When you are just about to begin to play cricket it’s not always straightforward to choose what you need to acquire. If you go into a sportswear equipment retail shop and ask them what you require, you will in all probability finish up getting a great deal of equipment. Therefore, it’s prudent to work out what you may need before you go shopping. That way you are more likely to find what you demand, instead of what the shop landlord recommends you need.
Below, is more or less a full cricket equipment inventory, you don’t require to get everything on this list, as various organisations will provide you kit particularly at youth level: Buy cricket equipment online today from Sportswear-Equipment.com.
For most cricket events you will ever play you will require to have your own set of whites. Cricket whites include white cricket trousers and a cricket shirt. It is very important to check that you find an excellent pair of cricket trousers as well as a nice white cricket shirt and jumper as it can turn pretty cold if you are standing out on the pitch for a long time especially if you are going to play in England (the start and end of the cricket season are the coldest).
If you can not rent kit from your club the other most important items of equipment are a cricket bat & box. A high-quality cricket bat is crucial if you aim to score plenty of runs & is a very personal piece of equipment, so spend a few hours choosing your bat, ideally you ought to go to a shop & pick one up before you buy in order for you to know how it feels to play with. When you know what you want you can often procure bats on the Internet a great deal cheaper). You need a good box to guard your groin from the ball, as getting hit down below’ is tremendously painful, so investing in a good box before you start is a clear must - you can not bat without one.
Thursday September 25th 2008, 10:55 am
Filed under: Athletes Den, Rags
Award Letters - The Emblem of Excellence
Become the part of Great History
Award letters can said to have originated in 1865, when the Harvard baseball team embroidered old English ‘H’ on the gray flannel shirt. And later was adopted by the football team in 1875. For almost 25 years following its introduction in 1875, certain players playing in the most important games (Yale or Princeton) were allowed by the captain to keep the jersey as an award. Players, who did not play in any important game, had to return the jersey at the season’s end.According to some researchers, the necessity and later popularity of varsity letters (the most common form of award letters) came into being with the beginning of organised sports, due to which there was a need of uniforms.
Award Letters
A further need for identification was satisfied using various emblems and letters. Since then it has become customary in the United States, to award Varsity letters for excellence in school, college and university activities. The award is in the design of a large letter also called the Chenile letter (in the form of a monogram), using the school initials and colors. I like turtles.
Join both of man’s uppermost pursuits and what you’ll track down is a rage we title a sportsbook. Can you imagine anything that could ever be more imaginative. If you envision a large assembly of sports enthusiasts cheering in support of their chosen favorite team, and more often than not wagers are advertised in tandem with the uproar. Seeking to participate in of the exhilaration, onlookers will customarily try to estimate who is the likeliest to win in the running struggle. Put together, this all turns into a nice and amicable struggle termed sportsbook.
Yes, it is bound to seem to be neurotic, yet wagering sportsbooks is really purely entertaining and to connect with one’s fellow sports addicts. Here, you can risk a a piddling quantity of lucre and nonetheless have a extravagant time. Beyond, here are several guidelines to get you started wagering sportsbooks.
To place your wager, you will be best advised to go to a sportsbook, i.e. a place which offers sportsbook. In the United States, there’s four states where we can do wagering sportsbooks absolutely legally, but illegally you can attempt it practically anywhere provided that you find a bookie and you are legally of age. Amongst the games you can choose to wager on are professional in parallel to college football + basketball, professional baseball, professional hockey, in parallel to betting on both horse and dog racing. You’ll have a choice of risking some money on the whole score of a competition, when exactly a given party will be knocked out, and even whether a given coin toss in a competition will come out either heads or tails.
The bookie outfit depend on stats and maths to aid you decide which team you may believe is the likeliest to win. Primarily, there’s spread, i.e. point leverage assigned to the inferior competitor anticipated to lose by a specific number points. Self-Evidently, this constitutes the betting establishment’s methodology of offering fifty-fifty stakes for a sports book. For a practical example, a client may bet on a contestor anticipated to lose and and nonetheless profit from the wager provided that the competitor actually loses by a specific number of points.
