Improve Volleyball Hitting Accuracy

If executed correctly a volleyball attack is one of the most amazing skills in professional sports. Unfortunately for many of us, the volleyball attack is also a skill that can seem very complicated to learn. No matter what your height, with some perseverance and a mastery of the basic skills your kill percentage will go through the roof in no time.

It doesn't require anything but a volleyball net and a tennis ball so it can be done nearly anywhere. If you have a partner who can catch the tennis ball it will save you some time and keep you from running all around the gym, but if not just think of it as your cardio for the day.

To begin the drill put a tennis ball in your attacking hand, and move to the starting spot for whatever type of attack you need to practice. So if you're an outside (left-side) hitter, you'd start a step or two to the left of the court boundary and a step or two behind the 10-foot (3-meter).

Execute your approach using whatever type of footwork you're most comfortable with, plant your feet and jump as high as you can. When you're at the point of the attack when you would normally be hitting the volleyball, throw the tennis ball instead. Really focus on your arm swing and watch where the ball is landing in the court. And don't stop your arm swing once the tennis ball has been thrown; you want to simulate your attack motion, so keep the follow through in place. I like to think about "quarters in my hand": if there was somebody standing behind me while I did my approach my wrist should have snapped and my arm should have swung all the way back around by the time I land so that the person could put some quarters into my hand.Practice throwing the tennis ball across the court, down the line, on a sharp angle -- anywhere you want to hit with your attack. Once you're comfortable throwing the tennis ball on your own it's helpful to add a blocker or other obstacle so that you're forced to throw around someone's hand just like in a game.

Tips To Improve Your Running Technique

Running technique is one of the most neglected parts of running training. It is not difficult to improve your running technique, although it is hard to bring into practice. After all, it is hard to kick habits, so you might have to do a bit of "unlearning" and go through a period of adjustment before you actually get used to your new way of running.

Try to avoid heel-striking and land on your mid-foot. During recent years the experts have been discouraging heel-striking. It is not suitable for the fastest running and more and more it is believed that heel-striking is one of the core reasons for the current running injury epidemic.Another way that will make you run the way you have to is to imagine running after a child that is about to cross a busy road. This will immediately push your body straight and push your legs to land under you rather than in front of you.

During your running, in order for any force to be transmitted from one leg to the other your pelvis must remain horizontal and rigid. In this regard, the core is responsible for keeping the pelvis in position. This horizontal position is essential for efficient force to be distributed. You can maintain core stability by just paying attention and concentrating on good posture. This is important whether standing, sitting or active. Apart from your running program you may want to spend some time doing cross-training like Pilates to strengthen your core.

you can also do is run with a metronome that is set at 90 or 180 beeps per minute and then try to follow the beat. Frustrating at first, but you will learn to take "lighter steps" and eventually improve your performance. Imagine how much faster you would be if you could do an extra 10 to 20 steps of the same stride length each minute!

Thus,if you are looking to improve your running technique, these few tips will get you started in the right direction. As said before, it takes time to kick old habits. Do not expect change to happen overnight. You may even get frustrated.

Boxing - The History, Rules & Equipment

Boxing is a renowned sport which is viewed all over the world by thousands of people. Boxing is a combat sport in which two people, male or female of similar weight fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is normally played in a series of one to three minute rounds. There are three ways to win one way is by knock out meaning the opponent is unable to get up before the referee counts to ten seconds or if the opponent is considered too injured to continue meaning a Technical Knockout. If there is no stoppage of the fight before the end of the rounds, a winner is decided either by the referee's decision or by judges' scorecards.

Boxing has been around for many years dating back to the ancient Greek times where it was first seen as a formal sport and this was when a set of rules where designed and tournaments were staged. Boxing was first recognized as a sport round about 688 BC and really evolved in Europe.There are numerous different styles of boxing practiced around the world such as French boxing in France, or in Burma with Burmese boxing and in Thailand with Thai boxing.

For boxers to participate on tournaments and events they must wear boxing gloves with wrist wraps as the wrist wraps are used to secure the bones in the hand, and the gloves are used to protect the hands from injury, allowing boxers to throw punches with more force. Also boxers must wear a mouth guard to protect the teeth and gums from injury, and to cushion the jaw.

