AO3

Basketball

For this sport I do not do it much anymore, but since I started and stopped, I don’t do it as much as I used to, only when I am in Lithuania  do I still do, this means I cannot show much about it, here are some things that affect my ability.

·        When it is too hot I can sometimes  get a bit distracted while playing, this means I lose position, and as a defender I can let someone pass through and score

·        When in the cold I improve slightly, I go faster and defend much better, this means my overall play improves and my defence does not break so easily

·        When playing on a bit of a sticky track with very grippy shoes I find it hard as when I move, it does not fell right for me to stop so soon and sudden, this means I can hurt my ankles in play

·        When I am ill and play I am slow and fell dizzy, when I have a fever and play my body freezes up and I find it a little hard to move

·        If I am tired, I move less fast and reaction time is slowed, as an example, I swipe to intercept the ball, but it is already past me. On the other hand, when  I am not tired I often get random bursts of energy to get the ball, and sometimes get the courage to actually run on the pitch, and sometimes score

Here is a small recall diary about my time in a team

On the first day of training I went in and met many new people, many were more skilled than, but I was better than a few others, at first I thought we were wasting time, throwing the ball around, but when the coach came in we were put in a line, the first thing I learnt there was to dribble around an obstacle course and shoot, it was easy I went through the whole thing with no error, it was a good first lesson.

On the following Tuesday I went again, this time, knew everyone and knew what to do, on this week we were doing lay ups, I was not very good at them and had trouble, but the coach was really nice and showed me how, soon I got the hang of it and was doing fine, we then started a small game, I got put in a decent team and played, the problem was the team always kept the ball to themselves, and then expected me to pass to them! It was tiring but went home pleased

Soon more training came and I was doing shooting, my aim is a bit bad and did not improve after 2 lessons, I was chosen as a defender for the team, as it was the only think I was good at, but I still had to practice shooting, so I did, this was also a chance for a kid called Marcus to brag about his shooting ability, he made me feel bad at it, but the coach did not give up with me and helped me even more

More training. We were practicing beating the defender were speed and ball control were key, I did not do too badly and beat the defender, and later 2 of them with medium difficultness, I learned some ball skilled like fancy 360 dribbles to lose an opponent, and came away pleased with the new skills I had learnt

We were doing defending on the next Tuesday, I was one of the best there, relying on my size and height to stop the ball, another game at the end and we won!, this was a major boost on confidence, it was icy cold and I was running everywhere getting the ball from everyone, but the shots were a bit bad and I almost hit my dad who was watching twice, soon I was told to take a break as I was red and panting, very dehydrated.

We did marking next for two lessons, I was always with a person much shorter than me, so it was a bit unfair on them, as it could easily block the ball from them easily, also I was older and faster than my opponents, this meant I was still being judged by the coach to see my skill.

I made the team! I was told that I was a defender and was going to a tournament and play other teams; I did a bit of everything to train that lesson.

It was the tournament and we lost all games, but as we did better and other teams came 5^th out of 10^th, we lost with a point difference that was less than others, as we played only half the teams, I think we were let down but Marcus, he hogged the ball and got skilled, and did not learn his lesson, sadly this was the end, I had too much homework to continue the training. I would get the coach to sign this, but he got married and left, the new coach could not prove a thing.

I hope to get some pics of me in action soon!

Swimming

I go once a week and train baths by “Wendy gardener’s school of swimming”, I am a competent swimmer and focus on pure speed and technique rather than tricks and fancy turns and moves.

I have been going for a few months now and started in a beginners group, filled with small children, it was quickly clear I was better than them and found it very easy to progress, it soon got boring, but when we went to the 2.2metre deep end I found it a bit hard, but it was a one off. When I started I focused on front crawl, I went fast and got to the end fast, but made splash which was bad.

Soon I felt squeezed, I was in a tiny area which was so small two strokes and I was at the end, It felt no better when many people came, I got what I wanted, and moved to the deep end, but found it hard, I always grabbed the edge over and over, it was over 20 times further then what I was used to In the small end, and was very pressured to do better, I finally mastered by breathing to some degree at last, and did not hold on to the side once.

I finally went so good that I moved up again, which it now where I am now, I am in a group where my back crawl has improved a lot and so had my breast stroke, I can do many lengths without stopping. The problem is, I am very good now, and the advanced class I am in now, it too low for me, only one other is about my level, the rest are too slow, when I have done a 2,1/2 sprint the others have just started, and me and one other must wait for about  5 mins while they finish, which is a waste of time. I use front crawl mostly and am very fast, I will post some vids of me doing swimming as soon as I go to my next lesson.

Things that affect me are,

·        The heat of the water, when it is cold I find it a slight bit harder as I freeze up a bit, also I get cold so loose energy faster, this means I find it hard in the no arms just feet exercise as my arms really push me along with little effort.

·        When I have done sport on the Friday I do it I feel weaker and cannot go fast as far as I normally do, I also then struggle to climb out as my knees do not fit in the gap you use to push yourself up this means I can only rely on my arms, that are sometimes weak from swimming.

·        When there are a lot of kids I find it hard as there is little room to move, this means I can’t do my strokes properly as have not room to spread, and the others move all over and it is annoying if they hit you and slow you down

·        If my goggles steam up I find it hard to see, this means I can sometimes go so far, I go into the other smaller side of the pool where I used to go, meaning It takes more time to get back to the start

I’m going to post some videos of me swimming soon!

Gymnastics

I did this in school and was not very good at all, I got bad points and I did many parts wrong, here are some things that affected me

·        I did not get a fast enough run up and could not make the board, this meant I landed in a very awkward position

·        The floor was slippery so I slid when I ran, this meant I could not go fast enough

·        When I ran I could not see under me so I put my hands on the springboard weirdly so I slipped or pushed off at an angle, I went all over the place

On the first lesson I was rubbish, missed it many times and often had to climb it as I did not get enough height, I was being put under pressure by my peers as I was worried I would be made fun of, but I was not that much.

On the second lesson it did not improve much, I did badly but slightly better than before, I go enough height and went over but it was awkward and badly landed.

It went like this for all my lessons, I think I did so badly because I did not have enough time to learn, but got what I could done, I did not really enjoy it as it was a bit weird and I could not do it