The World Cup

Why is it that the best players didn't reach the final stages of the World Cup?
Well, it's all to do with individuality; Rooney, Messi, and Ronaldo, all combined, scored one goal between them and their respective teams did not make it past the Quarter-Finals. Is this a mere coincidence?
Teams with unknown players, such as Ghana and Uruguay, played more exciting football because they had a better team cohesion, unlike Portugal, England, and France who just had strong line-ups. An example of a good team cohesion is Germany, who were written off at the start of this World Cup. However, they have made it to the Semi-Finals looking like the team to beat. Germany started the campaign with arguably their best player injured and sitting out (Ballack). The coach, Joachim Löw, still believed that despite having a young and inexperienced team, the right spirit and motivation will help them succeed in the World Cup. As you can tell, to win the World Cup a team needs more than just talent and big names; a team needs a good leader, joint effort, and a winning mentality. Luck also needs to be taken into consideration even though it is not something that can be manipulated. Put all this into a campaign and you will eventually be the undisputed winner.

What is a balanced diet?

A balanced diet is eating the right amount of foods from all the food groups. There should be no shortage or excess of the amount of intake. A balanced diet consists of the five main food groups which are:

1. Carbohydrates (make energy)

2. Protein (helps in growth and repair)

3. Fats (for energy and warmth)

4. Fruits and Vegetables (Vitamins, Minerals and Fibre)

5. Milk and Dairy ( Protein, Minerals and Fats)

The carbohydrates in your diet are the most essential for energy and you get them from potatoes, rice, pasta and they should be 45-50% of your daily food intake. Proteins are needed for repairing the cells plus growing new ones and you can find proteins in dairy products, meat, fish and they should be 20-25%. The rest of the 30% are made up of fats, vitamins, minerals, fibre; you can get fats from dairy products, nuts and meat. The best sources for vitamins, minerals and fibre are from vegetables and fruits.
When balanced diet comes to sport then it is more crucial because the demands of sport on an individual's body is a lot as he/she needs all the nutrients in his/her diet. The best way to get the nutrients are from food but if this isn't possible then other supplements are also beneficial.

Peaking at the right time!!

Peaking is when a team or an individual is playing to their best potential and dominating their field in every aspect. Peaking is important for any team or individual but peaking at the right times is ever more beneficial. A sprinter would target running at his/her optimum speed at a specific time in their calendar as that time is most likely to be at an important race. This gets a lot harder when it comes to team sports as the manager has to get everyone peaking at the same time which is no easy feat. For major competitions such as the world cup or the IPL some teams can peak too early and by the time it gets to the final stages they will be well out of it therefore it is important teams win throughout the competition.

This doesn't mean that teams have to not perform well at the start but it means they have to peak for a longer period of time which can be the most difficult thing to do. What people normally don't get is that peaking doesn't mean playing exceptionally well, it just means that you get the result you or your team wants. An example would be Holland in the World Cup 2006 when they arguably played the best football in the World Cup but didn't make it through the last 16's as they were a victim of not peaking at the right times. This depends more on the coaching staff or the manager rather than the player/s as the best teams (Manchester United, Barcelona, Chelsea) don't always play the smoothest football but they get results every week and all these teams have the best managers or the coaching staff. Arsenal undoubtedly play the best football but in the last 5 years they haven't won a trophy because they have come up against teams who have peaked at the right time whilst playing against them or Arsenal haven't been able to peak at those times. Remember that peaking doesn't always mean playing the best, it just means getting the result you want.

The ATP/PC System

The ATP system is used by the body for fast and dynamic movements and doesn't last for long. This post will explain how the ATP system works in the body with a sporting example at the end. Adenosine Tri Phosphate (ATP) gets broken down into Adenosine Di Phosphate + P + Energy and the energy gets used out of this equation for an anaerobic movement. As the body only has enough ATP stored in our muscles which lasts for 2-3 seconds therefore we can only use this for a little movement such as a dead lift. To rebuild the ATP, we need energy which we produce from the 3 different energy systems. We also need a Phosphate which is stored in the muscles, and we have the ADP already. Therefore to replenish the ATP:
Energy + P + ADP
As we need energy we look to move to another system which is called the ATP-PC system. This system doesn’t use oxygen or produce lactic acid therefore it’s said to be alactic anaerobic. Behind very short, powerful movements such as the 100m sprint this is the primary system. This system lasts for 8-10 seconds for a normal person but can get better (not by much) if you train it. A sporting example for this system is a 100m sprint as the elite finish the race within 10 seconds therefore they rely on this system to supply them with sufficient energy to last the race.