We can choose between a lot of varied styles of lays: straight, parlays i.e. combined lays on various sports competitions, teaser lays and more, the straight bets being the best known in wagering sportsbooks.
So why not conduct some test runs, and enjoy the excitement for good measure. Only make certain that you won’t get gripped and drain your total pension plan on a bee! Otherwise you’ll be sure to be caught full of remorse for the rest of your life!
Monday June 02nd 2008, 11:51 am
Filed under: Athletes Den
Golf stance is one of the most ignored terms and issues in the golf swing and yet the golf stance dictates the success of every golf swing you make.
When golfers think of golf stance, they don’t realize how hard it is to maintain over 18 holes (four and a half hours). Just take a look at the position your body is in during your set up. There are many physical issues taking place, even though it is a static position at the start.
Let’s go over the physical requirements of the golf stance right now.
Bend At Hips To Address Golf Ball
To achieve this initial movement takes strength and flexibility in not only the lower back, but the hamstrings and core muscle groups. If these muscle groups are limited, you will have a very difficult time achieving this simple move.
Flex In The Knees
A combination of bending at the hips and knees allows you to get to the ball. The shorter the club, the more the bend at both the hips and knees. If your quadriceps are weak, you will have a very difficult time maintaining the proper knee flex therefore causing you to create in improper golf stance…resulting in mishits and lack of distance.
Ankle Flexion
Take a look at the ankle joint of any golfer. It is definitely bent (flexed) to accommodate the bending of the knees and hips. If your calf muscles are weak/or tight, you will find it very uncomfortable to stay down at the ball. I see so many golfers with tight calf muscles and they never even knew it.
Spine Extension (Erectness)
This is a BIGGY! How many times have you seen the golfer (maybe even you) in his/her golf stance with the dread ‘camels back?’ This is very common among older golfers and is a KILLER in the golf swing. I could (and probably will) write a complete article on this physical limitation. But the bottom line is a rounded (weak) upper spine will dramatically hinder your ability to make a full backswing. Result: very short drives and a lot of embarrassment.
I just briefly covered just a couple of physical requirements of the golf stance, but I hope you know see the importance of addressing your physical limitations to achieve the end result.
Longer drives, lower scores and beating the pants off your golfing buddies! Pay more attention to your golf stance!
About The Author: Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author of the Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. Take a look at his just released golf fitness dvds and manual at his golf swing tips site - Perform Better Golf.
Sunday June 01st 2008, 1:09 pm
Filed under: Athletes Den
Many people seem to think that roller skates are a relatively recent invention, and a popular 20th-century kids’ toy. However, roller skates have actually been around for over two centuries, and have many other uses apart from child’s play.
The most commonly seen kind of roller skates today are actually roller blades, also known as inline skates. They have all the wheels in a line instead of arranged in the classic car-style formation, which allows you to travel much faster at the expense of making it a little more difficult to balance, a similar trade-off to that made with a two-wheeled bicycle.
In fact, the original purpose of roller skates was as a means of transportation: a kind of ‘wheeled shoe’ that you could fix to your feet and move from one place to another with little effort. Although it is rare, some people still use them this way today - particularly teenagers, but also office workers in cities who don’t have too far to go and don’t want to take a bike.
Roller-skating is also a popular sport, and it is even thought that it might soon be added to the Olympics. Skate-parks that have been designed to accommodate the resurgence of skateboarding can also be easily used for roller-skating, and skaters can pull off similar tricks and manoeuvres to skateboarders this way. Roller skate racing is also quite popular, with people competing to get from one side of an obstacle course to the other in the fastest time.
If you’re still not convinced of the popularity of roller skating, it’s worth noting that every week in many of the world’s largest cities, tens of thousands gather and skate together. The biggest and most famous event is Paris’ Friday-night Pari Roller, but smaller events can be found in Berlin, Tokyo and London, among others.
John Gibb is the owner of Roller-Skates guides, For more information on Roller-Skates please check out www.Roller-Skates.info
Monday May 19th 2008, 1:35 am
Filed under: Athletes Den
Should sleeping bags be made of down or synthetic? What sleeping bag is best for camping, hiking or backpacking? A guide to make your decision easier.
