Extreme Sports News

Category: Casual Sports

by Jimmy

Football History: The Incredible Teams That have Won the Premier League

The Premier League is the pinnacle of English football. Bringing 20 of the world’s most famous and skillful teams together each year to battle over one of the most prestigious trophies in Football, it reels in over a billion households each year to tune in to the excitement. Since 1992, this yearly league has only seen 7 different teams win the title, with Manchester United winning the most titles, with 13 of the total 28 wins going to them.

It isn’t all about the number of wins you have, as the Premier League has become more competitive than ever in recent years with new champions rising and recent competition raising the level of play in the league and in the world.

 

Manchester United

Long considered one of the world’s greatest teams, Man U has historically dominated the Premier League since its inception, winning almost half of the titles there has ever been and going on frequent multi-year winning streaks.

United’s consistent, exceptional roster of world-class players has always been a great boon to them in every league, but in the Premier League, it has helped them dominate for decades, with incredible players like David Beckham and Wayne Rooney securing them win after win over the last 28 years. Unfortunately, their superbly skilled players and deeply set tactics have proven to be less reliable in recent years, with their last win being in the 2012/2013 season and their dominant position being taken by their rivals, Manchester City.

 

Manchester City

Hailing from the same City, Manchester City is another top-tier, world-class team boasting some more of the world’s greatest players operating out of Manchester. Naturally, this has granted the teams a great and ever-lasting rivalry that has often even ended up in real-world violence between the two teams’ fans.

This rivalry has only gained steam since United started to lose steam in the Premier League, and City took the advantage and replaced them as frequent winners of the league, winning 5 of the 9 seasons they played since their first win. This is in tandem with City’s rise to global dominance last decade, being considered one of the best teams in the entire world, and often now ranked above Manchester United, an unexpected change in Manchurian football.

Neither team is taking this lightly as they both push themselves to be the best in the world and the best in Manchester, adding more and more footballing celebrities to their rosters and boasting two of the highest player budgets of any teams in the world. The heights City climbs to over the next few years will certainly be great to spectate.

 

Liverpool

Heading away from Manchester, Liverpool seems poised to prove that the north of England is dominating not only the Premier League but world football as a whole. From relatively humble origins as a fantastic, but not a world-class team, Liverpool is one of the 6 teams to be present for every single Premier League season.

Even with their constant presence and decent success over the years, Liverpool had never won the Premier League until the most recent 2019/2020 season. With a new manager bringing new tactics, a complete new game-plan for how the team recruits and plays, and a fresh vision on the idea of what a football manager is for and how they should act, Liverpool recently dominated European and British football with a win after win and setting or matching records left and right.

Part of this success is down to their new Manager, Jurgen Klopp. Beyond his new vision on football, he has an excellent eye for talent and has brought in many new players for the team who might not be obviously brilliant, but under his supervision, they are trained into being amongst the greatest players on the planet.

One of these players, Mohammed Salah, has become renowned for his huge blitzes from one side of the field to the other in possession of the ball and almost always securing the goal. With this brutal strategy, he has become one of the premier league top scorers of all time and played a necessary part in Liverpool’s surprising league win last season, securing them as a force to be reckoned with and being added to the extremely short list of teams who have won the Premier League cup.

They are definitely the team to watch in the coming years as football becomes more and more heated every year and Liverpool looks to conquer more and more leagues by the year.

 

The Future

The Premier League has been the top rung of English football for decades and has become the battleground of some of the world’s greatest teams and players and has proven itself to be one of the most popular football leagues amongst fans the world over. The short but exciting history of winners extends every year and even when picking a few examples, excitement can always be found and it will only get better and better as the teams improve and football continues to be pushed to its limits.

by Jimmy

Are Mobile Games Gunning to Become an Official e-Sport?

Even if you are someone that doesn’t consider themselves to be very well versed in the world of competitive gaming, you are bound to have heard of e-sports. E-sport gives all of those gamers out there the chance to show off their skills while playing against their fellow gamers. These gamers have the opportunity to win vast amounts of money along with sponsorships, so it is no surprise that e-sport’s popularity is growing with every passing year.

