puck electric

puck electric

Hockey is a sport in which two teams trying to maneuver a hard round disc called a puck into rival's net, using a hockey stick. This sport is also played at college-level, and each college or institution may have its own hockey team. Intra-collegiate or inter-collegiate hockey tournaments may be held all year round. Many colleges provide necessary infrastructure, guidance, finance, and support for development of hockey. Colleges may have different teams and clubs. A single college may have more than one hockey team, and support groups. Hockey at college level may include field hockey, ice hockey, roller hockey, and its various forms such as Air hockey, Ball hockey, Bandy, Broomball, Bubble hockey, Floorball, and Foot hockey.

Air hockey is played indoors by using a puck on a special table known as Air Hockey Table. Ball hockey is somewhat analogous to ice hockey, but instead of a puck, a ball is used. Bandy is a form of hockey played with a ball on a football-sized ice ground, usually in the open. Bubble hockey is played on a table sealed with plastic. Floorball, or Floor hockey, is a type of hockey played in a gym using a plastic stick, and hollow ball. Furthermore, Foot hockey is played with a hairless tennis ball, and using only feet. Ringette is an ice hockey variation, designed for female players. It uses a straight stick, and a rubber ring. Skater hockey is a kind of inline hockey, played with a ball. Table hockey is an indoor game played usually on a flat surface like a tabletop. Underwater hockey is played on the floor of a swimming pool.

The National Hockey League (NHL) displays names of hockey teams on its website. Some of the names are New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Atlanta Thrashers, and Carolina Hurricanes. Other examples include Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, and St. Louis Blues.

Hockey provides detailed information on Hockey, Hockey Jerseys, Hockey Tickets, Hockey Equipment and more. Hockey is affiliated with Ice Hockey Goalie Equipment.

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puck electric

puck electric

According to USA Hockey, colleges and universities all across the nation are recruiting talented and skilled ice hockey players before they are even starting high school. Verbal commitments are being made between prospects and perennial powerhouses like University of Wisconsin. Talented players who do not want to take the college route are opting for the major junior system in Canada and then going pro at the young age of 18 or 19. There is an increasing number of very young players in the National Hockey League, with a handful of them being made captain of their professional squads like Jonathan Toews and Sidney Crosby. The emergence of young athletes assuming key roles in the elite circles of Division 1 and professional sports makes it appear to younger players that specializing is the way to go. Ice Hockey is not the only sport identifying talent at unusually young ages. Major football universities are finding players just beginning high school. A lot can be said about the physical and mental development of an athlete in high school and college. Schools like Yale University will not consider a young recruit for their varsity sports because they realize how much can change mentally for a teenager between the ages of 14 and 18. For them, academic integrity is as important as athletic performance. Therefore, making a guarantee four years early is not appealing to them. They want to see where that candidate will be down the road before they make any commitments. What happened to waiting around and shopping for the best? We don't elect Presidents 4 years before they are to take the oath, why should we choose what jersey an athlete will wear before they get there? If you keep the competition to play close to the actual time they will be doing so, the road to get there will be more about the process and development.

Ten years ago, it was thought that athletes needed more time to develop and gain the competitive edge. In ice hockey, post graduate programs (PG years) at prep schools and junior teams were common staples to get noticed by competitive college hockey programs. It was thought that in order to have the edge, you needed the time to develop physically and mentally as well as gain the experience of playing with other like-minded athletes. When you knew you had a long road ahead of you to make the college and professional ranks, specializing in your sport at 12 was not the smartest thing. Parents, coaches, and experts worried that applying too much pressure at a young age to perform and excel would cause players to burn out prematurely.

Performance development coaches like myself believe that while players should focus primarily on two sports, that their programs should incorporate skills and abilities required to perform well in as many as 10 other sports or activities. Even if you do not play baseball, ice hockey players who have the ability to go to a batting cage and hit a high percentage of the pitches. Hockey players who can play baseball well will have better reaction times on the ice and will be better able to react to pucks in flight from a high shot or at fielding a bad pass. Likewise, playing soccer is great developmentally for a budding ice hockey player because a lot of very skilled players are very good at carrying and handling the puck with their feet. Whether your main sport is baseball or ice hockey, you can learn a lot from playing other sports like tennis, soccer, football, etc.

