Peak Performance in Sports

Tuesday, July 10, 2012 11 comments
In the sports arena, peak performance in sports has always been a much sought after state by players and coaches of all levels. Whether the athletes are school boys soccer players or Olympians striving for their Gold medals, peak performance in sports has always attracted athletes and coaches alike. In our modern age of sports, where sports science is at a stratospheric level and rising, what are the factors that when applied correctly can lead sports participants to peak performance in sports? Are there secrets to sporting excellence? Are these factors easily manipulated for the benefits of the athletes? This article discusses the factors that can lead athletes and coaches to peak performance in sports.

There has been many articles and books detailing principles, programs, success factors and the like that can lead to peak performance in sports. Many authors have written at length about them and in many ways, the principles and factors are universal. The principles of progressive resistance, variety, goal specific training, recovery, etc are all undisputed underlying reasons that allows athletes to achieve peak performance in sports. This article goes a step further by exploring these universal factors in a different light. In the process, I hope to give athletes and coaches alike how to practically apply these principles and which are the factors with higher weightage in terms of achieving success and peak performance in sports.

There are basically two set of factors we need to look into. Technical and human factors. Let us take a look at the former set of factors first;

Technical Factors

1. Quality Preparation
2. Mastering Individual Skills
3. High Fitness Levels
4. Understanding Overall Team Play
5. Filling Up Key Positions of the Team
6. Minimise Errors in Games

1. Quality Preparation

The hard work for any sports season begins with the preseason training which is very intensive. No body likes this season, as the work and training required is often very boring and painful. But this has to be done for the athletes to be optimally prepared for the rigours of the competitive phase. The endurance, strength, speed and skill volumes must be done. Not just the volume of work, but how much quality is put into the preparation phase is vital as well. When players cut corners and put in training at face value without their heart and soul, it will show up later in the competition as fatigue, injuries or lack of sharpness in their performance. Peak performance in sports cannot be possible under such circumstances. The quality of preseason preparation is even more important in youth sports.

Very often in schools, the playing seasons for many sports start almost immediately when the school year starts. With our children away for long vacations, our athletes very often return to school to face competitions with very little training time. Team play, fitness building and mental preparation are supposed to be done in 2-3 weeks, which in a sports world is almost impossible and impractical. This kind of preparation is also detrimental to the development of our children. Under these circumstances, coaches and teachers (and parents if possible) have a very important responsibility to ensure that our athletes are well prepared for competition. Training programmes for sports ought to be drawn up and implemented at year's end previously. Our athletes need to understand that that their season effectively began when their examinations are over. With a training programme started, coaches and teachers can than instruct athletes about a vacation training programme as well. Each athlete should have one whereby, they can do something to improve their playing abilities during their break away from school. It could include things like maintain a certain standard of fitness through endurance activities like cycling, running or swimming, playing catch and pitching in the backyard with their siblings, or even individual practices to improve certain skills. The main thing here is to preserve and improve what has been attained in the preceding season, so that athletes do not return back to school and start from scratch. Simply planning and training this way will ensure quality preparation for the sports teams to attain peak performance in sports later.

2. Mastering Individual Skills

In all sports and games, there are certain skill sets and skills that are considered basic and necessary. These must be achieved by athletes before they can play at a higher level later. In basketball, dribbling and executing a proper lay-up are crucial. Throwing, catching and fielding skills are a must in baseball and softball. The push-pass and receiving a pass are necessary skills in hockey and floor ball. The list goes on. In preseason training, or at the earliest playing stage, these essential skills must be made known to our young players, and all efforts and time must be spent on mastering these basic skills. Without these skills, a coach will find it very difficult to execute more complex team plays to achieve peak performance in sports. If strikers cannot even control a long pass from a teammate, how can we expect the same player to hold up the ball well up field against oppositions defenders and execute lay-off passed to oncoming teammates in support. It will be wise for coaches to develop these skills early and also for players to keep improving themselves in these skills even though they might feel that they are good enough already.

