Monday, January 23, 2012
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Eagles criticised for lacklustre performance
West Coast Eagles player Shannon Hurn has defended his team's performance during a close game with the Gold Coast Suns in the AFL.
Tags: australian-football-league, perth-6000Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Crows under pressure after another poor performance
Despite leading by 11 points at the first change, Adelaide were outclassed and outmuscled by a much more desperate Lions team, who kicked 14 goals to 5 after quarter time to win for just the second time this season.
The win continued the Lions AFL recovery since Jonathan Brown's return to the side
Brisbane were dominant throughout the 15.11 (101) to 8.13 (61) win after a shaky first quarter, outplaying their hosts in the midfield skirmishes while their defence easily outmarked all comers, thanks to inspired performances from Daniel Merritt (11 marks, 17 disposals) and Mitch Clark.
Clark ran the show with 22 touches and two goals while Ashley McGrath (four goals), Todd Banfield (three) and Bryce Retzlaff (two) made hay in front of goal in the Adelaide sun.
The win is Brisbane's second on the trot as the Lions continue to rediscover their form after Brown returned from a facial injury lay-off in last week's win over the Kangaroos.
It lifts Brisbane off the bottom of the ladder, having a better for-and-against than Queensland rival Gold Coast, while the Crows remain in 13th spot.
FINAL SCORE
Brisbane: 15.11 (101) - A McGrath 4, T Banfield 3, B Retzlaff 2, M Clark 2, D Rich, J O'Brien, L Power, T Collier
Adelaide: 8.13 (61) - B Smith, C Knights, M Wright, N van Berlo, P Dangerfield, R Henderson, S Jacobs, T Walker
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Recovery from Strenuous Sports Performance Training
What is recovery from strenuous sports performance training about? People who exercise regularly and play sports often spend a lot of time preparing careful sports performance training programmes. These focus on positively building all the areas of fitness and technique important to the successful conduct of their favorite activity. Some enthusiastic runners, cyclists and triathletes plan their year's activities around participation in races (marathon, triathlon, etc) or hoping to perform maximally at each race. In the haste to go faster and stronger, an important aspect of training is often neglected: sports recovery. From the experience of successful athletes though (particularly those in endurance sports) more time spent on sports recovery leads to improvement in the quality of sports performance training as well as optimal results in competition.
What is Sports Recovery?
Exercise at all levels of intensity acts to do one thing to the body: it depletes it. The depletion involves your energy stores (muscle glycogen, blood glucose and fat products in your blood), hormones, and muscle structures. In other words, you use up the body's valuable resources as you exercise and something must be done to replace them.
In order to return to training and to continue conditioning your body to meet your exercise goals, it is
important to create time and take active steps to bring about a re-building of the depleted body resources. This is what sports recovery is all about: the conscious action to help the body return to its optimal exercise state. This is especially important if you are intending to exercise intensively or for long durations soon after an exhausting bout. This could be endurance programme training, multi-stage bike race, or sports competitions that are only 2-4 weeks apart
Why bother with Sports Recovery?
In the very simplest terms you need to bother with sports recovery to keep you physically exercising at the level that you want to. Even more importantly, to allow the body's systems to re-charge sufficiently that your mental edge remains honed to that fine sharpness you desire. A blunted edge comes about from insufficient recovery and can come back to haunt you in these ways: staleness, loss of interest, reduced physical ability, decreased sports performance training tolerance. Yes indeed, the first steps towards over-training.
A good approach to sports recovery will ensure that the quality of your sports performance training and competition is high. This will contribute to you feeling satisfied with your efforts and achievements, and bring about continued confidence in your chosen endurance sport. Good recovery also enables you to exert a greater overall sense of control of your sports performance training destiny!
When should I think about Sports Recovery?
You should consider sports recovery at both macro- and micro-levels. An example of a macro level would be a period of sports performance training preparation time (e.g. a week or month), or the period between competitions on your race calendar. A micro-level consideration would be after a single very hard or exhaustive work-out.