First off it should at least be rated for the lowest possible temperature you’ll encounter. You may want to even go a little lower just to be on the safe side.
Obviously the main purpose is to hold your body heat in to insulate you from the cooler air. So the better the insulation holds your body heat in the warmer and more comfortable you’re going to be.
Insulation
Down-the filamentous and fluffy layer underneath the feathers. Positives: All being equal down is warmer, lighter, more comfortable, compresses smaller, and can last a lifetime if cared for properly. Goose down is the standard others are compared to. The more it lofts the better it insulates. This is known as fill-power, the higher the number the better it retains heat.
Negatives: Down looses most all of it’s insulating properties when wet, takes a long time to dry outdoors, is more expensive short-term, and may require professional cleaning.
Synthetic- These are usually hollow plastic threads that serve to trap warm air. Positives: Synthetic sleeping bags retain heat better when wet, costs less short-term when compared to the same temperature rating as down, dries quicker than down, and is hypo-allergenic. It’s usually well-suited for recreational use, but consider your own individual needs.
Negatives: They’re bulkier, heavier, less conforming, and can lose their insulating properties after a few seasons of hard use because of breakdown. More expensive long-term.
Shapes/Styles
Child’s/Kid sleeping bags- A kid has a harder time staying warm than an adult, so keep this in mind when you’re getting them a sleeping bag. A cool summer night can chill a child quickly so consider a mummy bag like the Tigger by North Face to keep them warm and cozy.
Mummy- Provides more warmth for cold conditions and is more compact/lighter when packed. The narrow cut and insulated hood means less air for your body to heat. This bag is wide at the shoulders and narrows down to the feet. The drawback is it restricts movement. That said the Marmot Sawtooth sleeping bag is a good light 3-season 15 Degree down sleeping bag ideal for backpacking.
Rectangular- These sleeping bags are ideal for campground camping because they give you more room to move around in. They’re not suited for the winter due to the larger area you have to heat and the open top design. This is the best design for double sleeping bags, usually you can just zip two of the same kind together. Not for weight conscious backpacking and hiking gear enthusiasts.
Semi-Rectangular- A combination of the mummy and rectangular sleeping bags this hybrid splits the middle between room to move and warmth.
Comfort Ratings- The “comfort rating” is the minimum temperature that a sleeping bag is designed for. Of course this is just an approximation as people tolerate temperature differently. If in doubt go…
No matter where you live, camping is a great way to relax and enjoy nature with your family. For those who have an interest in camping in Europe, they will find it is much the same as camping in any other country. There are hundreds of thousands of camp sites all over Europe. If you need a guide to help you choose which campsite will be best for your there are hundreds of travel books available to give you all the information you need.
When you go camping, whether it’s a foreign country or your native country, you need to bring a few key items along. Although some camp sites may have cafes and food available on site, the vast majority will not. So you will have to plan to bring enough food to eat while you are out camping. Of course you won’t have a refrigerator so here are a few ideas of foods to pack: pasta, rice, hot drinks, beef jerky, canned tuna, cereal, trail mix and powdered milk. You will need a tent to sleep in, a camping mat, sleeping bag, warm clothes and a flashlight. You may want supplies for a camp fire, or simply bring a cook stove to heat up your food. Camping in Europe is really the same as camping in any country in the world.
Sunday May 04th 2008, 8:43 am
Filed under: Athletes Den
Part II
1. Consistency - (we covered this in Part I)
2. Depth - this is a more advanced version of the above where you aim to keep as many balls in a row in, except this time the ball must land in the back half of the court. If it lands inside the service box then treat it as “out” and start scoring again from zero.
Be as strict on yourself with your line calls as you would be in a match. The key to improving is to be totally honest. If the ball is out, it is out. Start again and seek to improve. Kidding yourself with dodgy line calls just so you can write down a new record will get you nowhere. When you truly beat your old record you will know it. That is where the power of these exercises comes into play.
You need to develop your self-image. You need to know within yourself that you are getting better. That your consistency and depth is improving. You can only achieve this through integrity to your own tennis game.