 

Growing In Popularity

As the popularity of gaming continues to increase, there is another area of tech that continues to evolve alongside it. I am of course referring to the world of mobile technology. Mobile phones are not the same today as they were a decade ago, they have completely evolved. These days you can expect the same power out of your standard smartphone as you can out of a desktop computer. Smartphones these days have an abundance of RAM and quick processing speeds, which is why it is no wonder that they have become the new platform for all of the latest games that are being released onto the market.

 

Lots of your favorite PVP desktop games such as Fornite and PubG have now become available on mobile devices, so for those of us who can’t afford a desktop device, this creates the opportunity for us to play some of the best games available right now.

 

Because games have become so accessible on mobile devices, a new generation of mobile gamers has been created. These gamers play their games with just as much intensity as those who play on desktops and so they are demanding a position as part of the e-sport community so that they can put their skills into practice.

 

 

The Mobile Generation

There are plenty of mobile games that are already taking the world of e-sports by storm. For example, games such as Hearthstone and Clash Royale are already being played competitively every year at live sporting events.  By including these mobile games, the organization is creating a shift in the competitive gaming world and is giving a whole new group of people the chance to make some money by playing the games they love. This is a really inclusive step forward, as for a long time, those who played games on their mobiles were not really considered to be serious gamers. By giving them the chance to play competitively, it is giving them a serious position within the gaming community.

 

A lot of people are worried that introducing mobile games into e-sports may compromise what the company stands for and may push PC gamers out of the e-sports community. However, this is not the case at all.  It only takes a quick search to see that there are plenty of games that are still played that are console or PC, feel free to check out https://afk.guide/ to see for yourself the vast amount of games that are still available to play competitively.

by Jimmy

What is Sports Therapy and Why is it so Important?

When people hear the term sports therapy, it often confuses them. And that is an understandable reaction to have. The term itself seems like it should be clear enough, but leaves people scratching their heads. What is it really?

The medical field is a large one. There are hundreds of different avenues of medical care available, catering to the different needs of different people. And sports therapy is simply another one of these avenues.

There might be any number of reasons you need to look into sports therapy. Maybe you are an athlete looking for help. Perhaps you are opening up a medical spa and need more insight into this niche area. If that is the case our guide will take a look into what sports therapy is and why it is so important. A quick side note, for anyone looking to open a medical spa, this guide will not go into details about operations. For those interested, you can find help with marketing for a medical spa here.

What is it?

Sports therapy is, at first glance, exactly what it sounds like. It is a therapy based around sports. But this is quite a vague statement. So let us dive deeper. High-level athletes put a massive strain on their bodies daily. Whether this is in training or during a match. This strain on their bodies is significantly more than the average person experiences during normal healthy exercise. And it is because of this extra strain that athlete often requires greater physical recovery methods. And that is where sports therapy comes in.

The first big part of sports therapy is a sports massage. Sounds nice right? You would be wrong. A sports massage is one of the most painful and grueling massages you can ever get. Carried out not long after a match or intense workout, it is designed to remove all the intense knots and lactic acid build-up within the joints and muscles and stop cramps, tears, and stiffness. But this massage is intense. It requires moving the muscles and massages them with great, painful pressure to really get them to relax. Painful, but healthy. Without sports massages, athletes are much more likely to seriously injure themselves and cause irreversible damage to their muscles.

These massages are often followed by ice baths. These are designed to shock the body but also relax it. Ice is proven to reduce swelling and stimulate the body to work harder. That is why athletes take ice baths, it gets their blood flowing closer to the muscles and stimulates muscle repair while also help training lung capacity and reducing swelling.

Recovery

Athletes get hurt. It is a sad truth about the world of sports. Injuries happen. And athletes need to recover from them properly. Physical therapy is a huge part of sports therapy. The athlete often has varied dietary requirements and needs and, as such, need specialized physical therapy regimes to aid in their recovery efforts. But it goes further than that.

Athletes are people just like us. And their job is stressful. There is a lot of pressure on them to play well and win. And losing can put a massive strain on their mental wellbeing and confidence. Not to mention dealing with the press and being under the public eye is strenuous as well. And internal conflict within the team and the stress of training takes its toll.

That is why sports therapy also looks at the mental aspects of sports. It studies the impact sports has on athletes’ mental health and looks at ways to combat this and help them recover. The world of sports therapy has changed a lot and is now being more open to the mental issues that arise. That is why traditional therapy practices are being adapted for athletes as part of sports therapy.