At the macro level, the depletion of resources will have arisen as a systematic and progressive wearing away that parallels your rigorously planned training program. It is not the single mind-blowing training session that is involved here but rather the accumulated effect of all the sessions combined, and possibly inclusive of the race. While a single sports performance training session may leave you feeling fatigued, the depletion of body resources over a period of time (it can be as short as a week or as long as months) will leave you feeling that your ability to physically exert yourself is a little blunted. Your legs feel heavy and tired, and are unable to sustain prolonged effort in the way they used to.
The micro recovery level answers the body's aching need following that supremely challenging sports
performance training session, back-to-back training sessions in some training camp, or the actual huge
effort put into a competitive event (e.g. marathon running) . The latter involves not just the event itself but also the mental stress, increased adrenaline surges, and even mundane activities such as travel to the competition venue.
What are the steps I should take to recover properly?
Ensure that you take account of your macro and micro needs. Maintain an awareness of these using a
sports performance training /race calendar that allows you to visually assess the training and competition phases you are going through. Akin to the periodisation approach to training, this will help you to plan for recovery periods and make these an integral part of your sports performance training plan. Now consider the elements of the recovery: nutrition, structure regeneration, inflammation reduction, hormonal, and mental. Make plans for each of these.
Nutrition involves replacing the resources that you have used up in your prodigious attempts to go faster and stronger. This includes particular emphasis on replacing the following nutritional components: carbohydrates to re-build muscle glycogen for muscle recovery, and minerals and electrolytes to make up for loss in your sweat. The best time to re-build glycogen stores is within the first 3 hours after sports performance training as this is when the rate of glycogen storage is highest. Such storage remains elevated in the next 21 hours but not at the same rate as during what has been called the "critical re-energising window." There is scientific evidence to suggest that the very first hour after your exercise bout is actually the time that your body responds best to glycogen replenishment.
However, for some athletes, there are barriers that need to be overcome to meet this immediate post-
exercise nutrition need. This includes not feeling hungry or not having the correct nutrition available.
Positive steps must be taken to overcome these. Have nutrition available. If you can't stomach eating, then drink your nutrition (energy drinks, carbohydrate mixes). Find nutritional sources that agree with you, and use these.
If you are quite lean (meaning your body fat content is low), you should also ensure that your energy
replacement includes a balanced diet that has FAT and protein in it. Your overall energy needs are higher than someone who has not discovered long distance runs or triathlon training yet (poor people). So meet your higher energy needs and balance the sources of your energy: about 50-60 % from carbohydrates, 15% from protein, and up to 30% from fat.
Reducing your physical exercise is a good idea for 4-5 days after a punishing race. This does not mean
just lying around doing nothing, although that may be the order of the first day or so after competing. You will want to spend time actively stretching those tired and tight muscles, and by the 4th or 5th day, a light spin on the bike or some easy laps will help to keep your mind happy while you rest the muscles, tendons, joints and bones of your body. This is what is called "relative rest" with components of "active recovery."
The sports recovery period is a useful time to catch up with equipment maintenance matters. And in the long run, these really do matter. Clean the sea water out of your running shoes, wash your bike and take it to the shop for a tune-up, wash those hard-worn heart rate monitor straps and, so on.
Finally, there is massage. Do I detect some glee out there? The aim of massaging tired aching muscles is to relieve the tension that has built up in the muscles, as well as to assist in the removal of chemical
substances that build up during exercise and as a result of cell activity. So, just as top cycling teams bring their own masseuses to races (especially cycling tour competitions), you can help your body along with some judiciously administered massage. And if aches or pain persist, perhaps there is an injury that needs some attention from your sports doctor. The recovery period is a great time to have this managed, to deliver you in optimal shape as you return to training again.
All in all then, sports recovery is not something which every athlete thinks about, and some do it better
than others. It's something you should invest your effort into as much as you do your sports performance training preparations. It is an integral part of restoring your body to a condition which allows you to enjoy regular and continuous challenging training and competition.
Dr Low Wye Mun is a sports physician practicing at The Clinic @ Cuppage in Singapore. A Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, he serves on the ACSM International Relations Committee. Dr Low also lectures for the Singapore Sports Council & the Blackburn College diploma programme. More details at http://www.sportzdoc.com
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Sports Nutrition That Will Improve Overall Sporting Performance
What is Sports Nutrition?
