Tennis

The earliest records of tennis are mediaeval woodcuts depicting a French indoor game played by hand, called Jen de Paume. In I 874 Major Walter Wingfield devised and patented an outdoor court and this was to become the beginning of lawn tennis as it is known today.

Although some significant changes were made in 1888, the basis of today’s game was formulated by Henry Jones in 1887 for the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club.

Nowadays court surfaces vary, but the general rules, scoring and playing procedures remain the same throughout the world. Tennis is a great family game enjoyed by the young and the old alike.

It is also an international, highly-competitive sport and one of the leaders in terms of entertainment. It is a game of skill, requiring physical fitness and concentration, balance, good footwork and racket control.

Useful tips

A balanced stance is vital; it precedes every effective stroke and maintains an economy of effort. Balance means control of the body's weight so that it can be used in the most effective way.

The champions of tennis use their body-weight to create power and speed when driving or returning shots. This means the knees are kept flexed, with the body pitched on to the balls of the feet, ready to spring into action and able to rotate to the left or the right, to sprint and to run sideways and backwards.

A balanced stance is essential if you are not to be overwhelmed by your opponent's forceful shots or services, if you are to get your body-weight behind your shots and keep the ball in contact with your racket until the last possible moment.

Good footwork for attacking, for advancing, for playing the net and for returning to the best court position after every stroke is essential, while forehand and backhand strokes and the snap of the wrist that often precedes a successful shot means that the hands and wrists must be both strong and flexible.

The most important stroke in tennis is the service. To achieve the maximum effect the whole body must lift and the arm stretch straight to contact the ball at the highest point, while the wrist must be ready to snap forward.

Warming up

A strenuous game of tennis burns some 100 calories every I0 minutes. Not only does it strengthen and quicken respiration and circulation and demand endurance, strength and flexibility, but the body must also be able to stretch, bend, twist, jump and sprint.

Because of this, warm-up exercises should always be practised prior to play in order to relax and prepare the body, while after the game warm-down exercises will help prevent stiffness in the muscles and joints.

It would obviously be unwise to engage in this kind of exercise with a stiff body, as it will increase the tension and stiffness in the active muscles and increase the wear and tear on their related joints.

The body must also be fit and prepared for fast reactions, otherwise strains and sprains are likely.

Warming up and down with static exercises for the legs, spine, arms and shoulders will help to keep the muscles supple and their joints flexible, while the regular practice of the whole programme will be a great aid to your agility, coordination and your ability to relax more in action.

Mental training

For those who take the sport more seriously, mental training techniques should also be practised as these will make your play that bit more controlled. The consistent use of relaxation techniques will greatly improve your ability to both relax more in action and concentrate.

Also, if you have a particular aspect of play that you are trying to perfect, try visualising the movements before practising the relaxation technique. Repeat it a few times and you will probably find that you are far better able to concentrate on this feature of your game when you come to practise it.

Squash

Squash is thought to have originated at Harrow School, although the first recorded squash court was in Oxford in 1883. In the 1920s standard court measurements were agreed and the first men's and women's British Championships held.
However it was not until the 1960s that squash became truly popular, with millions of people playing it throughout the country.

The need for fitness

Squash is an extremely energetic game demanding speed, agility, balance, stamina and muscular endurance. Because of this it can only be played by those who are already fit.

Playing squash solo gives you the advantage of finding your own rhythm and technique and improving your fitness for the game in your own time. Playing squash with a partner, however, demands mental as well as physical agility as you have to assess, out-think and outmanoeuvre your opponent.

Squash makes large demands on the heart and lungs; they have to transport large amounts of oxygen to the active muscles and prevent a build up of their waste products. It also demands local muscle endurance; the muscles of the legs, stomach, back, arms and shoulders have to be able to work for long periods without tiring.

Squash demands strength and flexibility of the legs and back, so that you can drop, bend and twist for shots, and speed and agility of the legs and feet, with good footwork so that you can maintain balance, and a high degree of concentration.

Unlike tennis, squash doesn't allow you time to change grips for different strokes, so the right grip must be maintained all the time and the wrist must be strong and flexible, to lift and allow the racket to strike the ball on centre from different angles.

In squash the key to winning is skilful volleying, and to do this you need concentration, stamina and speed, an ability to keep control of the bail and apply pressure on your opponent by quickening the game.