Even at professional levels, these basic skills for their sports is important for peak performance in sports. The repertoire of skills required and the intensity of how these skills are performed at the highest levels are even more acute. At the highest levels where opponents are very evenly match in all areas, one mistake can often result in a win or loss. It is even more important for professionals to master all the skills required of the game or sports. Only under such intense conditions can peak performance in sports be possible.

3. High Fitness Levels

At high school levels, many athletes would not have reached their maximal physical development yet no matter how much they train. Physiologically speaking, the development in this area in youths is very varied. Some children reach a high fitness standard faster than others, while others have body types that will only respond to training optimally when they get older. Hence, it can be assumed that a team with the fittest group of players will have the most advantage. No matter how skillful your opponents are, if you are fitter than him or her, you will be able to overcome your lack of fitness by reacting rapidly to overcome your short fall. Let's say, you are out dribbled by a more skillful opponent in soccer. But if you are fitter than your opponent who have just out-dribbled you, you will be able to track back fast enough to cover your position again. This edge in fitness for youth is very important at the later stages of the game too, as players tend to tire faster at this age. A fitter team will definitely be able to prevail and score more later in the game. Players at this age need to be convinced of this need for fitness, and be encouraged to do whatever they can to attain the highest level of fitness possible.

How about professionals? Without a doubt, professional athletes are expected to possess fitness at the highest levels. If they are not, their opponents will be and consequently, they will outperform them and reach their peak performance in sports. Generally speaking, professional sportsmen know how to get into great shape and maintain that till the end of the season. Their physical bodies are also in the best state to be developed to their fullest potential.

4. Understanding Overall Team Play

The next factor of great importance in achieving peak performance in sports is understanding the overall team play by the players. Imagine a coach telling his charges to clear the balls down the flanks in any invasion game. You will be surprise how many players actually understand why they are told to do this. More often than not, the players will just do what is required or told by the coaches. The understanding behind their action is very often very little. They might not know that by playing the ball down the flanks or wing, it actually forces the opponents defence to spread wider, thus leaving more gaps in the middle for the attacker to exploit subsequently. Another statistically advantage is that plays down the flanks generally result in the attacker getting the ball back if it is knocked out of bound. That is why, you often hear players or coaches shouting to their charges to 'throw it down the line'. Young players love the direct route to goal and very often that means playing through the middle. Whatever is taught in tactics to the players, coaches must make every effort to explain and make sure that all the players understand the tactical significance of their plays. This form of coaching if done properly, makes the players better players and improve their decision making on the pitch. And we are always looking for more thinking players in our pitch which will give the team a higher chance of achieving peak performance in sports.

5. Filling Up Key Positions of the Team

The fifth factor that can produce peak performance in sports is actually finding the right players to fill up the most key positions of the team first. In any sport teams, there will be key positions that must be filled first. The point guard in a basketball team is the driver of the team. he controls all plays. A centre in ice-hockey is pivot in both defense and attack, hence he must be the best and fittest and most abled player. The catcher in baseball is the key man, as he dictates and calls the pitches, and also sees the entire fielding situation. These key positions must be filled first, even if it means fielding someone out of position. I use to have a very talented and strong striker who loves to score goals. Unfortunately, I also have a big gap in goal-keeping and he happens to be the best handler of balls in the team. After much persuasion and sacrifice, he finally converted to a goal-keeper. Thanks to his selfless act, the team did extremely well as very few goals were scored against us. It was not easy to make this move. But as the coach than, I felt that the goal-keeper is too important a player to let any Tom, Dick or Harry player, hence it must be the best. These result was the least number of silly errors from our goal-keeping department and that gave the team a much better chance to win games.This brings us to the last technical factor that influence peak performance in sports - making fewest errors.

