2007
The Power of Gold
In his mid-1970’s hit, The Power of Gold, singer and songwriter Dan Fogelberg wrote, “balance the cost of the soul you lost with the dreams you lightly sold-are you under the power of gold?” How prophetic he was. In these modern times, the quest for money and all it can give seems to be the ultimate goal for many. How soon we forget, unless we become sick or injured, that this vessel we call a body is one of God’s greatest gifts to us.
Using Endorsements in Fundraising
Endorsements have become the ‘meat and potatoes’ of many firms today, in both hard goods and service industries. As far back as 1933, Wheaties began putting athletes on cereal packages. Even in 1921, Babe Ruth was under contract as an endorser with Jockey underwear. Today, famous athletes command huge fees. Their endorsement of products and/or services has literally driven the success of some products/firms around the world. Well-known examples include the Nike golf ball, made famous by Tiger Woods, and the Air Jordan shoe, which carries Michael’s name.
The Future of Personal Fitness
Introduction
The health/fitness club industry is now positioned to take its services to a new level. By integrating modern technology with fitness and nutrition science, we can create a framework through which fitness staff can work with each client - a fully integrated testing, training, and nutrition system grounded in science, meticulous attention to detail, and quality assurance - one that will set the standard for the fitness industry in the 21st century. It is driven by technological advances, fitness science research, and a growing realization that the absence of a proactive, “ahead-of-the-curve” assessment with follow-up training and a nutritional program is one of the most noticeable voids in the industry.
Designing a Resistance Training Program
Athletes competing in different sports require various kinds of conditioning. For example, an offensive lineman in football needs more power and brute strength than a basketball player, who requires explosive power for cutting, sprinting, and jumping. A long distance runner needs high levels of muscle endurance to maintain stamina. The first step in creating an effective resistance training program is to evaluate the characteristics of the sport and determine what kind of strength is needed. The program should mimic the movement patterns of the sport as much as possible.
Stress and Anxiety
Athletics has a complexity beyond being able to perform a physical skill at a consistently optimal effort. Team dynamics, the emotional well being of the team, can influence the outcome of an event. Stress and anxiety can become crippling to a team or an individual athlete at any time for several different reasons. If an athlete is injured, stress and anxiety can also become an overwhelming problem during the healing process. An athlete’s adherence to rehabilitation and attitude can become non-compliant. However, athletes can be educated on how to manage or eliminate stress and anxiety during activities. Injured athletes can practice methods to improve the rehabilitative process and adherence to a program.
Advantages of Soccer-Style Versus Conventional-Style Place-Kicking
There are several reasons most college and professional place-kickers (in American football) use the soccer-style approach over the conventional, straight-on style popular many decades ago. The soccer-style kick, while more difficult to learn, is more kinematically efficient for power, distance, accuracy, and control.
Supervision of Athletes
Proper supervision allows coaches to better understand the individual needs and capabilities of their athletes, which results in the implementation of safe, age-appropriate activities for participants. Properly supervising athletes is essential to the success of a team or program. However, many coaches and administrators overlook the importance of this aspect of their jobs. Such oversight can lead to incidents that result in charges and lawsuits against coaches, schools, and organizations. As a result, supervision of athletes is a common issue of sports law.
Balance and Stability
Balance and stability work as one to ensure that athletes can control their bodies during a particular movement. Although closely related, they are very different in terms of application.
A successful athlete does not always need to be stable, though in general, athletes need to maintain balance. As athletes become more and more unbalanced, they lose control and find it more difficult to complete a desired task.
Developing an Athletic Profile - Phase I
Introduction:
The following will provide a broad overview of key factors involved in developing an Athletic Profile for athletes, including some of the tests utilized to assess athletes’ strengths, weaknesses, and needs relative to their sports. In developing an Athletic Profile, you need to utilize a three-phase testing protocol approach.
Gender Bias in Sport
Merriam-Webster (2007) defines bias as a “bent or tendency; an inclination of temperament or outlook; especially: a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment.” Gender bias further defines the construct whereby either males or females face unreasoned judgment or prejudice.
In sport, gender bias can be found at all levels and in all aspects of culture. Females have been the unfortunate recipients of most gender bias in sport. Gill (2000) uses the term “gender marking,” which refers to the use of Women’s Final Four in NCAA Division I basketball as opposed to the Men’s Division I Tournament, which is simply called the Final Four. These designations beg the question as to why the women’s tournament needs to be qualified and not the men’s. Similarly, the LPGA refers to the Ladies Professional Golf Association but the men’s is simply called the PGA (Professional Golf Association). The NBA (National Basketball Association) and WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) follow suit.