Relaxation in action is also necessary in order to allow the arm and shoulder to make the smooth swing that precedes all well-played strokes.

Warming up and training

Squash demands that you are able to stretch, bend, twist, jump and turn more rapidly forwards, backwards and sideways.

To avoid strains and injuries during the game and stiff muscles and joints after the game, warm-up and warm-down exercises are essential, and should always include static exercises for your legs, back, arms and shoulders.

If you want to be professional you should develop your own training programme, including exercises for endurance, agility and strength as well as static exercises for all-over flexibility and relaxation in action.

Whatever your aspirations as a player, as squash is played indoors it is recommended that outdoor activities like jogging, running, sprinting and swimming also be included in your training programme.

Additionally, because squash is intense and competitive, it is recommended that other activities are enjoyed at a more leisurely pace.

Cricket

Although the words cricket, wicket and bat originate from the Anglo-Saxon, the earliest record of a game called 'Clykett' is from the mid-sixteenth century. Early writings show that, through the aristocracy and gentry, eighteenth-century cricket evolved from local village contests to organised games that were highly popular among all classes.

During this period the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) was formed, and by the 1800s Lords had been established. The first All-England Eleven was raised in 1850 and cricket rose further in popularity in the 1860s.

This was partly due to the emergence of a magnificent player, W. G. Grace, a living legend and an original sporting hero.

Nowadays professional cricket is highly competitive, requiring a high degree of skill and physical fitness. International events such as test matches rank among sporting entertainments.

Useful tips

Fundamentally the game consists of batting, bowling, fielding and wicket-keeping.

The skilful batsman can play a variety of different strokes, either defensive or attacking. However all strokes require the right grip, backlift and stance. The proper grip requires strength and flexibility of the wrists and hands. The hands should be properly aligned with each other, the top hand gripping firmly, with the right amount of bat exposed.

Without the right backlift, the batsman has little hope of either defending or attacking. From the backlift a defensive stroke is played but not followed through, the face of the bat being brought in line with the ball and angled to deflect it.

In contrast an attacking stroke needs a full follow through for a really hard hit; a long high backlift gives the momentum to hit the ball harder. To develop a good backlift and stroke demands strength and flexibility in the arms and shoulders, and the easy rotation of the upper spine.

For the batsman, posture is all important in order to make full use of the body and to allow you to strike the ball squarely with your body-weight behind each stroke. The knees must remain slightly flexed, the spine straight, the head turned to see the ball and the shoulders in line with the bowler.

Matches are often won by snatching quick runs between the wickets; if you are not to be run out, speed and agility are therefore vital.

Sound judgment, rhythm and coordination on the part of the bowler enables him to deliver the ball with the desired effect. Remember that only about 20 per cent of the speed of the ball comes from the speed of the delivery stride.

Strength and flexibility of the arms and shoulders enables you to use a wide overarm swing with a strong high delivery, while dexterity of the hands and wrists improves the variety and speed of the various spins placed upon the ball while it is being delivered.

Fielding demands speed and precision and the ability to run fast, to catch or intercept and to throw with strength and accuracy. Catching, for example, requires balance, concentration and relaxation in action, especially in the arms and hands; often the fielder must catch a ball at speed, stretching and leaping for the ball, which takes coordination and agility.

Throwing, too, requires strength and accuracy; often extreme speed and coordination are needed to pick up a ball and throw it in one movement. For fielding at its best, each player must really specialise in a specific fielding position and must work in close coordination with the bowler.

And last but by no means least, the wicket-keeper requires an even higher level of mobility and concentration. To be able to catch, often at great speed, from the left or the right, to maintain a squatting position for long periods of time and to be able to move from this position with agility demands strength, flexibility and relaxation in action.

To maintain the skills and techniques and ensure that they do not break down under sustained pressure, every player needs to cultivate fitness. Warm-up exercises, including static exercises for the legs, spine, shoulders and hands, will do much to improve your game and help to prevent strains and injuries, while warm-down exercises must also be practised if you wish to avoid stiff muscles and joints.

To play your best, other sports like running and swimming, and a complete static exercise routine, should all be included in your regular training programme.

Basketball

Dr James Naismith, a PE instructor from Springfield School, Massachusetts, developed basketball for his students in 1891. The game was an instant success and spread to Mexico before the end of that year. By 1897 a national college championship had started in the States and in 1898 the first professional league, the National Basketball League, was formed there.

