Monthly Archive for March, 2013
Page 3 of 4
Talk about Badminton in Italy is a challenge because it is little known and this is the reason why we need to start talking about it. Badminton is a sport very interesting, in fact, it enhances the quality of technical and tactical player. There is no service at 200km/hr as in tennis or volleyball, you win not for the dominance of one technical skill: the service, but for the game that the athlete is able to lead. It’s a fast and dynamic sport in which are integrated well the skills required to decide and the concentration needed to play point by point.
Only here in Italy we do not talk about badminton, however in 1985, Robert Nideffer (one of the most influential American psychologists) wrote:
“You will notice that two different situations have been identified in badminton. In one situation, you have that part of the game that is under the control of one players (in the sense that the player dictates when the action will start, the serve); in the other, you have that part of the game that consists of a rapid series of actions and reactions. On the serve, because the server can control the tempo, there is time for assessing the game conditions (e.g., current score, conditions in the gym, position of the other player on the court, etc.). There is also time to analyze this information, taking the external conditions and mentally comparing them to past history (e.g., thinking about strategy in similar situations, reminding yourself of the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, etc.). Then the athlete can prepare by centering and by adjusting tension levels. Finally, they shift to a narrow-external focus to begin the point.”
The referee’s performance depends to certain unwritten football and sport rules tending to keep to a critical level the perception that the fans and the wider public show toward this activity: These rules are as follows:
- Until the dawn the sport has been a social phenomenon in which there has always been a symbiotic relationship between athletic performance and audience, and it must be remembered that the early events of which we have knowledge back to 5.220 b.c. It means that the public has always sided with the athletes who competed.
- Football is a ritualized version of the hunting, where the players are the hunters, the weapon is the ball, the prey is the gate and the referee is the tribal judge on which no one can interfere when making a decision.
- The decision of the referee in favor of a team is against the interests of the other. Whenever the referee communicate a decision, half of the players, the coach and the audience feel some kind of disappointment. This is, at all levels, the competitive nature of football.
- The reactions of the players at a negative decision for them are significantly influenced by the style of communication that the referee shows in that situation.
- The perception of fairness of the refereeing action by the public and the players is extremely important, and this type of perception is also strongly influenced by the expectations and the role played by the various actors.
- The perception of referee’ s fairness depends on how the players evaluate his skill level, judgment independence and respect for the teams.
Cross-country skiers begin the Engadin Ski Marathon on the frozen Lake Sils.
More than 12,000 skiers participated in the 42.2 km race from Maloja to S-chanf near St. Moritz.
The magazine Psychology Today asked a group of busy psychology experts to share their best tips for being productive and beating procrastination (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-practice/201303/15-psychology-experts-share-their-best-productivity-tips).
As far as I’m concerned it is very important to start with a good mood the day. So as soon as I wake up and before getting up review mentally the activities to be done and I organize myself mentally to deal with those that are more meaningful or even those that are the most boring. In order to have the correct timing of how I will spend the day. After that, before the breakfast, I walk every day for half an hour and for me this is a great physical and mental awakening. Back home: breakfast and start working.
Francesco Totti and Andrea Pirlo are a bit as the last of the Mohicans, at the end of their career it can be said that they were the last champions that Italian football has produced. We have always had great champions like Mazzola, Rivera, Bulgarelli, Baggio, Mancini, Del Piero, Vialli, Zola to name just a few, but now it’s finished. Who do we thank for this state of affairs, I would say those who are at the center of football and then coaches and physical trainers. My idea of how this happened is simple. Arrigo Sacchi has revolutionized football by introducing the total football, however, this type of play was interpreted by the strong champions who played in Milan, as well as the first was introduced by the Dutch national team where there were some of the strongest players of the world. When the system has spread it became barbaric and the guys spent much time learning tactics and preparing them physically instead learn technique. In doing so, it is almost impossible to emerge a young talent, because Rivera and Maradona would have been discarded as too physical weak or might not have ever played football in a club because they would be bored.
Then it would be the time that the coaches put aside their tactical narcissism and physical trainers their ideas more useful for american football players and together devote much more time to teach the football technique, which is to take, pass and shoot the ball.
On Tuesday evening an expedition of Polish mountaineers reached the summit of the Broad Peak, 8.047m, making its first ever winter ascent. Then, things took a dramatic turn for the worse, while two of them reached the safety of Camp 4 at 7400m, others two were forced to make a terrific bivouac at 7900m, since that time it has been lost any contact with them. I report the comment by Simone Moro, who reached three 8.000 in winter time.
