Challenging Myself

I have been challenged to elevate my game. I have challenged myself (although I am sure that my teammates would appreciate it if I became better as well). Therefore, here is my plan for improvement.
• Spin kicking is incredibly important. I always knew that, but I am realizing that I really need to become better at it to reach another level.
• Of course, I need to improve at playing in reverse. Since I have a limited range of motion, this is a slight problem, but many other players have overcome it so I will just need to work harder than most.
• One of my new pet projects that is sort of related to number one is a 180° spin kick. A little bit different than the average 90° spin kick and a little more difficult, but I think I can develop it.
• Ball control is an important part of the game. I have decent ball control, but I do fall into the trap of having the ball go too fast and letting it get away from me.
Now y'all know some of my main weaknesses (a Texan accent doesn't do much for me I guess). As you can tell, these skills encompass most of power soccer. Go ahead and exploit them tomorrow night. It will force me to develop them.

Offense = Defense?

Today is my 300th blog post! Hooray for however many of you have been here since the beginning. Anyway, as I was looking for some inspirational quote to put on the Vermont Chargers Power Soccer Club Facebook page, I found the one that is obviously there now , but afterwards I found this one. "If you're attacking, you don't get as tired as when you're chasing. ~Kyle Rote, Jr." I found it under the soccer section on Quotegarden.com. Anyway, as I thought about it more, I realized chasing the ball is very similar to attacking if you think about it.

Everybody loves offense; there is no denying that. The newspapers, the television, and the box score love the people who score the goals or hit the home runs. However, defense is often times neglected. I would like to challenge that notion that chasing the ball can be more tiring

Personally, I end up playing center much of the time during our practices. Therefore, I end up being the defender in the box more often than not. However, I thrive on that. I loved being able to support the goalkeeper and try to get rid of the ball. It is a challenge to react to the offense and anticipate. I often think of Mighty Ducks Three and the line "Make him make the first move, Conway!" I strive to do that on defense. If the offensive player is coming at me, I should be able to see where he is playing the ball on his guard and anticipate what will happen (sorry, I was not politically correct in that sentence :-))

Of course, I am a proponent of the theory that offense is the best defense. I do not mean that we forget about defense. I do mean that if we have the ball, the other team does not. We are preventing them from moving the ball forward which is the goal of playing defense. In this case, maybe we can reconcile offense and defense. As I mentioned before, offense is by nature fulfilling the goal of defense. In a similar way, isn't the goal of offense to drive the ball towards the opposing goal? If I am playing defense and I clear the ball, the ball is moving towards my opponent's goal is it not? Therefore, I challenge everyone to think about power soccer as a complete game. You do not just play offense or defense. By nature, they are intertwined and cannot be separated. They fulfill each other's objectives. Therefore, your team may run some form of offense, but never forget that it is also concerned with defending the ball from the opponent and therefore keeping it ourselves.

Sorry if this seems rather long and cumbersome. It just kept flowing.

Too Much of a Good Thing

Some people have a hard enough time getting one thing that they want. Imagine if you got everything you wanted and all of a sudden the two things that you wanted most in life conflicted with each other. That's exactly what happened to Ben Garland formerly of the Air Force Academy. When he was a young boy, he dreamed about going into the Air Force Academy and becoming a fighter pilot. However, he also fantasized about playing in the NFL for the Denver Broncos since he was from Colorado. Now you obviously see where I'm going with this. He went Air Force, and he played well throughout college. He was accepted to a pilot training school in Del Rio, Texas. However, the Denver Broncos also signed him as a free agent. So, there is a dilemma. Do you play for the team you always wanted to play for, or do you go into the Air Force like you always dreamed? If that were me, I would play football because I would not be brave enough to handle the Armed Forces. However, it is honorable that he wants to serve his country in a way that people like me appreciate. Whatever Ben chooses, I think he cannot really go wrong. He gets a great career either way, and he gets to do what most people will never do; he has a career he wants.
Photo by brykmantra on Flickr

Say What You Mean

I think that is interesting how well some people know how to talk. However, it is even more interesting how some people can say a lot without ever saying anything. I think about the press conferences with professional athletes apologizing for some problem they had with the law or the media or the family. There's always the same script about being sorry and apologizing to the fans, the organization, the coaches, and pretty much everyone in America or the world. They really never say anything about the event, but they seem to say a lot about being sorry. Granted, they should be sorry for what they have done, but I honestly think that it sounds too scripted which leads me to doubt the sincerity. Tell me that I'm reading into it much, and I probably am, but still when everybody says the same thing, I really wonder how many of them thought about it before they wrote it. Also, I admit that I'm not much for prewritten speeches, so that might be my bias as well. However, next time you see someone on TV apologizing for some miscellaneous offense, I bet you will be able to predict exactly what they're going to say before they say it.
Photo by rick on Flickr