The spectrum is vast regarding what parents think their children should do. Some want their children to be like Sidney Crosby and will force them to specialize at 8 years old and others want their kids to just have fun and will them do anything they want for however long they want. Both approaches are bad. Specializing or being aloof is bad. The key is to keep the intensity, attention, encouragement, and vigor high with the expectation and pressure low. Young athletes should be taught discipline, passion, a love for training and the sport, and heart. The road to intercollegiate and professional sports is long. The people who make it and stay there are the ones who love the unglamorous aspects, the long road trips, the sweat, the low pay (the pay for most professional athletes is not like ARod), the unforgiving schedule, and the inherent uncertainty that comes from a profession that is so fluid - where one day the best team wants you and the day the other team that will look at you is the farm club of the worst team.

Success comes from a love in what you do, whatever it is. The day it becomes work is the day you know it might be time to consider a new path. Athletes who play for the glory will be in store for a rude awakening. The athletes who can weather adversity and overcome it through hard work and staying focused are the ones you know really love what they do. The turnaround for the Tampa Bay Rays Baseball team shows outstanding determination, will, and passion for improving and bettering themselves. They did not worry about playing as well as the perennial powerhouse teams like the Boston Red Sox. They played the game the way they knew best and defined their run to the World Series their way and on their terms. The way they went from the worst team in professional major league baseball to the World Series runner-up is an example of how individual athletes should approach their development. You cannot go out there and just be in it for the win. Unfortunately, the raw desire is not enough to get you there. You need to be willing and able to put in the unappreciated and under valued hard work. By doing so, you put yourself in a better position to start doing well.

As a sports development coach, I am useless to the person who just wants to play in a recreational league and get the fanfare when they score. When someone is ready to work hard, put in long hours, and sweat - I am the perfect person for them. I will help them get to where they want. What I do has no glamour, other than the satisfaction in myself, knowing that I had a role in helping an athlete demonstrate their capabilities to an audience. I do what I do because I have a love and passion for sports.

The key to professional bliss is to specialize in a commitment to working hard. Whatever else you do to get ahead will come after. Do not worry about what nods you are getting at 14 to play college sports. Keep your head down and stay focused on getting better. A lot can happen in high school. If you keep your options open at 14, you will have more to fall back on when you are 18.

If you specialize at 14 in football and it does not work out for you, there will be nothing else for you to fall back on. If you play several sports and perform well in a couple of them, if one doesn't lead to a paycheck or fame, maybe the other will. The more options you have the less pressure you will feel on you to excel on at one, thereby making it more enjoyable. Nobody wants to think that everything hinges on how you do in one thing.

Keep your options open and have fun, but remember you will not improve without putting in hard work. So decide what your priorities are and then go from there. If you don't want to sweat or do the necessary things to improve your game, then don't expect to play at the next level. There is nothing wrong with playing pick-up games. You have to be honest with yourself regarding your skill level and desire to put in the time required to make it. Sidney Crosby, Eli Manning, Tom, Brady, Michael Jordan, and like company did not get to where they did just by coasting through life. They assessed their abilities and accordingly set their mind on where they wanted to go. Once they did that, they worked tirelessly to make sure they got there. That due diligence is why they all became standouts in the professional arena.

The key thing to take away from this article is that you need more determination than skill. And more importantly, you need more love than determination. Therefore, you need more love than skill. If you do not enjoy what you do, it will not matter how much skill you have because you will not want to do it anymore. Being focused is different than specializing. Play a lot of sports. Stay active in many different things. Do it because you love it. You can decide later which one will let you do it in college or professionally. You will benefit more from playing other sports and training for those sports than you will spending all that time training for one sport. My program is so effective because despite your focus, I expose you to movements and drills common to other activities, thereby making you a more complete and well rounded athlete.

Stay tuned for more articles by DSWAthletes, owned and managed by Derrick Wong. We write about all things sports. We want to help you get to wherever you want to go and enjoy both the process and the outcome. We will help you stay focused and in great shape.