A great example of this is certain sports teams now attend regular group therapy sessions as part of their training regime. Rather than everything being physical, they learn to open themselves up and respond to their emotions. And by doing this as a team they learn methods to support each other and be understanding of what other team members may be thinking or feeling. Tensions can run high out on the field. Fights happen. Words get flung. Damage is done. So these sessions serve as a point of calm and rest for these athletes.

Sports therapy is an often-understated field of medical care, but a very important one. Sport is a worldwide unifier. It brings us together in our communities. People love sitting down to watch their favorite team. But these athletes need the same care anyone does. That is why sports therapy is so important to athletes and the world as a whole.

by Joseph Benson

The 4 Most Exhilarating Water Sports to Try

While it may be a while before any of us can go on holiday, it’s always better to be prepared with planned activities before you head away to your beach resort. With this in mind, what better activities are there for family fun than water-sports? There so many to choose from, with some being exciting, such as kite-boarding, due to their speed while others are exciting due to what fish you can see, as is the case with scuba diving. While there almost endless options, here are our top four water sports to get you started.

KiteBoarding

Kiteboarding, or kite surfing as it’s called in some places, is becoming much more popular around the globe. This is because waves aren’t needed for it to be possible as is the case with something like surfing, so you can basically do it anywhere.

So what actually is kiteboarding? Well, it essentially involves standing on a board while attached to a large kite that pulls you along the water. It works by catching the wind, so as long as there is even a little bit of wind it can work. However, obviously, if it’s really windy it can be even more exhilarating as you will go really fast and even get quite a lot of air time which allows you to do tricks and the like. Chances are you’ve seen somebody do this sport before, perhaps even at your local beach. Consequently, there’s no excuse for not trying it out on your next holiday!

Scuba Diving

Another great one to try is scuba diving, especially if you are somebody who enjoys exploring or is fond of exotic creatures. Scuba diving is particularly good because it reminds us to enjoy the world. As we become adults, we tend to become less enthusiastic about our fellow wildlife compared to when we were young. However, scuba diving can awaken this childhood curiosity that has been lost for so many of us.

That being said, scuba diving can be quite daunting for a lot of people, especially if you have a fear of sharks or a fear of drowning. However, the organizations that run scuba diving events will never carry out trips in shark-infested waters. There are also sites such as divingpicks that give guides on how to scuba dive (as well as information about places near you where you can dive).

Kayak fishing

While fishing isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when are trying to think of something exciting, I promise you’ll be surprised when it comes to kayak fishing. This is because kayaks are lighter and therefore more agile than canoes, and as a result, it is easier to get to the spots where the fishes are. In addition to this, fishing kayaks have compartments for things like bait and rod holders, so you don’t have to mess around trying to find things when you could be fishing. As for the excitement, there aren’t many feelings that match that one you get when you catch a good fish. Plus, even if you don’t catch anything it’s a pretty good workout for your arms!

Paddleboarding

Paddleboarding is another one that you might be surprised to see on this list but trust us, it can get pretty mad. It is true that it can be pretty slow when starting off but once you get good enough you can start doing races, and if you’ve ever seen paddleboard races you know it gets pretty hectic. However, it is a good one to start off with especially if the others are a bit too much.

by Joseph Benson

5 Interesting Sports You Haven’t Heard Of

Sports are an integral part of our cultures. From cycling and running to archery and scuba diving, you think of an activity, someone’s probably made it into a sport. A lot of people want to find that perfect product to give them the edge they need in their chosen sport. If you’re a runner, I can’t recommend tiux.co enough for comfortable athletic compression socks. So we’re all aware of the sports that have annual competitions like the Superbowl in America but here are some sports that I guarantee you won’t have heard of.

Cheese Rolling

I know what you’re thinking. Cheese rolling? That’s not a sport. There’s no athletic skill to rolling a piece of cheese. But what if I told you, it’s not just a piece of cheese, but is in fact, a wheel of cheese, larger than a car tire? Have you ever tried wheeling a car tire? They’re heavy. And this cheese rolling doesn’t just occur on a flat surface. It’s on a hill. Every year, this bizarre cheese rolling race happens in Gloucestershire in the UK. The first person to roll their cheese to the bottom of an incredibly steep hill is the winner.