Tutorial

It is pretty ridiculous that the Phillies finally lost, but what are you going to do? They're just saving that win for when we are there in a few days. However, enough with the tangents. Thinking of my teammate Scott who is at power soccer camp right now, I'm struck by how important it is to know people who know things. What would make Scott travel to Minnesota to play power soccer? He is there so that he can learn more about power soccer to help all of us improve. How is he going to do that? He is going to learn things from people who know things. I think that this can apply in many areas of life, not exclusively to power soccer. If I need help with a calculus problem, it is definitely beneficial to know a professor who knows things about how to solve the problem. So, that is why business especially is all about networking. None of us know everything, but if you know a lot of people who know something, you will probably be able to find an answer you're looking for from at least one person. Hopefully, Scott will come back and enlighten us!

See and Do

Some people learn by watching, and some people learn by doing. I'm trying my hand at both. I know that often times coaches will watch game film to see how a team performs. While rather than learn about my own team from the film, I have started watching several power soccer films that are available on the Internet to learn new strategy and better technique while I play. I know that it is definitely one thing to talk about and know how to do something than it is to actually be able to do it. As my old statistics teacher Mr. Beard used to say, "I know how to dunk a basketball, but I can't actually do it." That is why I now need to take what I have been seeing in these videos and turn it into production on the court. However, that is also easier said than done. I know what I need to do, but speeding up my reaction time and overall awareness is what I definitely need to improve in order to raise my game to a new level. You need to start by watching, but then you need to work on turning the head knowledge into usable knowledge.

Call To Action

I just got back from power soccer practice, and I am all of a sudden inspired to write even though I wasn't all day. So, here's what I'm thinking. I was talking with my teammate Scott about how we could start playing more games. We talked about various ideas of how we could coordinate with all of the other local teams to play more often if you define local as being within six hours. Okay, so I guess that isn't really local, but it is the best we can do right now with power soccer in the Northeast. It got me thinking about what is the simplest solution to this dilemma. You know I came up with? We need more teams! Wow, that was a huge revelation that is much easier to say than do I totally understand. However, I also know that every player who has played power soccer with us has come back. Even if you're not particularly into sports, the competitive aspect is definitely addicting. So this is my version of a call to action. If there is anyone in Vermont who wants to play but is too far away from Burlington to drive for practice, get in touch with me. We are looking to spread the word about this sport, and I'd be happy to tell you what we are up to as far as organization. Playing wise, I am far from an expert, but I am learning and any of you can learn too. All you need is four people to play. So get out there and do it, we would love to see more competition and learn from each other!

Swinging Momentum

It was somewhat disappointing as the Phillies choked last night, but I think that really shouldn't have happened. I thought that the Phillies leaving seven runners on base in the first four innings was pretty bad. It seems as if wasting those types of opportunities always comes back to haunt a team. It's like the football team who can't execute on third down or the hockey team that blows the power play. Even though the walk off home run by Ryan Zimmerman probably had very little to do with leaving all those runners on, I think that is very often a "coincidence" that early mistakes cause late losses. If the Phillies could have brought in two or more of those runs, the Zimmerman home run would not have been a walk off. However, it might have even been more important than that. A few more early runs would have swung the momentum the Phillies way earlier which could have messed with the Nationals. No one should doubt the importance of getting out to an early lead. Once you get a few runs, it seems as if the rest of the game flows much better and the team is able to execute on a higher level.
Photo by pacomexico on Flickr

8 Rules to Playing Power Soccer

Since we are one week away from our power soccer clinic at the University of Vermont, I thought I'd take this opportunity to go over some rules that I didn't really know existed. Just for your information, the rulebook that I am referring to is available on the United States Power Soccer Association website.
• We always talk about how power soccer is for all ages. However, on page 6, it says that you must be five years old to play. I guess I could not have played when I got my first wheelchair.
• Also on page 6, you are only allowed to have four substitutes unless there is an agreement made before the match. Again, we don't have this problem.
• On page 11, the rules say that a game can be called because of the weather. However, it is an indoor sport, so I don't really know what this is referring to.
• On page 12, half time may not be more than 10 minutes.
• The team must be 5 m away on the kickoff, but the two on one rule still applies to the team kicking off. (Page 13)
• On page 16, the two on one rule does not apply when one of the players is the goalie. However, if the goalie goes outside of the area, then he cannot double-team anymore.
• Apparently, on page 19, of all the bad things that you can do, spitting deserved its own reference for a red card.
• If there is a goal kick, any player on the offense can take it, not just the goalie. Also, the defense must be 5 m away, and the offense must respect the two on one rule. The ball is not in play until it leaves the goal area. (Page 25)
I hope you learn something from all of this, and then please either come out to play or support us at the University of Vermont, Patrick Gym, next Sunday from 1 to 4:30!