When in the ring boxers are prohibited from hitting below the belt, holding, tripping, pushing, biting, spitting or wrestling their opponent. They are also prohibited from kicking, head-butting, or hitting with any part of the arm other than the knuckles. If a boxer violates these rules then they may be ruled as fouls by the referee, who may issue warnings, deduct points, or disqualify an offending boxer which may cause an automatic loss depending on the seriousness of the foul committed.

A Brief History of Gymnastics

Gymnastics is a graceful and artistic sport that requires a combination of strength, balance, agility, and muscle coordination, usually performed on specialized apparatus. Gymnastics as we know it dates back to ancient Greece. The early Greeks practiced gymnastics to prepare for war. Activities like jumping, running, discus throwing, wrestling, and boxing helped develop the muscles needed for hand-to-hand combat. Additional fitness practices used by the ancient Greeks included methods for mounting and dismounting a horses and a variety of circus performance skills.

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries two pioneer physical educators, Johann Friedrich GutsMuth and Friedrich Ludwig Jahn created exercises for boys and young men on sseveral apparatus they had designed. This innovation ultimately led to what is considered modern gymnastics. As a result, Friedrich Jahn became known as the "father of gymnastics". Jahn introduced the horizontal bar, parallel bars, side horse with pommels, balance beam, ladder, and vaulting horse.

By the end of the nineteenth century, men's gymnastics was popular enough to be included in the first modern Olympic Games held in 1896. The sport was a little different from what we currently know as gymnastics however. Up until the early 1950s, both national and international competitions involved a changing variety of exercises the modern gymnast may find a bit odd such as synchronized team floor calisthenics, rope climbing, high jumping, running, and horizontal ladder just to name a few.

Women first started to participate in gymnastics events in the 1920s and the first women's Olympic competition was held in the 1928 Games in Amsterdam, although the only event was synchronized calisthenics.These days gymnastics is a household name and many children participate in gymnastics at one time or another as they grow up. Olga Korbut, Nadia Comaneci, and Mary Lou Retton, along with all those gymnasts since, have helped popularize women's competitive gymnastics, making it one of the most watched Olympic events. Both men's and women's gymnastics now attract considerable international interest, and excellent gymnasts can be found on every continent.

All About Martial Arts Weapons

All Asian forms of martial arts is considered to be a combination of well-practiced punches, kicks, blocks, flips, and other combative gestures. A skilled martial artist practices his or her art like a dance or music in order to achieve a careful honing of the bodies muscles, flexibility, and reflexes.Most Asian martial art forms are primarily focused on practicing above mentioned skills in combat. It also includes careful and advanced usage of deadly martial arts weapons.

The term basically means the art of war and martial arts weapons have been included to practice the art in a better way. Weapons make fighting styles more interesting and fascinating. However, you need to get enrolled with good learning centers to practice the use of weapons, punches and moves.

Centers recommend students to buy suitable weapons to practice their moves and skills. It is advisable to buy from top quality manufacturers as weapons should be of top quality so as to give desired support to the artist. Buy right and use them as instructed by your instructor to meet your needs. Be careful and take enough precautions to ensure your safety all the time.

GENERAL TENNIS PSYCHOLOGY

Tennis psychology is nothing more than understanding the workings of your opponent's mind, and gauging the effect of your own game on his mental viewpoint, and understanding the mental effects resulting from the various external causes on your own mind. You must realize the effect on your game of the resulting irritation, pleasure, confusion, or whatever form your reaction takes. Does it increase your efficiency? If so, strive for it, but never give it to your opponent.

Once you have judged accurately your own reaction to conditions, study your opponents, to decide their temperaments. Like temperaments react similarly, and you may judge men of your own type by yourself.A person who can control his own mental processes stands an excellent chance of reading those of another, for the human mind works along definite lines of thought, and can be studied.

The dangerous man is the player who mixes his style from back to fore court at the direction of an ever-alert mind. This is the man to study and learn from. He is a player with a definite purpose. A player who has an answer to every query you propound him in your game. He is the most subtle antagonist in the world.Pick out your type from your own mental processes, and then work out your game along the lines best suited to you.