Sports nutrition plays a huge part in gaining the best sporting performance. If you play hockey, golf, football, tennis or whatever your chosen sport is, having the right nutritional balance is essential. There are many nutrients that can be got by eating the correct foods. Having the correct balance of vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates are essential part of having the proper nutrition health regime.
Try not to get nutrition and sports nutrition mixed up though as both are different. Being an athlete and participating in sports will require more nutrients as a way of keeping the energy levels up to ensure the athlete remains as peak fitness throughout there activities. Being an athlete is more strenuous on the body and that is the main reason why they will require more nutrients that the regular nutrition dieting advice.
During their sporting activities athletes will tend to lose a lot of fluids, everyone has heard of dehydration, which is one of the largest problems faced during sports. Losing fluids will cause you to tire much quicker than normal which will have a negative impact on sporting performance.
The reason why there are professional athlete is that they get paid to perform at their maximum on a daily basis. To do this it is essential that the body gets proper nutrition. It is vital to drink enough water, have a balanced diet by eating the proper foods and also get the proper nutritional intake that your body will need. Different sports will cause the body to require different nutrients. Nearly all professional athletes have a sports nutritionist who help in provide the correct diet for their sporting nutritional needs. Doing so will enable your body to consumes energy efficiently and will aid in overall performance.
In order to make the most of your sporting talents it is essential to have more power, endurance and strength. Only by getting the proper sports nutrition can this be done.
Having a balanced diet is essential and should be based on several different factors. Such as, the type of sports that you are participating in, age, physical condition and body size.
It is always best to consult with a doctor when changing your diet instead of just deciding one for yourself. To go one step further getting a sports nutritionist will help in giving you the correct diet that will suit your body and help in providing the perfect diet to complement your sport.
When exercising it is vital to remember that a lot of fluids will be lost. When you are working out in the gym, doing weights, running, it is easy to forget the fluid loss that you body is experiencing. That is probably the main reason why water is one of the most important parts of sports nutrition.
It makes up about sixty percent of your body weight and is involved in almost all of your bodily processes.
Your body cannot produce and store water, this is the main reason why it is important to replace all fluids that are lost during exercise. If you don't then dehydration will have a huge part in damaging your athletic abilities. Taking part in sports will require you to consume much more water than eight glasses daily.
Carbohydrates are the most important fuel source. It provides a minimum of sixty to a maximum of seventy percent of our calories. Carbohydrates are found on almost all of the food you consume. Food rich in carbohydrates are fruits, vegetables, pastas, breads, cereals, rice and many more that are too many to mention.
The body converts all starches and sugars in carbohydrates to glucose. The main provider of energy in the body is glucose. That is why an active lifestyle requires more carbohydrates than usual. The body will also store glucose in the liver and muscles that will give your body a energy reserve. If this reserve is not used during sports then it will be more likely to turn into fat. The larger your carbohydrate intake the more energy you will have during sports. If your intake is to high it will have a negative effect as you will begin to increase in fat. Other energy sources include proteins and fats.
Foods that help in providing the most amount of protein would be, eggs, nuts, poultry, fish, meat, beans and dairy products. Proteins will supply about 15 to 20 percent of your daily calorie allowance. The main uses of proteins are in tissue and muscle building.
Find out all about getting the proper nutrition during sports by visiting best advanced sports nutrition. To pick up a free book on nutrition required during sports visit sports nutritional book
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Finding Your Zone: Ten Core Lessons for Achieving Peak Performance in Sports and Life
The first research-based program to offer concise, clear ways to realize your best performance.As a therapist, physician, and mental coach, Dr. Michael Lardon has dedicated his career to helping athletes understand and better achieve peak performance. In Finding Your Zone, he shares with readers what he’s discovered about reaching the state in which “thoughts and actions are occurring in complete synchronicity,” and how this state is accessible to all, not just the few.