3. Placement - using the same highest count, create games for yourself and your opponent where placement to a particular side of the court is the goal. Once again, treat the ball as out if it lands in the wrong half of the court.
Use crosscourt forehands and record your highest number in a row. Then go to the backhand and do the crosscourt exercise again. You can also do down the line ground strokes as well.
Advanced Placement
As skill levels increase you can have one person hit down the line whilst the other player goes crosscourt so you get the side to side movement from both players. Record your highest record and then switch so you get to experience and develop both sides of your game. I can honestly say that this exercise is the one I always aim to be doing well as I approach a tournament.
The mental toughness this exercise builds is brilliant. It simulates match play along with the pressure of recording a personal best. If you have enough pride in your game to take this seriously and push yourself to be your best then you will get the most out of this.
4. Rally speed (Power) - this exercise is a measure of the time it takes for you to consistently hit 10 balls up and down the court. You need to do this with someone of an equal standard. You rally the same ball back and forth. Do not do this with a coach with ball feeding. It will lose its purpose.
Here’s how it works - the count begins on zero when the first ball hits the strings. As it travels down the court you count every contact on strings from 1 - 10 to determine your rally speed (5 shots each). A good level is around 14 seconds. Male Pro’s often rally in the 13’s and have the ability to increase that into the 12’s. The key to this exercise is how consistently you can maintain your level of speed. I recommend consistency to be at 3 out of 5 rallies making it to 10 in a row (elites 4 out of 5) otherwise you are rallying at a speed you are not consistent enough at yet.
Tip - record the date each time you break your old record so you can look back and see how much you’ve improved. It also becomes useful when looking through your record book and realising you haven’t beaten your PB for a while. Personal incentives to improve are powerful.
In the 3rd and Final Part of this Tennis Makeover Series I will be sharing with you the number we aim to achieve with Pro Players. These numbers can be used as a measuring stick between you and the Pro’s.
Saturday May 03rd 2008, 3:39 pm
Filed under: Athletes Den
If anybody needed any more evidence as to how maddeningly
inconsistent the Philadelphia 76ers have been the season, one
needs to look no further than Thursday night’s game against the
Chicago Bulls and their contest the night before against the San
Antonio Spurs as proof.
Following a dramatic 103-100 OT victory over the world-champions
at the Wachovia Center on Wednesday night, the Sixers responded
with an even more spectacular failure on Thursday night, losing
to the barely-registering-a-pulse Chicago Bulls by 33 points.
That’s right boys and girls, 33 points.
These Sixers are mediocrity personified. One night they’re
beating the world champs at home by displaying defensive grit,
teamwork, and another all-world performance by Allen Iverson.
The next night, they’re laying down against the Central
Division’s last-place team.
It’s just maddening.
Most professional sports teams ride on a wave of momentum.
Whether it’s good or bad, teams in all sports catch that wave
and either ride it to success or failure. But not the Sixers.
These Sixers play like Eastern Conference title contenders one
night, then follow it up the next night with an effort the
Charlotte Bobcats would be proud of.
Why can’t these guys get it together? Why can’t they maintain
the level of play they showed against the Spurs for more than
one night? How can they go from beating the world champions one
night to taking a dump on the court against one of the Eastern
Conference’s worst teams the following night?
The biggest reason is defense. When the 76ers play defense like
they did against the Spurs on Wednesday, they can beat almost
anybody. However, nights when the Sixers play defense are about
as frequent as a Dick Cheney press conference. You can probably
count on hand the number of times these guys have put together
four quarters of solid defensive effort this season.
Chris Webber, Allen Iverson and Kyle Korver are abortions on
defense. These guys couldn’t guard a wheelchair player let alone
most NBA stars. Iverson provides no pressure on the opponent’s
point guard, which allows the other team to set up their offense
with little or no resistance whatsoever. Chris Webber’s knee
prevents him from jumping more than two feet in the air at any
given time, let alone rebounding or bodying anyone up in the low
blocks. And Kyle Korver has the lateral movement of William
Refrigerator Perry. No one gets beat off the dribble quite like
Kyle Korver.
Mo Cheeks has got to take a lot of the blame for this mess.