Need Deception

Given the popularity of my post yesterday about where King James would go, I wish I had had another dream last night about where Chris Bosh would end up. Unfortunately, no such luck. However, I will celebrate the Dutch victory! I was very excited to see them move into the finals. However, today is going to be a post about power soccer again. Today, I feel like it is necessary to talk about ball control. I've been recently working on different moves to attack with. As I have emphasized in previous posts, I know that my mid-wheel drive wheelchair cannot hit the ball very hard relative to a rear-wheel drive chair. Therefore, I have been trying to work on deception. I am trying to work on ways to propel the ball right but end up making my shots to the left or vice versa. I think that I need to somehow employ the sharp turns that my wheelchair can make to outmaneuver the goalkeeper who may very well have a rear-wheel drive. However, if anybody else can think of some other great ideas on how I can create deception with my wheelchair, please let me know since the Internet has been just about no help.
Photo by albany_tim on Flickr

Power Soccer Offense

So, a few days ago I was writing about power soccer defense as you might remember. Today, we will start looking into offense. A common saying at our practices goes something like this, "pass to the open space not to the player." This might seem a bit odd, but the rationale behind it makes sense. If you run a two on one fast-break, you need to make the pass where you want your teammate to be rather than where your teammate is right now. If you pass it where your teammate currently is, he or she will have to stop or maybe even turn around to go retrieve the pass. If you pass to the open space ahead of the offensive player, it's much easier to chase down a ball ahead of you in the open floor. Then, there are two concepts at work here. First, passing to an open space is obviously the beneficial move. Second, keeping the ball moving forward is what you are aiming for because as I have mentioned in previous posts, you want to keep the pressure away from your defense as much as possible given the fact that power soccer is an offensive game. So, in closing, remember to pass forward to open spaces to keep the offense rolling and the ball away from your defense.

My Interview on Blogging

I don't really need to write today because I have something else I want you to read. I was searching the Internet a few weeks ago and I discovered the blog "I'm Not A Famous Blogger." As the name implies, they were looking to conduct interviews with bloggers who are not famous. So, I did an interview with them, and I would love to have you go to their website to read that interview. So, until tomorrow, here's a link, and I'll write again tomorrow!
Photo courtesy of lowjumpingfrog on Flickr

Invitation to Compete

Today, I am thinking about the benefits of competition. I think that, at some level, we all need competition. Even people who don't like to lose need to compete every now and then. There's something about competition that brings out some sort of adrenaline rush that caused all the participants to rise to the level that they don't normally need to reach to. For example, if you don't exercise your muscles, they become weaker and weaker. On a similar level, I think it is important to exercise your mind and body in this hyped up state to make sure that you don't lose that desire to win. We all like to get things easily, but every now and then it feels great to say that you got something because you hardest worked for it.

So, that is what power soccer does for me. It forces me to use parts of my mind that I don't typically have to. For example, it's very unusual that in everyday life I need to worry about pushing a ball to a teammate without having it intercepted by an opponent. In fact, I don't think that has ever happened in real life unless of course I made a Disney movie where I spontaneously burst into power soccer mode at random times throughout the day and call it something like High School Power Soccer or something like that. Of course, then that's not really real life. Anyway, back to the topic. Anybody else out there who feels like they need some competition in their lives but use a power wheelchair, we would love to have you on July 25 at the University of Vermont's Patrick Gymnasium for a power soccer clinic. Registration is at 12:45, and the clinic runs from 1 to 3 with Jerry Frick of the United States Power Soccer Association. Following the clinic, you can see myself and my teammates on the Vermont Chargers meet the New Hampshire Power Cats again at three o'clock where we hope to bring our record to 2-0! All power wheelchair users who can independently drive their chair are welcome to bring their chairs, themselves, and we provide the rest of the equipment to play. I'd love to see any of you all there!

Life Lessons from Coach John Wooden

Since the rest of the sports world is still honoring John Wooden, I guess I will too. Today, how about a bulleted list of some of his most famous quotes that I appreciate, and hopefully you'll find this somewhat relevant and applicable in your everyday life as well. You don't need to be a basketball player to appreciate John Wooden.