Our coaching ideology at DSWAthletes is to develop an athlete's fundamental core foundation by using drills common to different sports and activities. We incorporate additional elements to promote strength and flexibility of the core region. In order to maximize peak performance and effectiveness, we create drills that use multiple muscle groups, improve your strength, aerobic, and anaerobic capacity, and keep your body constantly guessing. Multiplicity in focus will have you seeing results faster than if you worked alone or with more conventional coaches.

Our program will develop your physiological 6th sense enabling you to react on instinct. We will guide you through a 6-station routine to keep your body constantly challenged. Our goal is to show all participants the most efficient and productive way to do things in a supportive and positive environment.

The program will test even the most seasoned athlete. We challenge your preconceived notions about sports training and re-teach you the right way to approach development, in turn making you a great athlete. Change the way you see sports training with DSWAthletes' intense program and no-nonsense coaching style.

More can be found out about DSWAthletes and Owner Derrick Wong at DSWAthletes.com.

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Wolfgang Puck Electric Buffet Server Warmer Tray

Adjustable temperature control Power indicator and preheat light Removable chafing dish frame converts unit to a warming tray Attractive stainless steel housing 400W, 120V, 60Hz

Good lighting is a main ingredient of a successful trade-show booth. Just the right lighting system can help an artist create the atmosphere of a fine-craft gallery. This will lure gallery owners off the isles and into your booth the first step toward making a sale.

Lighting is a relatively expensive investment. So how does the budget-conscious artist find the right solution?

When it comes to choosing a lighting system, artists new to the trade show circuit often become overwhelmed. Prices vary wildly, and each convention center may have its own lighting rules. Lighting technology is changing rapidly, making the choices harder still.

This article details what I learned while tackling the challenge of lighting my 10X10 booth at the American Craft Retailers Expo (ACRE), a large wholesale show for American and Canadian craft artists. As I am new to trade shows, this information is meant only as a pointer for artists in the process of choosing lighting, and perhaps also for more seasoned artists looking to update their systems.

In examining many different lighting options, my objective was to illuminate my glass jewelry beautifully but inexpensively. I wanted the lights to be lightweight and modular, to fit in boxes for shipping to the show. I was looking for contemporary styling, in silver or black. And I wanted to have at least one special lighting effect not too flashy to give my booth a unique element.

In his CD on booth design, art business consultant Bruce Baker suggests 1,000 watts will light up a 10X10 booth very effectively. I decided to stay at or under 500 watts, however, because the ACRE show includes 500 watts with the booth price, and the halogen lighting I ultimately decided upon illuminates my displays very well. Since I bought the lights at a big-box store with sites in virtually every city in the U.S., I can add more lights once Im at the trade show if necessary.

The Battle of the Bulb

Contractors Choice Lighting (www.ccl-light.com) says a light fixture is simply a bulb holder. The bulb, therefore, should drive ones choice of a fixture. This is somewhat true for trade-show lighting, although the fixtures may dictate the types of bulbs, depending on the choices available at the store where one shops for the lights. The CCL website offers a Bulb Photometrics page (http://ccl-light.com/photometrics.html), whose graphical representation is a refreshing departure from the complex descriptions of lighting options that have proliferated on the web.

Halogen is the bulb of choice for many trade show exhibitors. It offers a crisp, white light. Although people commonly refer to halogen as non-incandescent, it is in fact a kind of incandescent lamp. It generates light by using a thin filament wire made of tungsten, heated to white by passing an electric current through it. According to General Electric, the first halogen lamp was developed in 1959 not too long ago for many of us!

Halogen bulbs differ significantly from the traditional type of incandescents we grew up with. The halogen bulbs filament is surrounded by halogen gases (iodine or bromine, specifically). These gases let the filaments operate at higher temperatures. The end result is a higher light output per watt.

The gases also do something rather miraculous: Tungsten tends to evaporate off the filament over time, and the gases actually help re-deposit the tungsten onto the filament. This extends the bulbs life way beyond that of the traditional incandescent bulb, whose evaporated tungsten clings to the walls of the bulb like a smoky apparition and eventually the uncoated filament snaps. Who hasnt rattled a burnt-out light bulb and enjoyed the jazzy cymbal sound of the broken filament inside?