Will IPL turn over Test cricket?

The question should be will 20twenty turn over Test cricket, but I have purposely not gne for this question due to the popularity of 20twenty going up in recent years due to the start of the IPL. Before IPL started 20twenty was a game that was played to have a rest from the bigger format of cricket but since the inaugration of IPL it's become much more than that as it is the easiest way to earn a quick buck and become famous. Lalit Modi, the director of the IPL recently stated that 'Test cricket is our bread and butter' but in the first year of the IPL, several test matches in India have attracted small crowds. In those several tests, there was the infamous one where Sachin overtook Brian Lara's run-aggregate against Australia and this lead to fear of a dip in popularity in the game's oldest format. Since then the ratings have risen for test cricket in India but in other countries, the shorter format rules the ratings.
Everything at the moment sounds fine for test cricket but the hype of the IPL is so huge that every young cricketer would want to play for Mumbai Indians rather than India. Therefore the next few years for test cricket is very important as it will tell where test cricket lies in the cricketing world. So will IPL turn over test cricket, only time will tell.

Indian Centurions

The four different centurions from the Indian innings all have a different style from each other. The first centurion was Virender Sehwag who has a style most people love to appreciate which is 'see and hit'. This means that if Sehwag sees the ball he will go after it, in a total of 174 balls faced by him, he defended 12. That is a small number especially considering that this is a test but to Sehwag this doesn't matter as that is his style. No matter what the scenario of the match is Sehwag only knows one way to play. The second centurion was the unmistakable Sachin Tendulkar who is a century making machine as this is his 47th hundred in total and fourth hundred in the fourth consecutive match. Sachin's style is probably the most effective as he has scored the most runs and most cenutries with a very respectable average, his style is renowned to be steady but will punish any bad deliveries bowled to him.

The third centurion was VVS Laxman who has the most elegant style of the four centurions because while watching all you can do is admire. Laxman's style is very exclusive to sub-continental batsmen as he is very 'wristy' and likes to deal in boundaries rather than quick singles. The fourth and the final centurion was captain marvellous MS Dhoni who has changed his style since he became captain and has an average of 73.45. When Dhoni started his career his style was similar to Sehwag but as he has matured he has started to realise and understand the scenarios of the matches he plays in. The innings he played in the match against SA was a brilliant knock that involved all of his unique styles as he started off slow and then picked up the pace.

All the four centuries were important to India winning this match in the end as they all played a vital role in different phases of the game. What I would like to get out of this post is that there is no perfect style, as long as the style suits the player that's the perfect style for him/her.

CB Hounslow vs Kingstonian Gardens (0-1)

The team CB Hounslow placed forward this week were a lot more experienced as the manager went for maturity to youth. The team they were playing looked well organised from the start but one disadvantage they had was that they had no substitutes so any injury to their player would be devastating for their manager. The match started with both teams running at each other and the tempo of the game was high even though not many chances were created. There was definitely an edge to CB Hounslow this week as they looked a lot sharper with their passing but a mistimed clearance caught them out but were lucky to escape as the striker can only help the ball onto the post.

The next chance fell to CB Hounslow this time as a ball over the top confused the defence the keeper and the last defender but the striker couldn't capitalize and hit the post from a mere 4 yards. The first half looked to finish 0-0 but the left winger of Kingstonian Gardens had other things on his mind as his trickery and a lucky cross lobbed the keeper. Second time in a row the manager of CB Hounslow made another substitute in the first half as he replaced a lethargic centre midfielder. Before the substitute could make an impact on the game the first half ended. The second half started with CB being more positive and their intentions were clear as they were creating great chances but couldn't convert any of them. The manager looked to the substitutes bench for more options but none of them worked and the game ended agonisingly for CB Hounslow with another loss.