes other baseball training aids obsolete. Revealed in this guide are new techniques in understanding the seven deadly misconceptions about hitting and learning how to overcome them with an easy to use proven system. Their baseball instructions are used by hundreds of players and the results are astonishing. Forty five of his players went to play professional baseball.

It was stated in this guide that baseball players generate mind boggling power because they train hard and use simple hitting techniques. Results will be slower if you’re not using a hitting system and training. So in this guide they have included a remarkable resource that gives you a paint-by numbers guide how to set up, implement and dominate your competition with tactical precision. Included in this guide is the key to hitting and building your baseball career at hyper speed.

In this e-course you will learn the blue print for a rock solid training system, including the right way to go from stance to finish, so you can avoid making the mistakes that so many hitters do. The newbie baseball player often commits this mistake; they approach hitting without a plan. This guide will teach you the precise formula for success. Also learn a rarely used strategy that will boost your batting average overnight. How a hitter must train his hips to take him to the ball and make consistent contact. This ebook will teach

Learn Baseball Hitting includes three free bonuses about Super 8 Hitting System Videos, the Free Video Bonus – Hitting Drills for Explosive Bat Speed and Behind the Scenes Baseball Coaching Strategies. The entire ebook plus the three bonuses is only .

Click Here For Learn Baseball Hitting Instant Access Now!

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by The Library of Congress

[Wid Conroy, Washington, AL (baseball)] (LOC)


Image by The Library of Congress
Bain News Service,, publisher.

[Wid Conroy, Washington, AL (baseball)]

[1911]

1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.

Notes:
Original data provided by the Bain News Service on the negatives or caption cards: Conroy, Washington. Baseball.
Corrected title and date based on research by the Pictorial History Committee, Society for American Baseball Research, 2006.
Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).

Subjects:
Baseball

Format: Glass negatives.

Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.

Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

General information about the Bain Collection is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.ggbain

Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.09135

Call Number: LC-B2- 2189-11

Fantasy Baseball 101: How to Play Rotisserie League Scoring System

Are you a beginner in this fantasy baseball game? Let us give you a short introduction to fantasy baseball with our rotisserie league baseball guide.

Rotisserie scoring, also called “roto,” is the most popular and most common fantasy baseball scoring system. Fantasy baseball became progressive and entered mainstream media when the system of Rotisserie League Baseball was developed in the 80s. The credit for inventing Rotisserie League Baseball was given to writer and editor Daniel Okrent.

Daniel Okrent was the person to come up with the concept of Rotisserie League Baseball and he was able to come up with the idea on a flight to Texas. He then presented his vision of this fantasy baseball game to his pals who, at first, were not at all interested in the Rotisserie League Baseball game. Okrent went back to New York and found himself another group to collaborate with and soon enough, Okrent and his friends were naming it La Rotisserie Fran軋ise.

In this early stages of fantasy baseball, the Rotisserie League Baseball had owners who would pick or draft teams from a list of active players in Major League Baseball. Okrent and his friend also used real statistics taken from the ongoing season to consolidate their scores. This was a major shift in the time line of fantasy baseball as the earlier games were based on statistics of the season that passed. With Rotisserie League Baseball it was like the fantasy baseball players were real baseball team owners who would have to make similar predictions about players and their performances to determine which players are best to pick in a draft. As Okrent was part of the media club, it was journalists and other reporters who were first introduced to the game.

Rotisserie league baseball became a full on hobby and a extremely popular game, especially as it hit the 1980s. When USA Today featured the Rotisserie League Baseball, the whole game became even more popular and mainstream which has spurred what you know as fantasy football, and even fantasy sports, today.

A special paper was also created specifically for it and was developed just for the fantasy baseball rotisserie league.

The advent of digital technology and the evolution of the Internet has turned the fantasy baseball game into a multi-million dollar industry with thousand of participants all over the world. It has also made fantasy football statistics done in a precise and speedy manner by computer. Different fantasy baseball leagues today develop a scoring system that is innately their own and the computations of their statistics are very accurate.

Fantasy baseball is exciting precisely because it is some sort of real time stimulation of the major leagues. It encourages fans of baseball to not only be spectators of the game but be participants.

More Baseball Articles

To the uninitiated, soccer formations might sound complicated. But with the help of a few practical examples, you can learn about the 4-4-2 formation right up to the more obscure ones at the other end of the scale.

A soccer formation is the way that the coach arranges his eleven players on the field. Generally these rotate around the four cardinal soccer positions for football formations: goalkeeper, defense, midfield, and attack. The formations given in numbers are simply the number of defenders, midfielders, and attackers in the line-up. (There’s no need to provide the 1 at the start for a goalkeeper as it’s pretty much a given that every team needs one goalie!)