In addition to giving off more light than traditional incandescent bulbs, halogen bulbs emit a whiter light that provides better color rendition. For highlighting and bringing out true colors, use halogen lamps, suggests USA Light and Electrics website (www.usalight.com). Nothing looks better than the drama brought in with halogen lamps.

Baker also suggests halogen lights floodlights in particular for a contemporary look, especially for jewelry and glass. Its important to consider that other fine craft materials such as ceramics and wood might be better enhanced with halogen spotlights, or even with some of the more traditional incandescent lights that emit a warmer color.

Having decided upon halogen lighting, my next task would be to choose bulbs. The ACRE show takes place at the Las Vegas Convention Center, which has instituted a strict halogen lighting policy. Each light cannot exceed 75 watts, and all halogen bulbs must be factory sealed in glass (not in a removable lens or linear shape).

Thankfully, there is plenty of factory-sealed halogen lighting, in the form of PAR halogen bulbs. PAR is an acronym for parabolic aluminized reflector. PAR bulbs have a built-in reflecting surface made of pressed glass. The glass provides both an internal reflector and prisms in the lens for control of the light beam.

PAR bulbs are numbered, as in PAR 16, PAR 20, PAR 56. The PAR number refers to the bulb shape. Bulbs.com has a halogen section of the site where you can quickly compare the various PAR bulbs visually. Within a given category of PAR bulbs there are various wattages, wide and narrow spotlights and floodlights, different base sizes, and even different colors.

Fortunately I was able to skip the process of deciding on a PAR bulb by deciding first where to shop for my lights (more on that below).

Power Issues

When you go to shop for track lights, youll notice theres a choice between 12-volt and 120-volt fixtures. 120 is the standard voltage that comes directly into most homes and offices and convention centers.

For a lamp using 120 volts, no additional parts are necessary beyond a regular socket. 120-volt fixtures generally are lighter than 12-volt fixtures because they dont need a transformer. They also cost less and can use halogen or regular incandescent bulbs.

I stopped short of investigating 12-volt fixtures, except to find out that they step down the amount of energy being used to a lower voltage, and thus are more energy efficient. They require a transformer to convert the 120-volt household current to 12 volts, and they may require hardwiring (although one artist I know found a 12-volt fixture with a built-in transformer which she was able to plug into a 120-volt outlet. A 12-volt fixture accommodates very efficient bulbs that offer a variety of wattages and beam spreads, including the 50-watt MR-16, which is popular in galleries.

I decided on 120-volt lighting for the trade show, because I wouldnt have to worry about transformers and could just plug it in.

Choosing a Store and Track Lighting

I read the ACRE online forum for clues about where to buy lighting. What one artist said struck me as eminently sensible: He buys all his lighting at Home Depot, because if anything goes wrong at the show, he can find a store nearby for replacement parts.

This was something to consider: Tempting as the gorgeous designs might be, special-order lighting of any kind introduces the risk of having a malfunctioning light for the duration of a show.

Another artist on the ACRE online forum said he buys his lights from Lowes. It probably doesnt matter which big-box store one chooses, as long as theres one in every city.

Since I was new to trade shows and this was to be my first lighting kit, I resisted choosing from the many good suppliers on the web. I settled on the limited but attractive selection at Lowes. A side benefit of this was that my choices were comfortably narrowed.

Within the category of halogen lighting, you can get either track lights or stem-mounted lights (with arms extending outward). I went with track lights. This was partly because the stem lights I found on the web were relatively expensive and Lowe's didnt offer them, and partly because with track lights I could have one cord instead of several hanging down.