In 1936 basketball became an Olympic sport and in the same year the Amateur Basketball Association was founded in England. However, the United States are world leaders in the game, having won more Olympic events than any other country. They were only beaten for the first time, by Russia, in the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Useful tips

Basketball involves an offensive game, played by the attacking team in possession of the ball, and the defensive game, played to defend the goal and recover the ball. Accurate passing and skilful dribbling are vital to good offensive play, and this calls for agility and flexibility.

The body's stance must be kept low and the ball must be kept between the knees and the waist in order to retain control and prevent a steal — in this position the player should be able to bounce the ball through and around the legs.

The ball should be bounced like a yo-yo, maintaining contact with the whole hand. The flat of the fingers and the outside of the palm should be used and a fluid wrist movement should follow the ball through.

When moving forward, the ball should be kept a step and a half in front of the body, and both hands should be used equally. The stance of the body is higher for this movement and the ball is bounced higher.

Passing the ball at precisely the right moment, at the right speed and at the right height takes coordination and concentration. Passes are made from the chest, overhead —just in front of the head to prevent a steal from behind —and on the bounce.

Passing from the chest is made at close quarters, passing overhead is a high pass, and passing on the bounce is made to bypass an opponent. Other passes, made by really skilful players, include passes through the legs, from behind the back, a one-handed hook pass and a javelin pass.

Within scoring distance, control is crucial. The stance must be low in order to be able to move quickly to the left or right, and the body must be positioned between the ball and an opponent.

For shooting, the body should be facing the basket squarely with the feet, knees, hips, shoulders and head in line. The shoot requires the body-weight to be on the balls of the feet, crouched and ready to spring. With the head up and the eyes on the basket, the action itself launches the ball from around the forehead and the hands follow through for accuracy.

The lay-up shot is a relaxed movement made from under the basket, and requiring agility for a good jump; the body is stretched and you lay the ball in the net off the backboard. The jump shot is a distance shot requiring the player to jump high in the air and aim for the ring itself.

The free throw is made from a crouch-to-tiptoe movement, while the hook shot is a specialised movement requiring flexibility in the hand, hooking the ball over the head into the basket.

Basketball involves running and sprinting, bending, jumping, twisting and stretching. To be good at the game you have to be agile and flexible; relaxation in action is important and speed, coordination and accuracy all add to the potential of a good player.

And you must always remember that basketball is a team game; using other members of the team to beat an opponent contributes to your team's success and is a far better tactic than striving for personal achievement.

Warming up and training

Warm-up exercises for the legs, arms and spine will help avoid strains and injury while warm-down exercises should be practised if you want to avoid stiff muscles and joints after the game.

For a training programme, running, including sprints, and swimming can be combined with the regular practice of a static routine.

Baseball

Clyckett and stool ball were popular in medieval England and from these two games it seems that rounders was developed. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries rounders was taken to America by British immigrants and was then played as baseball and goalball.

In 1875 Alexander Cartwright brought order to the game and formalised some rules and field dimensions thereby laying the foundations for baseball as it is played today.

Protective clothing was introduced by Tim Tyng of Boston in 1875, and by the mid-eighteen-eighties two major American baseball leagues had been established, the first the National League followed by the American League, while in England the British Baseball Federation was established in 1890.

Today baseball is played by some nineteen million Americans, it is highly popular in Canada and throughout South America; it is Japan's national game and South Korea's biggest spectator sport.

Currently, baseball is played in some eighty countries throughout the world and because of its increasing popularity it's thought that it will be included as a full medal sport in the 1992 Olympics.

The pitch

A baseball field is fan shaped with a 90 foot diamond wedge marked from the apex. At each corner of the diamond, bases are marked counter clockwise as first, second and third base, and the home plate, from where the batsman starts and finishes.

A left and a right foul line drawn from the home plate extends beyond the first and third base and is connected by a semi circle. The area within this fan is known as the infield and the area outside the semi circle is called the outfield.

The game

Baseball is played by two teams, each team consists of nine men and both teams take it in turn to bat and field. Each team has nine innings and there is no break and no set time limit for each game. Substitutes are allowed but no player is allowed back on field once they have left.