Polish base camp at Broad Peak (Photo polskihimalaizmzimowy.pl)
“Climbing an 8000er in winter is still one of those inexplicable impulses which makes man spring to action, that lead him to voluntarily free himself from everything else, even of primary safety and time, to realise a dream which renders him so damn alive, excited, a complete protagonist of his own existance. Winter mountaineering on the highest mountains in the world is and always will be nothing more than dictated bya free choice, far more inconvenient than one might think. Where even if there are a dozen others you are still alone, where you are far away from everyone and everything else even if you possess all the satellite telephones the world has to offer, where you are helpless regardless of the most sophisticated technology and equipment. No one can do anything, absolutely nothing in winter and good weather makes its appearance twice, maybe three times during the entire season. A handful of days in three months, during which one is a prisoner, by choice, of one’s dreams. It is as if you are locked in a stormy sea, with 30-metre high waves, right in the middle of the ocean. No one can do anything for you and only you can deal with the weight and the dynamics of your decision, the one which brought you there. Every decision you make is yours, yours only…
Man wants to be where his thoughts drive him. On the moon, Mars, Venus, in the oceans, caves, abysses, deserts and mountains. This is what winter mountaineering is all about. The desire to be and go where man has not yet succeeded, and it is because of this that one day Nanga Parbat and K2 will also be attempted, and climbed, in winter. This is no inner drive motivated by dynamics of convenience, of usefullness, of danger levels. No one wants or believes the world can be changed by climbing in winter. Just like those who at first did not think they would, but then in reality actually did, change the world.” (From http://www.planetmountain.com/)
Some interesting answers given by Paula Radcliffe during the talk with Adharand Finn
(full text: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/the-running-blog/2013/mar/08/paula-radcliffe-interview-running-blog)
If you don’t get back to running competitively, will you still run for fun? Yes. This is the most important thing for me. I’ve gone crazy in the last few months not being able to run. Running gives me a lot of pleasure. It’s something I’ll always do, as long as I can.
Looking back on your career, what was your greatest moment? Probably the world record. [Paula holds the world record for the marathon at 2:15:25. That's almost three minutes faster than anyone else ever, and is considered one of the greatest world records in athletics.] But then winning the world cross-country champs [in 2001 and 2002] was pretty huge for me. It was a long term ambition of mine to win it.
When you ran the 2:15 world record, was it your plan to run that fast, or did you just feel great on the day? I never plan to run at a certain pace. All my career my motto has been “no limits”. I don’t try to run with a set time in mind, sticking to set splits, because what happens if you’re ahead of your splits, are you going to slow down?
Is that when you first realised you were good? It wasn’t like I ever thought: “Oh I’m good.” I just enjoyed it. Later, the question was: “Could I make a career out of it?” Winning the world junior cross-country [in 1992] was a big turning point, but even then my main aim was to get through university, and see if I was good enough after that.
Where is your favourite place to run? I always love running in Central Park [New York]. To be in a beautiful park, but to have the Manhattan skyline just there is pretty special. But I also love Fort Romeu [France], running along some coastal paths, some places in Iten [Kenya]. Basically I have favourite places everywhere I go.
When someone asks for a training tip what do you tell them?Make sure you get the right running shoes for you. Get some gait analysis done in a running shop. And don’t just run at one pace all the time, but put some fartlek [alternating between fast and slow pace], or hillwork into your schedule. And do some core training as well.
Do you ever run to music? Yes, in the gym, but never outside. I prefer to be in tune with my surroundings and to be aware of things. I like listening to my footstrike and my breathing. It can be quite soothing.
Badminton can be an amazing and adrenaline sport as we can watch in this video.
Julien Maio badminton amazing shot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4r6H9mUgcA8
A study conducted by XPro, a UK charity for former football professionals, showed that three out of five English Premier League players declare bankruptcy within five years of retirement.
Despite the player earn an average wage 35,000 euros a week, many players blew their cash or followed poor investment advice, while as many as one in three were hit by costly divorce proceedings and settlements.
“It might sound incredible to normal fans but it can and does happen,” said Geoff Scott,XPro manager.
XPro supports 30,000 former players, added that “too many (players) forgot to put money aside for the taxman”, while excessive spending linked to spiralling wages was also a factor.
The England Professional Footballers Association manager, Gordon Taylor, disputed the research, however, suggesting that the real dimension for bankruptcy is between 10 and 20%.
Taylor tells the problem is that the players do not plan for the day they life when they will earn less money: “Footballers, with very few exceptions, aren’t going to earn as much money when they finish playing. We encourage young players to save for the future, for when they retire.”
Another problem for the players is represented by the agents and advisers who are only interested in them when they earned huge salaries: “I have to be careful what I say about agents, but they are there during the good times and they’re a bit like butterflies in the bad times. All the players come on to the PFA for advice when things have gone badly wrong.”
“It is about saving, it’s about being sensible, it’s about being careful, it’s about not expecting to have the same lifestyle. It’s not everybody that can adapt. That exit strategy is quite important.”