The Lowes lighting salesperson was helpful in putting together a full package from the track lighting on display and in stock. I decided on four, two-foot tracks to keep the size of my shipping boxes down. Heres a rundown of what I bought:

4 two-foot track sections, Portfolio brand, black finish, Item #225678. Each section holds 2 lights, for a total of 8. Total: $23.12

8 Flared Gimbal Track Lights, Portfolio brand, Item #120673, with a satin chrome finish for a contemporary look. They are easy to attach to the track by following the directions. Total: $80.76

8 halogen bulbs, Par 20, 50-watt, for bright, crisp light. I bought several floodlights and a couple of spotlights. The bulbs are very packable, at a little over 3 long and 2.5 in diameter. Total: $60.00

2 Miniature Straight Connectors by Portfolio, Item #120716, for joining two of the track sections end to end. The idea is to have only one cord to plug in from a row of four lights. Total: $5.92.

2 Cord and Plug Sets, Portfolio brand, Item #120827, to power track from a standard AC wall outlet. I connected these to the end of the two of the track sections by unscrewing the covering on one side of the track. Total: $17.06

Various Multi-Purpose Ties (cable ties), by Catamount, for attaching tracks to booth pipes. Total: $5.00

2 heavy-duty extension cord/power strips 14-gauge, 15-feet, with three outlets each, Woods brand, from Lowes, Item #170224, model 82965. Total: $22.00

Grand total: $213.86

The Gimbal lights I chose only accept a 50-watt, PAR 20 bulb, which made it easy to pick out the bulbs. So in this case, the fixture drove the choice of bulb, not the other way around.

According to the Bulb Photometrics page at Contractors Choice Lighting, a PAR 20, 50-watt halogen flood bulb will emit a beam of light with a 54 diameter when it reaches 10 feet away. It offers about 12 foot-candles worth of light at 10 feet away from the bulb (a foot-candle is the level of illumination on a surface one foot away from a standard candle.)

For the sake of comparison, a PAR 30 beam offers a diameter of more than 8 at 10 feet away, and you still get about 14 foot-candles at that distance. What happens if you notch it up to a 75-watt bulb? You get a lot more foot-candles (38) at 10 feet away. This suggests that larger trade-show booths might want to take advantage of higher PAR and higher watt bulbs.

All together, the track lighting system I chose uses 400 watts of electricity. This left me another 100 watts to add specialty or accent lighting to my booth, while still remaining at the 500-watt limit.

Cords, Plugs and Hanging Lights

The Las Vegas Convention Center has very strict rules for cords, plugs, and hanging lights.

The two-pronged, 18-gauge cords that the manufacturer has attached to your lights are acceptable (leave the UL tags and labels intact). These lighting cords cannot be plugged into the convention center outlet, however. Instead, you must plug them into a three-pronged, heavy duty, 14-gauge extension cord or a breaker strip with a 14-gauge cord. You can then plug that 14-gauge extension cord into the convention center outlet.

A 14-gauge extension cord is capable of handling 1,825 watts. Its helpful to read the brief extension-cord sizing and safety information on the web pages of the Underwriters Laboratories (www.ul.com/consumers/cords.html) and the University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FY800) before purchasing a cord.

Bruce Baker suggests the cord be 20 feet with six outlets, and that it include a cord reel. I couldnt find this type of cord at Lowes, so I decided on two 15-foot, heavy-duty, 14-gauge extension cord/power strips, each offering three outlets. If you have a larger booth, you can find a 25-foot cord with three outlets at Lowes.

There are so many different approaches to hanging lights, and so many variables to consider, that it could be a topic for another article. In general, you can hang or clip lights onto a cross bar or onto the hard walls of your display if you have them. Depending on the rules of a particular trade show and the size your lighting system, you may be permitted to attach the lights to the booths existing pipe and drape.

Since my booth design does not include my own walls, my lights will attach either to the existing pipe or to a cross bar. Cable ties (commonly called zip ties) appear to be tool of choice for attaching tracks to the pipes or bars, and even for attaching additional cross bars to existing pipe and drape. One artist I know uses Velcro strips, followed by cable ties to secure the attachments. There are a few entire websites for cable ties. One of them is http://www.cabletiesplus.com .

I purchased Multi-Purpose Ties from Home Depot. They can bundle 4 inches in diameter, withstand temperatures up to 185 degrees Fahrenheit, and hold up to 50 lbs.