6. Minimise Errors in Games

In sports these days, errors often decide the outcome of the game. Errors will be more plentiful at youth and children levels. The fact that children are playing at lower technical and tactical levels makes it inevitable that errors will be made. The team that makes the fewest errors in any game will generally perform at their peak. Its a mentality that must be drilled into players to make the fewest error individually as well as as a team. If you do not believe this, watch your next game with a watchful eye over how goals or points are scored. More often than not, you will realize that a goal started from an error from the opponents somewhere. Or a point or run is a result of some players fumbling the ball. Making many silly errors will not lead a team to peak performance in sports. A team that is doing well makes the fewest errors. So coaches, make sure you train your players to understand this and do the right things in the game. Show them evidence through videos or live games, and they will be convinced that the team with the fewest errors win games and peak in their sports performance.

So far we have discussed the technical factors that will lead your team to peak performance in sports. Coaches and players must make sure that these factors are well looked into to ensure that your teams will attain peak performance in sports. Otherwise, it will be a waste of effort and time no matter how talented the team and players are.

In trying to achieve peak performance in sports, human factors are also very important. Understand and master these factors, and success and peak performance in sports is almost a sure thing. But very often these factors are often the hardest to achieved. Here we are drawing on the qualities of human beings to excel in different areas in order for them to reach their peak performance in sports. Very often, these qualities form the foundation of all athletic performances in sports. The players and coaches will find mastering these factors most difficult because we are dealing with intangible elements of human nature. Its easy to improve on your pitching skills, but to improve team spirit it has a lot more to do with just practicing a skill.

Fortunately, we only need to focus on two human factors here in order to achieve peak performance in sports.

Human Factors

1. Players' Dedication and Commitment 2. Team Work and Team Spirit

The first factor deals with having dedicated and committed players. This is very much an individual player factor, but it is also the coach's responsibility to reap the highest commitment and dedication from each player. We all know that every player is different, hence it requires different strategies to motivate different players. For some players, simply setting goals, both team and individual goals, will suffice because maybe the players themselves are already intrinsically motivated. For players with poor motivation and a star attitude, some form of carrot and stick methods might be required to get the most out of them. Whatever the strategies, failure to get the highest commitment and dedication from players will mean that training and match play will not be optimum thus resulting in poorer peak performance in sports.

The second human factor that leads to peak performance in sports is team work and team spirit. When a team is able to work together to a level whereby players' understanding is so good, than the team will have reach the ultimate potential. Not just will tactical plays be good all round, but the effort to play for each other in the team will be so high that the level of satisfaction and sacrifice will be so immense that team play will improve. Players are willing to run and cover for each other more, and there is almost a magical factor in the team play. Team effectiveness will improve. Players will not be playing for selfish reasons but rather for the common team goals. History provides wonderful elements for us to see team work in action. Very often, it was not teams with the most skills that won the competitions, but rather, the teams with the greatest team spirit and team work, When players are willing to set aside personal differences to play for greater team goals. In Euro 2004, Greece was not the team with the greatest fair or skills,but they still won, because the coach was able to mold a team of seemingly nobody into a cohesive unit that was willing to play hard for each other.

Training and reaching peak performance in sports is very often the dreams and aspirations of many coaches and players. At all levels of sports, from high school to professional, all athletes and their coaches want to achieve their peak performance in sports. It is a inner desire of human to succeed and be the best. Being the best requires not just skill, but also certain technical and human factors that can be manipulated for the benefits of achieving peak performance in sports. These factors are important for any sports fans striving for peak performance in sports.

Jimmy Tong has been a Physical Educator for 13 Years in Singapore, with degree in sports science and physical education from Loughborough University in UK. He has extensive coaching experience in soccer, floorball and rugby teams in Singapore Schools.He is currently a sports development officer in Singapore schools as well as an active contributor of sports training articles to improve sports performance in athletes. He hopes to enable people's success to come by inspiring them with true sports motivational and inspirational stories.