In ten key lessons—illustrated by personal anecdotes from his clients—Lardon teaches readers how to access the zone not only in sports but in all aspects of their lives, by understanding how to:
• Transform desire into will
• Channel emotions to victory
• Trust instincts and keep it simple
• Conquer fear through acceptance
• Perform under pressure
Price: $14.95
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Peak Performance in Sports
In the sports arena, peak performance in sports has always been a much sought after state by players and coaches of all levels. Whether the athletes are school boys soccer players or Olympians striving for their Gold medals, peak performance in sports has always attracted athletes and coaches alike. In our modern age of sports, where sports science is at a stratospheric level and rising, what are the factors that when applied correctly can lead sports participants to peak performance in sports? Are there secrets to sporting excellence? Are these factors easily manipulated for the benefits of the athletes? This article discusses the factors that can lead athletes and coaches to peak performance in sports.
There has been many articles and books detailing principles, programs, success factors and the like that can lead to peak performance in sports. Many authors have written at length about them and in many ways, the principles and factors are universal. The principles of progressive resistance, variety, goal specific training, recovery, etc are all undisputed underlying reasons that allows athletes to achieve peak performance in sports. This article goes a step further by exploring these universal factors in a different light. In the process, I hope to give athletes and coaches alike how to practically apply these principles and which are the factors with higher weightage in terms of achieving success and peak performance in sports.
There are basically two set of factors we need to look into. Technical and human factors. Let us take a look at the former set of factors first;
Technical Factors
1. Quality Preparation
2. Mastering Individual Skills
3. High Fitness Levels
4. Understanding Overall Team Play
5. Filling Up Key Positions of the Team
6. Minimise Errors in Games
1. Quality Preparation
The hard work for any sports season begins with the preseason training which is very intensive. No body likes this season, as the work and training required is often very boring and painful. But this has to be done for the athletes to be optimally prepared for the rigours of the competitive phase. The endurance, strength, speed and skill volumes must be done. Not just the volume of work, but how much quality is put into the preparation phase is vital as well. When players cut corners and put in training at face value without their heart and soul, it will show up later in the competition as fatigue, injuries or lack of sharpness in their performance. Peak performance in sports cannot be possible under such circumstances. The quality of preseason preparation is even more important in youth sports.
Very often in schools, the playing seasons for many sports start almost immediately when the school year starts. With our children away for long vacations, our athletes very often return to school to face competitions with very little training time. Team play, fitness building and mental preparation are supposed to be done in 2-3 weeks, which in a sports world is almost impossible and impractical. This kind of preparation is also detrimental to the development of our children. Under these circumstances, coaches and teachers (and parents if possible) have a very important responsibility to ensure that our athletes are well prepared for competition. Training programmes for sports ought to be drawn up and implemented at year's end previously. Our athletes need to understand that that their season effectively began when their examinations are over. With a training programme started, coaches and teachers can than instruct athletes about a vacation training programme as well. Each athlete should have one whereby, they can do something to improve their playing abilities during their break away from school. It could include things like maintain a certain standard of fitness through endurance activities like cycling, running or swimming, playing catch and pitching in the backyard with their siblings, or even individual practices to improve certain skills. The main thing here is to preserve and improve what has been attained in the preceding season, so that athletes do not return back to school and start from scratch. Simply planning and training this way will ensure quality preparation for the sports teams to attain peak performance in sports later.
2. Mastering Individual Skills
In all sports and games, there are certain skill sets and skills that are considered basic and necessary. These must be achieved by athletes before they can play at a higher level later. In basketball, dribbling and executing a proper lay-up are crucial. Throwing, catching and fielding skills are a must in baseball and softball. The push-pass and receiving a pass are necessary skills in hockey and floor ball. The list goes on. In preseason training, or at the earliest playing stage, these essential skills must be made known to our young players, and all efforts and time must be spent on mastering these basic skills. Without these skills, a coach will find it very difficult to execute more complex team plays to achieve peak performance in sports. If strikers cannot even control a long pass from a teammate, how can we expect the same player to hold up the ball well up field against oppositions defenders and execute lay-off passed to oncoming teammates in support. It will be wise for coaches to develop these skills early and also for players to keep improving themselves in these skills even though they might feel that they are good enough already.