We hear a great deal about the "shots we have made." Few realize the importance of the "shots we have missed." The science of missing shots is as important as that of making them, and at times a miss by an inch is of more value than a, return that is killed by your opponent.The psychology of a tennis match is very interesting, but easily understandable. Both men start with equal chances. Once one man establishes a real lead, his confidence goes up, while his opponent worries, and his mental viewpoint becomes poor. The sole object of the first man is to hold his lead, thus holding his confidence. If the second player pulls even or draws ahead, the inevitable reaction occurs with even a greater contrast in psychology. There is the natural confidence of the leader now with the second man as well as that great stimulus of having turned seeming defeat into probable victory.

The Benefits of Swimming

Swimming is one sport that is fun for the fans. Through interaction with thousands of gallons of water, you can get a lot of positive benefits not only touch the health problems, but also the social sector of your life. Through swim, you can make friends, relax, strengthen the respiratory system, to form a body to be beautiful.

When the stress from daily routine of whack, you can ease it by taking a little time to swim. Enjoy every movement made, and if you have a private pool at home, so there's nothing wrong you add soft music in the pool. Playing ball or swim with friends can also raise your spirit again.

Similarly after the swim, usually people will feel sleepy because of fatigue. Thus, swimming can also help people who have insomnia so you can sleep soundly. Besides that, swimming also touching health problems.There are a lot of people say that by swimming, can cure asthma or other respiratory problems. This occurs because the respiratory muscles are trained to hold and exhaled breath in a certain period.

Another benefit that would make a lot of women really like water sports this is because they want to form a more beautiful body. To achieve this, you can perform various movements ranging from swimming with different styles itself, until a simple gesture as floats.

So, if there are so many benefits to be gained through this exercise, let us make time to feel and get the benefits of swimming.

How to Jump Higher For Basketball

Though your ability to jump high is very essential in many other sports, basketball in particular is probably is one sports that requires players to have very good jump heights, if they want to be competitive in the games.How to jump higher for basketball is a popular question. Probably one of the most popular questions asked amongst professional basketball players.

There are so many training to increase your vertical leap. There is really so much literature on the web around this topic. There are also a dozen of vertical jump training programs which have been designed and are being sold in the net. The how to jump higher for basketball question has never been answered more that it is in our present times.

As you may already know, the best way to increase your vertical jump for basketball is by using a professional vertical jump training system. It is true that you can personally design your own system and use it. But I have seen some athletes who did this, but instead but did not get any results from it.

You may no know this, but there is so much wrong information in the internet today on "How to Jump Higher For Basketball". That is why it is always a better and safe choice to join a vertical jump training program and learn from there, instead of trying to learn on your own.

The Jump Manual is probably the best vertical jump training system ever created and it is written by a professional jump coach who has done nothing but teach basketball players and other athletes how to jump higher.

Golf Swing Basics – 3 Tips You Need To Know

Golf swing basics should be simple, straightforward and repeatable. The more you think about your swing the more difficult it becomes to have a consistent swing. Practicing some golf swing basics will allow you to develop muscle memory that you can take to the golf course.

A good repeatable swing begins with the way the way you grip your golf club. You should have a neutral grip. This is when the “V” formed between your thumb and forefingers on both hands are both hands point between the right shoulder and chin.

There are three basic types of hand grip used, the baseball grip, interlocking grip and the overlapping grip. Whether you are using a baseball grip, an interlocking grip or an overlapping grip making sure that your grip is neutral will allow you to keep the clubface as square as possible during your swing.

Preparing for each shot is an absolute must. Create a picture of your shot in your mind and you are more likely to execute the shot. Along with visualization, you need to have a consistent method for setting up to execute your shot.

All too often golfers will try to compete with their playing partners. If they hit the golf ball a country mile, then you have to try and drive the ball just as far. This is a sure recipe for failure. Stay within your game, trying to hit the golf ball further than your normal distance will lead to misdirected shots and will get you into trouble.

Many golfers tend to over think the golf swing and complicate the process. Golf swing basics are easy to learn when you focus on these 3 tips.