Types of Sports Equipment

Monday, June 25, 2012 3 comments
Are you in to sports? Do need exercise equipment? Do you want to avoid injury when playing? If you are any of the above, then knowing the types of sports equipment will be necessary for you. Sports equipment is used for both sporting activities and even exercising.

This is because when you do sports, you are actually exercising your body as well. Sports equipments of varying classifications and types are used to protect you from endangering yourself when you exercise or do sports.

Thus, to help you know what you need and when you need them, you will need to know the types of sports equipments that fit your sports or activity. In this article, we will discuss a bit about those sports equipments and the reason they are necessary.

Here they are:

Balls
Sports such as football, basketball, volleyball all needs balls. You may do these sports as an exercise or a sport activity. Choosing the ball that is correct in the activity is necessary.

Sticks, Bats and Clubs
These are sports equipments used in events such as the sticks for hockey and lacrosse. Bats are used in baseball and clubs are usually used mostly in golf.

Choosing the right sports equipment for the sporting activity will help you avoid injury in the playing field.

Nets and Goals
Nets are used in sports events such as tennis, volleyball, basketball, and badminton. The goals on the other hand are used with posts and crossbars such as in football and soccer. In baseball, while this sport does not use a goal or net, it however uses a wicket or a base.

Rods and Tackles
Rods and tackles are sports equipments used in fishing.

Sporting gears
While they are not sports equipments, sporting gears such as your footwear have different types such as basketballs shoes, golf shoes with spikes, boards for wakeboarding, skates for roller skating and skis for waterskiing. There will be different footwear for different sports. These different types of shoes are necessary to avoid injury for the individual using them.

Sports jackets, sports shirts and other protective gears are likewise sporting gears used while playing sports.

Aside from sporting gears and the equipments mentioned above, sports equipments include vehicles.

There are vehicles especially designed for sporting activities such as motor sports, cycling, aeronautics, sailing, hot air ballooning and golf carts.

These vehicles may be necessary or may be just used for added ease in playing.

Golf carts are an example of an added ease in playing golf. They may or may not be used but if you can have free use of it, then, might as well enjoy it.

While sports equipments will help you avoid injury, the advice from an efficient coach is never to be neglected. Coaches are there to ensure that you perform your best during sports activities and likewise avoid injuries. The sports equipment you will use will just compliment your careful performance of the game.

Winning is never assured if you use specific sports equipment but safety is always necessary.

How to Get Started With Sports Betting

Sunday, June 17, 2012 2 comments
Sports betting is simply placing a wager on a sporting event. You are betting that your team, horse, dog, or driver will win. If they do win, so do you! If they lose, you lose your bet amount. Sports betting takes place all over the world, though in the United States this type of betting is not as highly accepted as it is in Europe.

Online sports betting is probably the best option for those who are interesting in trying it for the first time. If you have never tried online sports betting, you are missing so much fun and excitement, and it can all happen in the comfortable surroundings of your home! The art of sports betting can seem confusing at first, but once you are familiar with some of the jargon that is used to explain the concepts and logic behind each type of bet, it is all much easier to understand.

One of the best ways for you to experience this engaging way to bet on your favourite racing and sporting events is to get acquainted with online sports betting. However, in order to best take advantage of all that sports betting has to offer, you need to know a little more about it.

Sports Betting - The Odds

How does online sports betting work? You should start by studying the odds for the sporting event you are most interested in placing a wager upon. When using online sports betting, you can find these odds in the various online sports books used by Internet gamers everywhere. You must open an account with an online sports book before you can place your bet, but this is simple to do.

Once you have chosen where you are going to do your sports betting, you need to decide how you are going to place your bet. There are many different ways for you to wager your chosen amount of money, but first, let's talk about the spread and how it can affect the amount you bet.