Even at professional levels, these basic skills for their sports is important for peak performance in sports. The repertoire of skills required and the intensity of how these skills are performed at the highest levels are even more acute. At the highest levels where opponents are very evenly match in all areas, one mistake can often result in a win or loss. It is even more important for professionals to master all the skills required of the game or sports. Only under such intense conditions can peak performance in sports be possible.
3. High Fitness Levels
At high school levels, many athletes would not have reached their maximal physical development yet no matter how much they train. Physiologically speaking, the development in this area in youths is very varied. Some children reach a high fitness standard faster than others, while others have body types that will only respond to training optimally when they get older. Hence, it can be assumed that a team with the fittest group of players will have the most advantage. No matter how skillful your opponents are, if you are fitter than him or her, you will be able to overcome your lack of fitness by reacting rapidly to overcome your short fall. Let's say, you are out dribbled by a more skillful opponent in soccer. But if you are fitter than your opponent who have just out-dribbled you, you will be able to track back fast enough to cover your position again. This edge in fitness for youth is very important at the later stages of the game too, as players tend to tire faster at this age. A fitter team will definitely be able to prevail and score more later in the game. Players at this age need to be convinced of this need for fitness, and be encouraged to do whatever they can to attain the highest level of fitness possible.
How about professionals? Without a doubt, professional athletes are expected to possess fitness at the highest levels. If they are not, their opponents will be and consequently, they will outperform them and reach their peak performance in sports. Generally speaking, professional sportsmen know how to get into great shape and maintain that till the end of the season. Their physical bodies are also in the best state to be developed to their fullest potential.
4. Understanding Overall Team Play
The next factor of great importance in achieving peak performance in sports is understanding the overall team play by the players. Imagine a coach telling his charges to clear the balls down the flanks in any invasion game. You will be surprise how many players actually understand why they are told to do this. More often than not, the players will just do what is required or told by the coaches. The understanding behind their action is very often very little. They might not know that by playing the ball down the flanks or wing, it actually forces the opponents defence to spread wider, thus leaving more gaps in the middle for the attacker to exploit subsequently. Another statistically advantage is that plays down the flanks generally result in the attacker getting the ball back if it is knocked out of bound. That is why, you often hear players or coaches shouting to their charges to 'throw it down the line'. Young players love the direct route to goal and very often that means playing through the middle. Whatever is taught in tactics to the players, coaches must make every effort to explain and make sure that all the players understand the tactical significance of their plays. This form of coaching if done properly, makes the players better players and improve their decision making on the pitch. And we are always looking for more thinking players in our pitch which will give the team a higher chance of achieving peak performance in sports.
5. Filling Up Key Positions of the Team
The fifth factor that can produce peak performance in sports is actually finding the right players to fill up the most key positions of the team first. In any sport teams, there will be key positions that must be filled first. The point guard in a basketball team is the driver of the team. he controls all plays. A centre in ice-hockey is pivot in both defense and attack, hence he must be the best and fittest and most abled player. The catcher in baseball is the key man, as he dictates and calls the pitches, and also sees the entire fielding situation. These key positions must be filled first, even if it means fielding someone out of position. I use to have a very talented and strong striker who loves to score goals. Unfortunately, I also have a big gap in goal-keeping and he happens to be the best handler of balls in the team. After much persuasion and sacrifice, he finally converted to a goal-keeper. Thanks to his selfless act, the team did extremely well as very few goals were scored against us. It was not easy to make this move. But as the coach than, I felt that the goal-keeper is too important a player to let any Tom, Dick or Harry player, hence it must be the best. These result was the least number of silly errors from our goal-keeping department and that gave the team a much better chance to win games.This brings us to the last technical factor that influence peak performance in sports - making fewest errors.
