The Sport Slice

Hey guys, for this post I will talk a little bit about training our abs and how we should do this. It is something quite interesting that a lot of people tend to be misinformed about.  When we look to tone our abs and get that 'summer body' that we all want we tend to go straight into working the ab muscles only by doing sit ups and crunches. However, research has found that directly training our abs like this is not what makes our abs more defined. Unless you are very lean and your ab muscles are under-developed. Working the abs only does not make them show better! This is a huge myth because we cannot just work the muscle and expect the fat to be spot-reduced. That's not how the body works unfortunately.  If toned abs is what you are looking for then you should try focus on a diet specifically for fat loss around your waist. Your abs are there, they just happen to be covered by a layer of fat so a fat loss diet around the waist may be something that could wor...

Hey Guys, So last night saw the end of the badminton at the Commonwealth games and I thought I would give you all a quick round-up. Take a look at the table below and you will see where the medals went! So, to start off with the team event, this was closely contended with India coming out on top securing the gold medal. They beat Malaysia 3-1 in the final which left the Malaysians taking silver. In the bronze medal match, England beat Singapore to ensure the bronze medal was going back to England. In the individual event, the bronze medallists were known first. Malaysia won 2 of these bronze medals in the Men's and Mixed doubles events. England, Scotland and India took the other three medals up for grabs. England's Rajiv Ouseph beat stiff opposition in H.S Prannoy from India, while Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour beat Canada's Michelle Li and finally India's Reddy and Ponappa beat home favorites Mapasa and Somerville.  There were...

Hey guys, So at the weekend the All-Ireland Interprovincials took place where I represented the Leinster senior team as well as coaching the Leinster under 15 team.  On Saturday, It was an early start to the day for my under 15 team who started their campaign against Munster. They got off to a flying start winning 9-0, not even dropping a set. What more could I have asked for. Following this win, we set up a clash with Connacht who had narrowly lost out to Ulster 5-4 in the morning match. With a few changes made to my team we lined out against Connacht, winning 9-0 again, dropping only 2 sets. What a brilliant start to the day, which meant we had set up a thrilling final with Ulster. This was anticipated to be one of the tightest affairs but with my team playing some super badminton we outplayed the Ulster team, beating them 7-2. What a day and what a result it was for the Leinster under 15s, which included some Irish under 15 Internationals who will play in the four nation...

Hey guys, thought I'd change it up a bit this week with the champions league quarter finals on. Who saw THAT goal against Juventus last night? Incredible just incredible.  Question of the week. Is Ronaldo the greatest of all time? After that wonder strike yesterday in Real Madrid's hammering of Juventus it's hard to say no. I have to say I'm not the biggest Ronaldo fan but that goal... Sheer class. The technique, precision, awareness to be able to pull that off in the biggest competition in Europe is very impressive. As the commentator said "He had no right to score that" and it's hard to disagree. Check it out for yourself and prepare to be amazed.  This picture says it all. For a player who is at the best of the game, this is pure magic. The picture speaks a thousand words. All soccer fans can come together in awe of this goal. It's not something you can hate no matter who you support.  Next up... Liverpool V Manchester City and Barc...

Hey Guys, so for this post I am going to focus on the mental aspects of sport and what mental skills you require to be a successful athlete. Not only that but I will also discuss some ways of how you can leave your non-sport thoughts at home while training or competing so you can focus solely on the task in hand. A room full of trophies is not what defines a successful athlete. A successful athlete is one who is committed to being the best they can be no matter what their circumstances are and what limitations they may have. Being the best and being the best you can be are two completely different things. It is important that you understand that. These athletes are successful because they are training and playing hard, enjoying their sport and working towards their realistic goals. They believe that what they are putting into their sport is worthwhile and it enriches their lives.  There are nine learned mental skills that contribute to success in sports. These are all le...

Hey guys, welcome back! So, over the weekend I was over in London playing on the Leinster senior team in division 1 of the English Inter Counties. In what was a very successful weekend, I helped the Leinster team finish second in the division, securing a play-off place where we will face stiff opposition from three other English counties to fight for promotion to the premier division, the best in English badminton! It was a brilliant weekend and a very enjoyable one with some tough games all round. First off, we faced Devon who we beat 8-3. This was a brilliant result for us and a flying start which we had hoped for. Those 8 points were well needed as all the teams around us seemed to be catching up. We followed this up with a 6-5 win over Middlesex to round up the play for Saturday. A massive 14 points gained today which kept us in second and with the help of some other results between the other counties we were in a commanding position in staying second to reach the play-o...

Hey guys, welcome back to my blog. For this post I am going to talk about how we should warm up before a training session and I will also give you an example of my warm ups. Hope you enjoy! Warm ups in my opinion are a vital component of training. Every athlete,in every sport should do a warm up. The point behind warming up is that it gradually warms up our body temperature which decreases risk of injury. Skipping a warm up completely can be extremely detrimental not only to your performance but you can also pick up an injury easily because your muscles aren't warm. A warm up should last roughly 15-20 minutes. Dr Ian Jeffreys developed the framework RAMP protocol which allows for activities to be easily classified into a warm-up sequence. 1. R aise 2. A ctivate and M obilise 3. P otentiate (or performance) Phase 1: Raise The aim of the raise phase is to increase our body temperature, heart rate, respiration rate, blood flow and joint viscosity. This first section of t...