Sports Betting - The Spread

The spread is a point advantage in sports betting, which is usually given to the team that is generally expected to lose a particular sporting event. If you decide that you will bet on the team that is expected to win, they will have to win by more than the spread number and cover the spread before you are considered to have chosen correctly. If you choose the team that is expected to lose, that team will have to lose by less than the spread number in order for your pick to be considered correct. If by chance the team wins by the number of points that were chosen as the spread, the game is called a push.

No one who engages in sports betting wins a thing if a game is called as a push, but you do get the amount of your original bet back. The point spread is done in order to make the all of the bets come out even for the sports book, and is usually done for sports such as basketball or football.

Sports Betting - The Bet

If you were to bet against the spread, most likely you would place a type of bet called an 11-10, or spread bet. By betting $11, you win $10 if your team's score covers the spread. This is another way that the online sports book makes its money.

An over-under bet is also an 11-10 bet. With this type of bet, the total score of the two teams that played will be either over or under the total score that was listed before the game was played. Betting on the score being over is called 'betting on the ball'. Betting on the score being under is called 'betting on the clock'.

A proposition bet is a type of bet where the online sports book chooses what the odds and the conditions of the bet are going to be. This type of bet can be most interesting, even a little fun at times, for the conditions can be as unusual as which of two football teams will make the most touchdowns, which of two basketball teams will score the most three pointers, or even which individual player will make a certain move for the team. The odds for this kind of bet are sometimes 11-10, but can be better or worse depending on the circumstances.

A parlay bet happens when you are betting on more than one event, usually three. This type of bet gives you a much higher payout if you should win, but the catch is that all the events you bet on will have to win. If even one of them loses, they all lose, and you lose the amount that you bet.

A money line bet seems rather formidable, especially to someone who is just getting into online sports betting, but it is really one of the simplest bets of all. It is also called a Straight Up bet, and there is no point spread to consider. You will just choose your sport, and then the team you think will be either the underdog or the favourite. In a money line bet, the sports book will have numbers listed that are in the hundreds, with either a plus or a minus sign beside them. These numbers are considered the 'money line', and are the multipliers for the bets.

If the money line for your team is listed as 100, you will make an even bet. This means you will wager the same amount that you will get back. If the money line reads -110, then you must come up with the amount of money you have decided to bet, plus 10%. This extra 10% is known by the name of 'juice'. If the money line for your team is listed as +110, then you simply place your bet with the amount you choose to bet. If you win a money line bet, you get the amount of your bet plus 10% back. For example, if you bet $10.00 and $1.00 in juice on a -110 money line and it wins, you get $21. 00.

A teaser bet in sports betting is actually a proposition bet that allows you to change the odds for the bet in either direction so that the wager is in your favour. You can go up or down in points, and must choose at least two teams, as is done in a parlay bet. You can have as many as 6 separate teams included on a teaser bet, but all of the teams chosen have to win in order for your bet to be declared a winning one. Once the games are over, the points from the teaser bet are added or subtracted from the final scores. The odds for teaser bets can be different each time, so it is a good plan to always check the sports book before placing your bet.

A tip to remember is that generally, when placing a wager on any sport that can finish with a high score, such as football, you will have a spread. Sports where the ending score is low, such as in baseball will have a money line. Remember also that favourable odds on a game can sometimes work in your favour. Online sports betting allows you to easily go from sports book to sports book to find the best odds.

Sports Betting - Just Follow the Money

Sunday, June 10, 2012 0 comments
There is more than one way to win and win big in the Sporting industry. If you are talented enough, you may be fortunate to land a very lucrative multi-million dollar contract. But if you are just a fan and enjoy sports competition, you too can benefit. You will not have one of those big time contracts, but if you have the right information and knowledge, you too can become very wealthy by betting only when the odds are in your favor.

Betting on sports has long been very popular throughout the world. Many sports enthusiasts, especially football, basketball, and baseball fans, consider sports betting as one of the most exciting money-making opportunities ever known to man.

