Crooked Necks

Archive for the ‘Recreation and Sports’ Category

This article is specifically for athletes. Making the most of your training session is simple. You simply must never be on autopilot when training. A great mentor of mine once said, “If you want to learn quickly – slow down.” What he was referring to is what I call, conscious training. In this article, I show you how to do this so you can get on top of your technical changes faster than ever before.

Do you know the feeling I am referring to when I talk about being on autopilot? Perhaps you have driven to training in your car and could not even remember the trip? Perhaps your coach has been talking to you and you couldn’t hear anything. Are you just going through the motions? These are all symptoms of being on autopilot. Being on autopilot, for a whole training session means you have not improved.

To ensure you are not on autopilot you simply need to focus on what is going on around you. Listen, see, feel, taste and smell your environment. Get in touch with your surrounds and tune in to them. This is the first part of consciously training.

If you are looking to play a game that is fun and relaxing, there is plenty out there for you. More and more, however, it seems like people are becoming interested in sports that are increasingly violent. While hitting billiard balls around a pool table can be some people’s idea of a good time, there are others who enjoy hitting others around an octagon. If you’re in a pool room, you’ll find some interesting game room furniture around, but placing such items within the ring of any mixed martial art game would probably cause serious injury and a lot of damaged goods. Why has this new kind of sport gained such a large following in such a small period of time? In this article, we are going to take a look at a few possible answers.

UFC only started around a decade ago, with small crowds and only a cult following. Gradually, however, more and more people have been attracted to the brutal nature of the sport.

There are many exercises out there that can help you jump higher, but are there ways to maintain this? There are indeed many ways that you can learn in order to maintain your jumping. No matter what kind of sport you play, being able to jump higher than your opponents is a tremendous advantage. By utilizing a few simple tips, you are sure to be performing at a much higher level than ever before and then you will also reap the benefits all your hard work has brought you.

The first step, and probably the most important, is to properly warm up before you perform any kind of physical activity whatsoever. Warming up can consist of just a few little effortless stretches or running in place. This greatly reduces any risk of injury you might have possibly obtained, which could damage your progress severely. There is plenty of evidence out there to support this. Not properly warming up can also affect your game. You may not run as fast or jump as high as you normally could. So please take the time to warm up. As mentioned already, stretching is another way you can jump higher. This is very similar to not warming up. Stretching your muscles properly causes them to contract and work better than a tight muscle. As always, you reduce your risk of sustaining an injury. A lot of people searching for ways to jump higher will probably notice how much their vertical jump has improved just by stretching and warming up.

Athlete Assessments recently had the great pleasure of being invited to the US Lacrosse Coaching Conference in Baltimore, MD. A significant highlight was hearing Lou Holtz’s keynote presentation about his philosophy on coaching and life.

For those who do not know Lou Holtz, he is a legend in US College football coaching and is the only coach in NCAA history to lead six different programs to bowl games. He is also a multiple winner of National Coach of the Year honors.

These are the key messages I took note of and trust you will also find inspiring and educational:

Note 1: Coaching is about influencing the lives of young people. It is a role of true significance and meaning, never should it be about money. It is fundamentally about building relationships with young people.

Note 2: A great quote about Leadership, “I can name you the coach, but I can not name you the leader. Leaders are named from below.”

Note 3: Coaching is a leadership role. As such, coaches are to have a vision and are accountable for the choices they make. Above all, coaching is about “Obligations and Responsibilities”. Never is coaching about “Rights and Privileges.”