• Never mistake activity for achievement.
• It isn't what you do, but how you do it.
• If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?
• Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
• Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.
• Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.
• Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.
• The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.

I hope that some of these quotes make sense to you because I know that they have been important to me. Again, you don't need to be a basketball player to appreciate this advice, it is relevant on so many levels. For more John wooden quotes go to: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/john_wooden.html.
Photo by Ed Yourdon on Flickr

Tryouts

How do I choose?

Standing on the sidelines, Coach Rick Williams was caught between the proverbial rock and hard place. He had nailed down nine spots on his select travel basketball team, but that one remaining spot was giving him more trouble than the previous nine combined. On one hand, he could take Luke, a kid who was clearly not at the level of all of the other players on that team but in terms of basketball IQ and potential "player-coach" material, he was unmatched. Rick could totally see him turning into a big-time coach someday; he just knew what to say to fire up his teammates and explain what had to be done. However, as a basketball player, he could not translate all that knowledge into on court performance.

On the other side, he could take Jake. As much as Luke knew the right thing to say, Jake knew what to say to turn off his teammates. His high school coach had told Rick that the one day that Jake missed practice all year was the most relaxing and positive practice of the year. If this team was about personality, there was no way he would have a place on it. However, basketball involves talent, and boy did Jake ever have that. At a very lean six foot five and 36 inch vertical, physical talent alone could get Jake on to anything he had ever tried out for. He had never played football before his freshman year of high school, but when he walked onto the field to try out, he made varsity.

So, how do you choose? Does it really matter how "coachable" a kid is? Maybe he just needs the right type of coach. Rick wanted to think that he was the right type of coach for everyone, but he knew that wasn't true. Now the choice was his; how could he ever decide?
Photo by DRB62

Fantasy Problems

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, one of my fantasy teams is cursed with too many good outfielders. I have Adam Dunn, Garrett Jones, Chris Young, and Alex Rios but only have three outfield spots. I know you're thinking, move either Adam Dunn or Garrett Jones to first base. Well, I have Prince Fielder there. Okay then, put one of the outfielders at DH. Well, I have too many good players, so I have Ian Kinsler at DH who is batting .320 since he returned from injury and Casey McGehee at second who possesses one of the hottest bats in all of baseball right now. Then, what do I do? Play let's make a deal! My pitching staff is particularly weak at the moment. Basically, it consists of Ubaldo Jimenez and a bunch of other guys. I have David Aardsma and Joakim Soria as well, but I'm not a fan of using relief pitchers in head-to-head leagues. So, that's what I'm shooting for. I don't know if any of my fantasy league groupmates read this blog (even though they should), but I am open to making a deal right now for outfielders. Also, what do you do when you have one of the most consistent catchers in the game in Jorge Posada as well as Carlos Ruiz who is batting .350 and has the fourth most points among catchers? I hate to rely fully on Carlos Ruiz despite the fact that he is a Phillie because he has never been known for his amazing bat. Anyway, enough of my problems, but if anybody has any advice in regards to any of these dilemmas or have any dilemmas you want my two cents on, write me either an e-mail or some comments below!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sis/ / CC BY 2.0

Physics of Power Soccer

I wrote a few days ago asking why a mid-wheel drive wheelchair would have more problems generating power on a spin shot than a rear-wheel drive chair would. However, as I thought about this I knew the answer had to be physics related as my friends Ben and Evan pointed out. So, jumping off of what they gave me, I decided to do a little research of my own through the little I remember from physics to see why my chair seemingly has a disadvantage while spinning.

So, speed is obviously a factor. However, being that this is turn speed, we need to use the equation for angular velocity which is 2π/T where T is the period in seconds. However, all this proves is how many radians per second you are turning. Therefore, we need to multiply this by the radius of rotation to get the most actual velocity. So, the entire equation turns out to be v= (2πR) ÷ T where v is the speed, R is the turn radius, and T is the time period needed to rotate. Therefore, there are two ways to increase the velocity; either you need to increase your turn radius or decrease the time it takes to make that turn. Ideally, if you could increase the radius as well as decrease the time you make the most gains.

This is not the answer that satisfies me because I spin just as quickly as the rear wheel drive chairs. Therefore, I believe that the radius has the largest effect on shot power. The distance between them my rotational axis and the front of my guard is much less than that of a rear wheel drive chair. There is no way I can fix this in my current chair, but it is nice to know that there might be some rational reason as to why I cannot hit the ball quite as hard.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/naelyn/ / CC BY-SA 2.0