However, although sports betting may seem to appear as a get rich quick scheme, it still involves hard work, solid preparation, and of course knowledge of the sport that you are betting on. If you want to win consistently betting on sports, you will need strong money management skills, patience, discipline, and the ability to only wager/bet when the odds are the most in your favor.

Sports Betting 101

Basically, sports betting can be classified as a game of chance. It is often defined as the general activity of predicting results of the sports you are interested in, by making a wager on the outcome of the sporting event. So, if for instance you are interested in betting on football games, your bets on the sport are most commonly placed on the outcome of a particular game. And, in that game, there is a favorite and an underdog.

To make the wagering experience more even, it is the practice of the bookmaker or the odds maker to determine in advance, the odds of the two teams winning or losing. This is done, so as to give you a chance to bet on the probability of a competitors/team's chance to win that single game or event. However, note that the bookmaker always posts the odds so that it would be favorable to take a chance of betting on either team. In essence, the odds are created to entice a sense of betting action on both sides.

The Legality of Sports Betting

More so than other forms of gambling, the general acceptance or the legality of sports betting differs from nation to nation. Many regions in the world consider sports betting or sports gambling as illegal, thus highly forbidden, while there are others that view sports gambling as lawful and safe, in the sense that sports betting is simply a hobby for sport fanatics. It helps to increase their enthusiasm and eagerness in one particular sporting event, which in turn may benefit the players, teams and even the sport that they bet on.

Betting on sports, drives more people to witness the events, increasing the attendances and even the television audiences. It is perhaps due to this fact that more opponents of sports betting strongly oppose the legality of sports betting. They actually fear that betting on sports may in the end threaten the integrity of a particular sport.

They base their assumptions on the history of which involves a number of attempts by the sports bettors to fix the matches. But, so far, with the proponents counter's concern on protecting the bets and fighting corruption as fiercely as the governing bodies and law enforcement do, nothing worse has been reported as of today for sports betting. Long live sports competition and sports wagering.

Tips on Finding Sports Betting Picks Available

Friday, May 25, 2012 0 comments
Are you interested in sports betting? Are you looking for some sports betting picks online? If your answer is yes, then I have some really great news for you! Written in this article are tips in helping you find sports betting picks available online. There are thousands of sites online nowadays that offer this service so in the event that you are looking for a place, there's a pretty darn good chance you won't have a problem finding you. Listed below are just a few of some of the best sites that can be found online today. If you are really serious about your search for picks, then there is no reason in the world to check these out!

Vegas D Sports -

Vegas D Sports is finally here to give you some of the best sports betting picks available. Also, this site offers a unique service focused on delivering the most powerful information for sports betting available. With their commitment to offering sports services, it's no wonder that Vegas D Sports successfully achieved the very best in sports betting selections and obtained experts sports analysis from some of the top sports handicappers in Las Vegas.

Ultimate Capper -

I bet you have heard Ultimate Capper as being one of the largest sports betting sites on the web these days. Well, this website in particular offers free sports betting picks for those who are looking for it. Their sports picks include free baseball picks, NBA basketball picks, NFL football picks, and hockey picks. And, perhaps what's nice to know about Ultimate Capper's picks is that Doc's Sports, one of their clients, has consistently beat the books with the use of their college and NBA basketball picks for more than 30 years.

UHChallenge -

UHChallenge is the official site of Ultimate Handicapping Challenge, one of the well-known sites for handicapping and sports betting. Just like the above-mentioned sites, UHChallenge offers sports betting picks in all available sports for free. To find their free picks, all you need to do is to simply click on their links provided under their free picks page. You can also buy picks from them.

Doc Sports -

Doc Sports is by far one of the most well-known currently active sports service on the net. The company is actually family owned and operated since 1971 and serving the handicapping industry with the most reliable handicapping services. Doc Sports is now offering free sports betting picks that range from football picks, to college BB picks, NBA picks, baseball picks, NHL hockey picks, and boxing picks. So whatever type of sport you are interested to bet on, Doc Sports has the best sports betting picks for you. And, aside from their free picks, you can also purchase sports betting picks from them.