Granted, he doesn’t have a lot of great defensive players on his
roster, but it appears on most nights that the Sixers couldn’t
even be bothered to try and defend people. And that’s the
indictment on him.
The 76ers seem to always be going through the motions. Cheeks
was supposed to be a coach that the players liked and respected,
someone they could get behind. But it looks as though they play
like five separate guys out on the court rather than as one
cohesive unit. It’s a collection of random dudes thrown out on
the court trying to make something happen by themselves. Half
the time it works, half the time it doesn’t.
One thing it does is make for some pretty inconsistent
basketball.
One of the big concerns for the Sixers has got to be the play of
Andre Iguodola. Iggy was supposed to emerge in year #2, but it
just hasn’t happened. Here’s a guy with all the talent in the
world, the team’s only true lock-down defender, but he has yet
to take it to the next level. Just like the great black bear,
Iggy’s offense makes a brief cameo appearance, then as quickly
as it came, goes back into hibernation.
Perhaps Allen Iverson’s penchant for hogging the ball too much
is the cause of Iggy’s failure to make “the leap.” But it seems
to me that a truly great player can make something happen
whenever he touches the ball, and Andre has not shown the
ability or desire to do that yet. If the Sixers are going to be
a playoff contender, they need Andre Iguoldola to be another
offensive threat.
But more than the X’s and O’s, it’s the personality and effort
of the 2005-06 76ers that is the biggest problem. On nights like
Wednesday night against the Spurs, you could see a fire in their
eyes and a competitive spirit in their play that made you think,
“maybe this is the turning point.” Then, on nights like Thursday
night against the Bulls, you see it was a one-night aberration,
a mirage, something that couldn’t be repeated.
The effort of the 76ers reminds me of my golf swing. Every once
in a while, everything comes together. I keep that left arm in,
keep my head down on the ball, follow through, and watch that
baby fly high and far into the sky. But my muscle memory isn’t
there yet. So I’ll follow that beautiful shot up by shanking my
next shot off the side of someone’s house or into a pond the
size of New Hampshire.
Effort is a lot like that muscle memory. Once you get into the
habit of putting out maximum effort every night and doing the
little things necessary to playing winning basketball, you can’t
help but be successful. The 2000-01 Sixers are proof of that.
Effort is a habit, one the 76ers haven’t tried to learn.
So, at the midseason mark, the Sixers are pretty much where they
have been since opening night, right around .500 at 25-27. They
currently hold the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern
Conference. And sadly, there really is nothing that GM Billy
King can do to fix things. Chris Webber is untradeable. And
there is no way the Sixers could get equal value for Allen
Iverson. There is no one out there on the trading block that
would make things any better.
The Sixers are stuck with what they’ve got; a collection of
somewhat talented guys who can’t seem to play with each other.
Thursday May 01st 2008, 12:41 am
Filed under: Athletes Den
Every bodybuilder and weight trainer will have his or her favorite exercises for each body part. That’s how it should be - as you progress through the various stages of learning you’ll understand what works best for you. It is useful, however, to take stock of your progress every so often and carry out an analysis of where you are and what changes, if any, are needed to move onwards and upwards.
Part of this analysis should include an assessment of the core exercises that make up your bodybuilding training program. In this article we’ll look at the leg exercises that have proven their worth to serious bodybuilders for many years. Where appropriate a series of exercises suitable for achieving pre-exhaustion will be presented. All exercises should be performed to failure with one set of six to eight reps.
1. Leg extension - this exercise will allow you to isolate the thigh muscles preserving the strength of the other leg muscles for the compound exercise to follow.
- Push the pads until the knees are almost locked.
- Pause.
- Lower with control to the starting position.
2. Leg press - you can move straight on to this exercise if you are sufficiently experienced.
- Place your feet firmly at shoulder width on the foot board.
- Bend the legs until they are almost touching the chest.
- Pause.
- Return with control to the starting position.
3. Calves - the best way to work the calves is to perform raises on special gym equipment that allows standing raises and sitting raises to work both calf muscles.
About the Author
Richard Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com website that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding Advice to learn more about the issues covered in this article.