Accent Lighting: LEDs

There are many ideas for accent lighting although a fair treatment of the topic is beyond the scope of this article. Light-emitting diode (LED) lighting is one technology that is experiencing breakthroughs and growing fast. It takes many LEDs to equal the light output of a 50-watt bulb, and LEDs are fairly expensive, so LEDs arent ready for prime time when it comes to lighting a whole booth.

There are several close-up applications for LEDs, however, that are worth looking into now. An example is the in-counter light bar sold by MK Digital Direct at www.mkdigitaldirect.com (at a whopping $175 per foot). The more affordable MK Sparkle Light Pocket ($30) is a portable device that has extra long-life of over 100,000 continuous hours and promises to give jewelry maximum sparkle and scintillation.

The Nexus mini LED light system (www.ccl-light.com), meanwhile, offers a lot of illumination for its size a puck shape not much bigger than a quarter. The company says it is for direct display lighting of crystal and glass, and it can even be submerged in water. The light is attached to a 12 cable that ends in a plug, and has mode switch with seven different color choices. Unfortunately, white is not one of the color choices, and at $25 its a bit expensive. Still, a few of these lights combined with room lighting could draw viewers into your booth and toward your most dramatic displays.

LEDS also include tube lights, flexible lights, linear lights, and bulbs. Superbright LEDs (www.superbrightleds.com/edison.html ) has a collection of 120-volt screw-in LED bulbs for accent and other low-lighting applications, as well as a host of other fascinating products such as plant up-light fixtures.

At this writing, the search was still on for accent lighting to give my booth an extra special glow. Stay tuned for a future article on the results.

Online Resources

The following list is not an endorsement, but rather a starting point for research on lighting systems, cable ties, and accent lighting.

www.ccl-light.com - inexpensive and many choices, has Bulb Photometrics page to help determine how much light and what kind you want from a bulb

www.direct-lighting.com - stem-mounted and track lights

www.usalight.com - large selection of lighting and bulbs

www.bulbs.com - quick visual comparison of PAR bulbs (in halogen section)

http://www.cabletiesplus.com - Cable (zip) ties for securing track lights to pipe

www.mkdigitaldirect.com - LED lights for jewelry cases

http://www.american-image.com/products/lights/lights.html - a nice selection and visual layout of stem-mounted and other lighting (but not cheap)

http://www.brightmandesign.com/products/wash-super.html - good technical information and images of lights set-ups for trade shows; several stem-mounted clip-on designs

www.superbrightleds.com - LED accent lighting, including screw-in bulbs and light bars

Alice Horrigan is a glass artist living in Ithaca, New York
http://www.pamadesigns.com
http://www.wholesalecrafts.com (Artist #23436)
Retailers may see Alice's work at the American Craft Retailers Expo (ACRE) wholesale show, May 2-4, 2007, Booth #333. Pre-show appointments call 607-351-3284, or write to alice@fingerlakesgifts.com .

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GE 54807 Push On/Off Round Closet Light - Battery Operated

So you think that Golf is easy?

O.K., So I toss a little white ball on the ground and puck it with a fat-headed metal stick till it falls in a hole..how hard can that be?

The Journey Begins:

A friend of mine contends that every round of Golf is different even if played on the same course on the same day in the same conditions and I agree with him 100%. Golf is one of those sports with so many factors involved so as to make it almost quantum and chaotic by nature. I have often felt like a sea captain, driver in hand standing two meters behind a teed ball and overlooking the sea from the port as I prepare to launch my vessel on a fantastic journey. Bending to the ground to remove a pinch of grass between thumb and forefinger then standing erect to momentarily survey the terrain before tossing the light green strands skywards to get some indication of the winds movement. This ancient ritual alone bonds me with my long dead ancestors who lived before our advanced tools of navigation. Watching the grass gives the golfer and idea of the winds strength and direction. Do these current wind conditions allow me to drive straight or should I play right and let the ball be carried back around by the strong breeze? The Golf game now enters the realm of applied mathematics or physics. Each Golf club representing a different distance and height depending on the stance one takes, the individual grip and swing of the golfer (and strength thereof) and the pivot or openness of the golf club face etc. Another factor could be the mental or nervous stress. Are you playing alone or in a tournament? The patience of a vicar and the courage of a G.I. can also be invaluable assets in your Golf arsenal. Relatively happy with your drive you leave the safety of the tee and the voyage begins.