National Sports Monitor -

National Sports Monitor is another great site to check out for the best sports betting picks available. The National Sports Monitor is actually the only professional sports monitor that promotes the leading handicappers of the nation in print, radio and the Internet. They offer sports betting picks for free from more than 175 of the nation's best handicappers. It is further interesting to know that all of their free sports betting picks are submitted by their handicappers, and are made available to the public right after the start of every event.

Sport in Our Life

Monday, May 14, 2012 0 comments
Sport has become an integral part of human life.The word 'Sport' had originated between 1910 and 1915. Sport connotes a physical activity governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Over the years Sport has undergone an amazing metamorphosis. Sport was initially developed for recreation of the human beings. It has grown monstrously in the modern days and become high-tech.

Sport, athletic games or tests of skill have been undertaken primarily for the diversion or recreation of the participants or spectators. Sport has great and varied manifestations. It has been restricted to any play, pastime, exercise, game or contest performed under the given rules.

It has been played either indoor or outdoor, on individual or team basis, with or without competition, but requiring skill and some form of physical exertion. Some Sports, such as hunting, fishing, running and swimming have evolved out of the primitive ways and lifestyle of human life. Some Sports, such as riding, shooting, throwing the javelin or archery have derived from early military practices and background. Sports like boxing, wrestling and jumping, had arisen from the spontaneous human outbursts and challenges and occasional hostilities that had accompanied human interaction.

The development of sport in the ancient, middle ages and in the modern days has been phenomenal. In the ancient days, the Greek and Roman had evinced a keen interest in developing sport. It was the Greek who organized the Olympics and interestingly people from all over the world participated and witnessed it. Thus modern Olympics had originated in Athens city of Greece. The feudal system of the middle ages had hampered the growth of sport that was revived only in the days of renaissance. In the modern days, especially in the 20th century, sport has witnessed an organized growth and development of games.Baseball in the US, cricket in England, hockey in countries like India and Pakistan are some of the games that developed rapidly in the 20 th century.Olympic games, Pan-American games, Commonwealth Games and Afro-Asian Games etc have been organized and held at periodic intervals, making the sport as an international event in the 20 th century.

In the 21 century, sport has turned ultra-modern and developed with high tech facilities.The games like cricket , football and hockey have increasingly become global.Frequent changes in the rules of the games have been further complicated by the umpiring controversies due to human errors.The building of ultramodern stadia, provision of adequate infrastructure facilities etc had further increased their problems manifold and put them under a heavy financial stake.On the other hand technology has facilitated live telecasting and viewing of the matches and games so easy, thereby easing the common mans' burden to some extent.The Olympic events have been held under the auspices of International Olympic Association. Almost all countries of the world have become members of International Olympic Association and participate in Olympics, which is periodically held once in four years. Similarly cricket has a governing body called International Cricket Council to hold the premiere events like the world cup and the champions trophy etc with the object of spreading cricket throughout the world. Hockey has an International governing council known as International Hockey Federation, enrolling all hockey playing members in the world. Similarly soccer world cup has been held under the auspices of an international organization once in four years.The soccer playing member countries have to go through rigorous qualifying rounds before participating in the soccer world cup. Modern sport has also witnessed the evolution of multimillionaires like Sachin Tendulkar in cricket, Ronaldo in soccer, William sisters in Tennis, who have risen to prominence by dint of their hard work, skill and passion for their respective games.