The pitcher starts the game and delivers the ball in a variety of skilful ways designed to outmanoeuvre the batter. The batter of the offensive team must then hit the ball and attempt to reach a base before the defending fielders can get the ball to that base. In this way a team advances its runners around the bases and back to home plate scoring runs.

The winner of the game is the team that scores the most runs, each run being a complete circuit of all the bases. The teams reverse roles when the batting team accumulates three outs and if after nine innings the score is even, extra innings are played to decide the winners.

Special skills

Pitching, batting and fielding all demand their own special skills plus speed, agility and co-ordination. The batter must react with split second timing adjusting his stance as he follows the flight of the ball, some being delivered at over 90mph.

The catcher, like a wicket keeper, remains in a squat position behind the batter, indicating to the pitcher where to place the ball, ready to move in any direction to catch the ball and throw it accurately to a baseman, second base being a throw of some 130 feet.

The fielder must be able to catch and throw accurately, and to sprint and leap for the ball. The pitcher and batter must maintain flexibility in their arms and shoulders and back, as these areas are especially prone to injury.

Runners and fielders must be relaxed during play if the impacts of diving or sliding for a ball or a base are to pass through the body. The successful player cultivates strength, stamina and flexibility through a comprehensive fitness programme as well as using warm up, and warm down, routines plus individual skills and techniques.

For those who play, or wish to play for fun, combined with a static exercise programme, baseball and softball are an enjoyable and effective way to maintain and improve fitness.

For the uninitiated, softball is the easier game and a good way to approach baseball.

American Football

American football is said to originate from medieval football, a game that was played in England during the middle ages, by any amount of people in a variety of disorganised ways.

Known as 'new rugby' it was played and developed at Harvard, Princetown and Yale until innovations that changed the game were introduced in the late nineteenth century.

Walter C. Camp, a famous Yale half back, introduced these innovations and as a result the game became highly popular and Camp was acclaimed the father of 'Gridiron' or American football.

In the early twentieth century the present scoring system was accepted and protective clothing made its appearance.

There are many great contributors to the game as it is played today and these include Heisman, a proponent of the forward pass, and Stagg, a remarkable player and coach, who introduced a number of brilliant defensive tactics.

In the nineteen-twenties under the leadership of Joseph Carr, the National Football League was developed and professional football then became organised.

In England there are currently forty-eight teams in the British American Football League and the game is played in most European countries.

In America thirteen million spectators watched the two hundred and twenty-four regular season games throughout 1985, some sixty thousand people a game. The ten playoff games attracted nearly three quarters of a million spectators and the Super Bowl Final a crowd of seventy-four thousand.

The basics

An American football field is 120 yards long and 160 feet wide. It is sectioned to give each team 50 yards of territory from the midfield strip to the goal line, with an end zone of ten yards. The goal itself is situated in the end zone behind the goal line and from the goal line to the midfield, striped lines are drawn at intervals of every five yards.

The time period for each game is one hour, which is divided into four I 5-minute periods, with a fifteen-minute interval at half time, and extra time in the event of a draw.

The players

The game requires two teams, each team having eleven players on field with an unlimited number of substitutes that can be made between plays.

Scoring

This is made primarily by touching the ball down in the opposing team's end zone, kicking the ball over the crossbar between the goal posts and tackling or safety scoring in the end zones.

Playing

Progress is made across the yard lines towards the opponents' goal starting from a line of scrimmage by the offensive team, while the defending team try to prevent them from gaining yards. When the opposing team is tackled or goes out of bounds a new line of scrimmage is formed.

Special considerations

There are a number of common team strategies, tactics and techniques but basic play includes running or sprinting, blocking and tackling, catching and passing and kicking and jumping.

American football is not the kind of game you play to get in shape. Serious players maintain a rigorous fitness programme all year round often combining extremes like karate and ballet to sharpen reflexes and maintain agility. For the professional, diet is important and together with a fitness programme mental conditioning also takes place.

Static exercises and relaxation techniques are also included in this programme to balance cultivated strength with suppleness and flexibility. Warm-up and warm-down exercises are used to continue relaxation in action and prevent soreness after a strenuous game.

Running, sprinting, blocking and tackling all require strength, stamina and suppleness while kicking and passing also demands the accuracy and coordination that comes with a balanced body.

This is definitely a game that should not be played with stiff joints, as suppleness and flexibility will not only considerably reduce the risks and effects of injury but they will also greatly increase the skill of the player.

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