Formations make a difference as they can cancel out what the opposition coach has planned, as well as serve the strengths of your own soccer team. For example, if you have three great forwards, you might try a 4-3-3, or if you have some very fast, fit, small players, you can attack up the wings in a 4-4-2.

With that in mind, we’ll take a look at some of the popular soccer formations below.

4-4-2: Every aspiring soccer coach has the 442 as his trusty standby. This classic formation grew popular in the mid-to-late 20th century and features four defenders, four midfielders, and two forwards. Within this there is variance, but generally the players who are in the middle are more defensive while the creativity comes from out wide. Tall, commanding centre-backs can pass the ball to swift full-backs, who play at either side of the defensive ‘four’, and they will in turn feed the ‘wingers’ ahead of them, while the central midfielders will play the simple passes and also tackle the opposition. Up front are two strikers whose job it is to hold the ball up and wait for support, or simply to put it in the back of the net!

4-4-2 Diamond: This 4-4-2 variant places more emphasis on central play, with a “playmaker” in the middle of the midfield four supporting the forwards. This must be a player of vision and with a great pass. The full-backs have to support the forwards, too, with bursting runs, while the remaining three midfielders have a lot of defensive work to do.

3-5-2: The 3-5-2 works similarly up front to the other two, but other than that it varies due to a change on the wings – the wide part of the field. The five-man midfield generally contains two “wing-backs”, who combine the role of the full back with that of an attacker. These players must be very fit as they’ll be running up and down those lines for a full 90 minutes! As soccer lineups go the 3-5-2 is becoming unfashionable, but with the right wide players available, not to mention a tough-tackling defensive midfielder in the middle of the five, it can work very well.

4-5-1: A very ‘negative’, defensive formation, the 4-5-1 ironically gives a great deal of work to the lone attacker up front. This striker may have to do a lot of dribbling, holding up the ball, and passing backwards to gain the support of his midfield. Still, with wingers, it can be a fine formation with which to practice the ‘counter-attack’ (breaking forward to score while the opposition are

Nothing is more important for a soccer fan, than his team’s colors and badge. In the soccer uniform, the club’s badge is on the chest, placed close to the heart.

In the nineteenth century, soccer uniforms had long sleeved shirts and they used knickerbockers that covered the knees in place of the shorts used today, and long socks.

When television was black and white, the color of the soccer uniforms were very important, when one team played in light uniforms the other team had to play in dark. In this way, viewers could tell which team was which, and also the players were able to tell where their team mates were on the field. The basic soccer uniform is made up of shirts (jerseys), shorts, socks and shoes.

The goalkeeper has a slightly different uniform from the rest of the team; the jersey has to be a different color as he is the only one allowed to use his hands in the game. The difference in the goalkeeper’s uniform is necessary so that viewers and players can easily recognize which player he is. The goalkeepers usually use special gloves for defending the ball.

The referee and his assistants also need different color uniforms so that they aren’t mistaken for any other player in the field. Players also use protections such as shin pads which can also be included as part of the uniform.

Before uniforms were made of heavy material, when wet with sweat or rain, they would stick to the player’s body. Nowadays, soccer uniforms are made from light synthetic material that doesn’t stick when wet and doesn’t weigh as much as the old uniforms.

The design of the soccer uniforms was quite different in the old days compared to today’s design. The shirts had a collar similar to a polo shirt, with laces or buttons on them. In the more modern uniforms the collars are something like modern T-shirts. The shorts today are very different from the ones used in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, quite shorter and much lighter than before. The socks are quite the same today, but some socks have a few details like lines, the club badge or name.

Today, there are quite a few famous uniforms, like the Brazilian national team, which are famous all over the world, especially among the youngsters. The use of these uniforms as a marketing strategy has become quite common and pretty effective, with sponsors on club or national uniforms.

The amount of official replica soccer uniforms sold is quite big due to marketing campaigns, the passion of the fans towards their national team or the club they support. The uniform manufacturers also use the name of famous players to sell more. Names like Ronaldinho, Beckham, and Zidane are very much used so that more and more uniforms are sold.

The clubs invest highly in marketing their own brand name and their players’ names as a way of popularizing the brand and the club or national team. Some clubs and national teams make special editions of their uniforms for important games or anniversaries.

The use of soccer uniforms in marketing has helped the main brands of sports clothes and these uniforms, especially the jerseys are used by young people to go out to parties, going to shopping centres and even on dates.