In Full Sail:

Personally I find electric Golf carts a nuisance and distraction unless of course you are handicapped or elderly but Golf trolleys are fine in order to avert back damage through long years of carrying Golf clubs for hundreds of miles. So being in a good health condition is also a requirement for the game of Golf. Striding down the fairway you reach your golf ball and it is plugged in sponge-like ground. Taking out your archeology tools you begin to excavate. Then enters the new aspects of law and conscience as fair play and sportsmanship are required dropping the Golf ball the prescribed distance in accordance with the rules of the game. How good is the new placement and how far away from the green are you? Has the wind changed? Oh! Oh! A wide bunker and tall tree stand in the trajectory path so I need to play a high Golf shot. I don my aviators cap and prepare for flight. Having plotted in a course both long and high the Golf ball leaves the grass runway and sails high out of the metaphoric airport. Pausing momentarily I watch as it lands safely on the green.

Reaching Your Destination:

The adventure so far has proved rather predictable leaving you with a comforted feeling of smugness. Arriving at the green you prepare to enter the next phase of this multi-personality game of Golf. Bending to one knee you survey the grooves and texture of the landscape like an experienced engineer. Walking the distance between Golf ball and pin to check for any obstacles that may be laying on the surface the physicist/mathematician returns to calculate the angles and force need to complete the journey. The putter strikes the ball firmly and the echoing hollow plink sound closes a chapter in the days book.

Epilogue:

True, you may be familiar with every ridge, nook and cranny of a course which you regularly frequent but the constantly changing conditions such as weather, seasons, personal fitness/mental level, course upkeep (pin position/tee distance changes), skill level, playing style, Golf club brand etc. can make each round of Golf a unique experience.

Nigel Nix has been playing Golf on and off since he was 5 years old. He is now 42 and runs a humorous Golf blog. Golf Mad Blog For Golf Mad Golfers

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GE 57873 Fluorescent 6-Inch Closet Light - Battery Operated

GE 6" CLOSET LIGHT FLUORESCENT/BATTERY OPERATED

As you prepare for your game or race, it is important to remember that you need to focus on what you want to accomplish and to develop a strategy to execute it. Your coaches can only do so much to prepare you physically and mentally. Game time is your opportunity to take what they have laid out for you and to make it happen. They can tell you their observations and how to improve, but ultimately you and only you can pull the trigger.

Do not focus on the other team and what their weaknesses might be (on the same note, do not worship or admire them either). Even the best of teams have plenty to work on and your energy should not be wasted building yourself up. That energy you expend on them could be spent much more wisely getting into the zone and preparing for how you will perform. While skill development and conditioning are all necessary components for success, control of your emotions and mental faculties is what will separate the champions from the rest.

It is far better to play smart than to force things - take your time to line things up. Take the time today to write down 3 things you want to work on at the game today. Then for each thing, write 1 or 2 ways you could make that happen. Then review that list repeatedly. Psych yourself up. Get yourself into the zone. Spend some quiet time to visualize yourself making great passes, making smart checks, breaking the puck out, and shooting on net. The more you are able to see yourself do it, the more likely you will accomplish your goals. It is surprising what you can do when you have the will to do it. Come charged up and ready to go FOR YOU and THE TEAM, not for how good or bad the other team is. This is your battle, this is your time to show yourself what you can do when you are 100% focused.

DSWAthletes was founded to develop an athlete's fundamental core foundation by using drills common to different sports and activities. We incorporate additional performance and skill-based elements to promote strength and flexibility of the core region. In order to maximize peak performance and effectiveness, we create drills that use multiple muscle groups, improve your strength, aerobic and anaerobic capacity, and keep your body constantly guessing. Multiplicity in focus will have you seeing results faster than if you worked alone or with more conventional coaches.

Our program will develop your physiological 6th sense enabling you to react on instinct. We guide clients through a 6-station routine to keep your body constantly challenged. Our goal is to show all participants the most efficient and productive way to do things in a supportive and positive environment.

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