I was lucky many years ago that a friend introduced me to the teachings of Bruce Lee of martial arts fame. Hi martial arts success is not my focus as I am more interested in what he was able to do, particularly the speed and control he achieved but also the wide ranging philosophic teachings he had learnt and applied. …
A Parisian adventure: My day at Roland Garros
Living a dream If you were living a life-long dream, wouldn’t it be great if all the mini adventures and challenges you face in life had prepared you for it and made you able to to get the most out of it? That’s what happened in May when I visited the French Open, also known as Roland Garros, in Paris. This was …
The World Cyclocross Championships Workout
Parent workouts simply means fitting your workout within your normal parenting day instead of trying to fit it into the millisecond of free time you have. Yesterday I did my parent workouts while taking mini me to the World Cyclocross Championships as they visited Milton Keynes for the first time. I couldn’t actually believe that a world championship event would be right on …
Want to win: Pick your battles
Sport reflects the competition inherent in life and picking your battles is the lesson we learn from watching Tennis. From Stanislas Wawrinkas recent success at the Australian Open to Novak Djokovics dominance over Rafael Nadal, through to Rafaels and Roger Federers ongoing rivalry. Each of these battles has been a series of campaigns with each combatant having periods of dominance …
How can Tai Chi help my daily life? Flow more, Force less
I’ve always wanted to learn about Tai Chi but never found the time. I saw a great deal from TennisOne for a course teaching Tai Chi in relation to tennis. So I thought I would take this as an opportunity to learn Tai Chi while also improving my tennis game. Continually moving towards your goals is a principle of Cell …
Strategy: Did you lose or were you beaten
All top competitors hate to lose but they can accept being beaten. That’s how I see the general reaction from players like Serena, Federer, Rafa and others. If they feel they could have played better and might have won they are annoyed with themselves because they let themselves lose. If however they gave everything. That’s the best they could have …
Relaxing under pressure: Trust
Building on my article Relaxing under pressure I can explain the benefit of my focus on trust. Do you believe in yourself under pressure? If you don’t it will show, both to you and your opponent. Trust in yourself will intimidate your opponent and keep them caged, holding them back. They will fear your response and thus check themselves. My ability to …
Relaxing under pressure: Accuracy
Building on my article Relaxing under pressure I can explain the benefit of my focus on accuracy. I’ve been working through an online course on Tai Chi. It’s fantastic because it puts into simple words the concepts I am trying to bring to my game. At the moment it is about “finding neutral”. That means simply resetting my posture, stance and mindset …
Relaxing under pressure: Consistency
Building on my article Relaxing under pressure I can explain the benefit of my focus on consistency. Last year I tried too hard which led to injuries, first in my wrist then foot. I have since learnt that better technique and recovery would have avoided it all. So that’s what I’ve been doing. The problem has then become a lack of play. …
Relaxing under pressure
It’s just as important to build your mind as it is your technical skills and your body. A common trait in high level players is to be relaxed under pressure. This is something they work on. The purpose here is to develop your rally ball. That is your ability to return any shot well without going for anything. It’s where …
Treatment Options for Rotator Cuff Injuries by Tennis Conditioning
If you want to know how to prevent injuries to your shoulder it’s worth understanding how it works. The Rotator Cuff is basically your shoulder joint. It’s more complicated than that but we’re talking about moving the bones around your shoulder joint using the muscles, ligaments and tendons that connect to these bones. The talk is Treatment Options for Rotator Cuff Injuries …
Weight loss in football fans from the Lancet
Being a fan has health implications so it is nice to know that people are actually looking into how to make it a healthier experience. Weight loss in football fans is a story assessing the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the Football Fans in Training programme, a weight loss and healthy living programme delivered to fans in Scottish professional football clubs. The …
Australian Open Final Review: Wawrinka v Nadal
What an amazing final it was. I know it wasn’t such an epic on court. More of a drama of sorts but as a culmination of an amazing path to glory it was a real feat of Tennis. Stan swept past 3 top 10 players to clinch the trophy. Beating the number 1 and 2 players in the world. En …
Australian Open 2014: Gigor Dimitrov v Rafael Nadal Highlights
I just watched the fantastic highlights of Gigor Dimitrov v Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open 2014. I haven’t seen Grigor much before. I was waiting for a proper test like this. What I saw in these highlights is really impressive. Nadal we know about but how close the match was it most interesting. That Baby Fed took the first set is …
What can snooker teach us about obesity? Yes, it might actually have health benefits part three
If you haven’t already, read part one and part two Ronnie O’Sullivan is an amazing player just with his right hand, but his ability with his left hand gives him a real edge because it gives him much better reach. If you haven’t played snooker, then it’s important to know that every so often, the best shot to play is impossible to actually …
What can snooker teach us about obesity? Yes, it might actually have health benefits part two
Pool or snooker are activities most people can enjoy because they have low demands on physical fitness. That’s a very good thing because many who struggle with their weight do so because they can’t relate to the role models out there.
Australian Open: Roger Federer v Andy Murray thoughts
I listened to the match and just watched it when I got home. I heard all about how great Roger was and that Murray was no where but I wanted to see for myself. Roger was impressive, we really haven’t seen him like this against top players for a long time but a few key things seem to favour him …
If Rafa wins the Aus Open he could potentially hold all four slams at once!!!
It’s very early to predict but it makes it fun to realise this fact. The only slam Rafa has struggled to win of late is Wimbledon. Now that Novak is out the next most likely contender to the crown is Rafa. He would have to beat a resurgent Federer or Murray to get there but odds and recent results are …
What can snooker teach us about obesity? Yes, it might actually have health benefits part one
Snooker is probably the last sport that you would consider to be in any way healthy, let alone teach you anything weight loss or how to prevent obesity. I was so surprised when I realised something fundamental about snooker.
I cannot name a single snooker number one or world champion that had serious trouble with their weight during their triumphs.
Find out why I think this happens and how it can help you in part one of three.
Australian Open: Quartfinal preview Dominika Cibulkova v Simona Halep
A great win for Cibu against Maria. Really happy for her to make the quarters. She is a real fighter in the Errani mould. Early on I thought I saw some different tactics than usual Cibu but I was wrong. That tells me it’s the same Cibulkova with great form but nothing new. Dominika also plays very much like Maria. …