6. Minimise Errors in Games
In sports these days, errors often decide the outcome of the game. Errors will be more plentiful at youth and children levels. The fact that children are playing at lower technical and tactical levels makes it inevitable that errors will be made. The team that makes the fewest errors in any game will generally perform at their peak. Its a mentality that must be drilled into players to make the fewest error individually as well as as a team. If you do not believe this, watch your next game with a watchful eye over how goals or points are scored. More often than not, you will realize that a goal started from an error from the opponents somewhere. Or a point or run is a result of some players fumbling the ball. Making many silly errors will not lead a team to peak performance in sports. A team that is doing well makes the fewest errors. So coaches, make sure you train your players to understand this and do the right things in the game. Show them evidence through videos or live games, and they will be convinced that the team with the fewest errors win games and peak in their sports performance.
So far we have discussed the technical factors that will lead your team to peak performance in sports. Coaches and players must make sure that these factors are well looked into to ensure that your teams will attain peak performance in sports. Otherwise, it will be a waste of effort and time no matter how talented the team and players are.
In trying to achieve peak performance in sports, human factors are also very important. Understand and master these factors, and success and peak performance in sports is almost a sure thing. But very often these factors are often the hardest to achieved. Here we are drawing on the qualities of human beings to excel in different areas in order for them to reach their peak performance in sports. Very often, these qualities form the foundation of all athletic performances in sports. The players and coaches will find mastering these factors most difficult because we are dealing with intangible elements of human nature. Its easy to improve on your pitching skills, but to improve team spirit it has a lot more to do with just practicing a skill.
Fortunately, we only need to focus on two human factors here in order to achieve peak performance in sports.
Human Factors
1. Players' Dedication and Commitment 2. Team Work and Team Spirit
The first factor deals with having dedicated and committed players. This is very much an individual player factor, but it is also the coach's responsibility to reap the highest commitment and dedication from each player. We all know that every player is different, hence it requires different strategies to motivate different players. For some players, simply setting goals, both team and individual goals, will suffice because maybe the players themselves are already intrinsically motivated. For players with poor motivation and a star attitude, some form of carrot and stick methods might be required to get the most out of them. Whatever the strategies, failure to get the highest commitment and dedication from players will mean that training and match play will not be optimum thus resulting in poorer peak performance in sports.
The second human factor that leads to peak performance in sports is team work and team spirit. When a team is able to work together to a level whereby players' understanding is so good, than the team will have reach the ultimate potential. Not just will tactical plays be good all round, but the effort to play for each other in the team will be so high that the level of satisfaction and sacrifice will be so immense that team play will improve. Players are willing to run and cover for each other more, and there is almost a magical factor in the team play. Team effectiveness will improve. Players will not be playing for selfish reasons but rather for the common team goals. History provides wonderful elements for us to see team work in action. Very often, it was not teams with the most skills that won the competitions, but rather, the teams with the greatest team spirit and team work, When players are willing to set aside personal differences to play for greater team goals. In Euro 2004, Greece was not the team with the greatest fair or skills,but they still won, because the coach was able to mold a team of seemingly nobody into a cohesive unit that was willing to play hard for each other.
Training and reaching peak performance in sports is very often the dreams and aspirations of many coaches and players. At all levels of sports, from high school to professional, all athletes and their coaches want to achieve their peak performance in sports. It is a inner desire of human to succeed and be the best. Being the best requires not just skill, but also certain technical and human factors that can be manipulated for the benefits of achieving peak performance in sports. These factors are important for any sports fans striving for peak performance in sports.
About the author;
Jimmy Tong has been a Physical Educator for 13 Years in Singapore, with degree in sports science and physical education from Loughborough University in UK. He has extensive coaching experience in soccer, floorball and rugby teams in Singapore Schools.He is currently a sports development officer in Singapore schools as well as an active contributor of sports training articles to improve sports performance in athletes. He hopes to enable people's success to come by inspiring them with true sports motivational and inspirational stories.
For more information on achieving Peak Performance in Sports, visit the following site at http://inspiringsportsmotivations.com
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Off-Ice Performance Training Course
The first ever hockey-specific off-ice training product. HTUs "Off-Ice Performance Training Course" provides coaches of all age-groups with all the information, exercises, and sample programs they need to develop their own team off-ice training programs
Check it out!