The modern Sport has also witnessed the growth and development of sport and its allied industries. Media industry like Sports journalism, Sports education and online games etc have evolved and developed out of sports. Each country has a separate Sports ministry. For example India has a separate Sports Authority of India with sufficient funds to function separately and independently. Sports goods and apparels like tennis ball, rocket etc in tennis, bat, ball, flannels, Sport wears etc in cricket, hockey sticks, balls and synthetic astroturf etc in hockey have been the money spinning projects globally. Sponsorship has been a modern feature in popular games like cricket, soccer, tennis etc involving millions of dollars. Similarly popular players of cricket, soccer and tennis etc are engaged by the multinational companies to advertise their products, spending millions of dollars. Last but not least, Sport has been not only meant for recreation but also has the object of keeping the individual concerned in good health and stamina. We are all aware that a healthy person is a wealthy person and Sport has been the secret of ones' health as well as wealth.

Self Promotion in Sport - The Key to Success

Thursday, May 10, 2012 1 comments
After years of hard work, dedication and effort to become the best in their chosen sport, an increasing number of talented sports people find that they can no longer cope with the financial burden of competitive sport and quit before realizing their true potential. The key to a successful and sustained career in sport not only relies on performance and results but a good support network comprising family, friends, fans and business contacts. All this is provided through Self Promotion in Sport.

"Why would anyone be interested in me?" people might ask, "It's not like I am on the TV winning major events every week". In reality, if sports people were on the TV on a regular basis winning major events they would have already achieved their goals and therein lies the big "Catch-22" in sport - the rewards are there when you make it to the top but you really need the support now to be able to get there! In response to the question of who would be interested in me, the answer is simple; those who know about you, which again comes back to Self Promotion in Sport.

Self Promotion in Sport starts with friends and family. Sports people need to keep their friends and family regularly updated regarding their efforts, goals and achievements. One of the most efficient ways to provide this is through a personal sports website, which should be regularly updated. Well-informed friends and family should be thought of as the sports person's free marketing team and be encouraged to spread the word about the person's efforts, goals and achievements. Once the free marketing team has been assembled and briefed, the team should be asked to help you build your fan base and develop business contacts, as necessary.

In the same way as the sports person should create a buzz amongst people that they know, the sports person should also ask their friends and family to do the same. If a sports person has a personal sports website, friends and family should be asked to email links to the site to as many people as they know. People are more likely to click on a link on an email to visit the site than type the address into a browser; however, when the sports person or their friends and family meet people who might be interested in following their career, a business card with the address of the website or at least an email address, creates a good impression.

Media exposure can be achieved in many ways. The internet is becoming the easiest way to gain exposure, as sports people can create and post their own articles, blogs or message board threads. All such methods can present opportunities to insert links to the sports person's personal sports website. Printed media exposure can be more challenging to achieve; however, can provide excellent results. Free local newspapers are often looking for local residents with interesting stories to produce an article on. When approaching local reporters, sports people should first write down a list of content that would make a potential article interesting to the general public. Interesting content may consist of achievements, funny stories, career aspirations, charity work or an insight into the sport such as "a day in the life of a ......." Again, sports people should ask their friends and family to help generate interesting content.

For those who are eligible to accept financial support, equipment, clothing, modeling work, product endorsements, etc. members of their fan base could one day become excellent business contacts, so building a fan base at an early age is essential. Sports people should set realistic goals for business contacts. Many automatically think about lucrative contracts with the major sports equipment and clothing companies; however, they are unlikely to come to fruition until such companies can reap significant benefits from an agreement. The key to building successful business contacts is to think "small, local and multiple". It is not only the major companies who are looking for sports people to do product endorsements, modeling work or to help with branding and reaching their target audience. It is not only the companies who are related to a sports person's particular sport who could be considered good business contacts either. Sports people should think about the products that personalities in their sport promote and find several small local companies who may benefit from their affiliation. If the sports person has been proactive in their self promotion efforts, there is a chance that the local companies may already know who they are!!!!

It is important for sports people of all ages and levels to understand that they need to play an active role in Sports Self Promotion. If they don't, they could just be giving their competitors the edge!!!!