Extreme Ironing

I know what you’re thinking. Ironing is boring. Why would you want to do it as a sport? Well, not this ironing. Have you ever accidentally burned yourself while ironing in the comfort of your own home without any pressure to be quick? Well, good luck with extreme ironing. Here, you guessed it, ironing taken to the extreme. Players take ironing boards to remote locations and iron items of clothing. These locations can range from jungles to mountains and there is usually an element of danger. A lot of people will kayak or climb with their ironing boards to the locations. It’s all the fun of mountaineering and your clothes will be the nicest looking ones on the mountain. The real question is, where do they plug the iron in?

Man vs Horse

Have you ever looked at a horse and thought, “I could outrun you?” Well, that’s what players of this game think, day and night, as they train to beat the stallions in a 22-mile run. A lot of the race is through swamps and wooded areas. Again, this is a British invention, originating from a chat in a pub on a sunny afternoon in 1980. It’s probably the only race where you can bet on a horse and it loses to a human.

Underwater hockey

Has above water hockey always struck you as a bit dull? A bit boring after a while? After all, how hard can it be to hit a ball in a net with a stick when there are things like gravity and not much resistance? And ice hockey is definitely more fun to watch but imagine if that ice melted and players were now underwater? Well, that’s just what the players of underwater hockey, also known as octopush, do. It’s exactly the same as regular hockey but players wear snorkels and shorts. It was started in the 1950s as a way for people to play sports in the winter months.

Tuna Tossing

This sport started in Australia. It came about after people saw groups of fishermen throw tuna into the backs of trucks. It started out as a way to add interest to the local festival in Port Lincoln. Whoever manages to throw a twenty-pound tuna the furthest is the winner. The race is a little different nowadays as a rubber fish is used instead. This makes it easier to clean up and doesn’t smell nearly as bad.

by Jimmy

From Player to Coach: 6 Tips to Managing a Sports Team

Motivation

A crucial aspect of managing your sports team to a high standard would have to be keeping them motivated. For your team to work well they must have the necessary motivation to win. Keep morale up with rewarding good performance, encouraging your team and reminding your team of why they enjoy sports. Highlight the importance of having fun, winning isn’t as valuable as having a team who wants to do well. Although it can be frustrating if your team isn’t bringing home the wins, in order for them to win they must be motivated to do it, your team is full of players who have a passion for what they do, they may lose sight of this passion as it can be a very stressful industry, your job as a manager is to ensure they are doing their very best.

Down Time

Competing in professional sports can be a gruelling experience for the body, the constant training and regular games can have a seriously tiresome effect on your team. It is important you allow your tea to have the necessary downtime to relax and allow their body to recover from their sporting ordeal. In the unfortunate case that a team player goes through an injury, you must ensure the player has the required recovery time in order to ensure their safety.

Communication

All too often do we see managers holding back information from their team, this not only reduces morale but can damage your rapport with your team. Ensure you keep your team with the situation regarding the financial position, how the team is doing and any other issues that could affect your team. Transparency allows you to build a genuine friendship and shows how much you care about your team’s progression. Many managers make the mistake of keeping information from their team, even if you have negative news, communicating with the team and working through any issues you may face together adds a sense of strength and creates a united dynamic.

Health

As previously mentioned professional sports can have a negative impact on the body, health is vital to ensuring your team is as strong as it can be and ensuring the safety of each and every team member. It is not acceptable for a player to not go through regular health checkups and to get the medical attention they need. An injured player should be taken out of the game for at least one game, is it at their physiotherapist’s discretion as to whether they are well enough to play again. Although it can be frustrating when a great player is injured it is important to remember the value of your player’s health, never place their health as less important as a game.

Team Building

A big part of keeping up team morale and ensuring your team works as a strong unit is spending time conducting team building activities. Games like never have I ever or a game of 21 questions are great examples of fun games that can help your team become more familiar with each other. Taking time to encourage your team to have fun together and get to know each other more is a great way of forging a strong bond across your team which can only improve their performance on the field. If you have a close-knit team and you as a manager gain a rapport with them management becomes a breeze and the team are more confident and comfortable.

Training

As a manager, you will have an input in how and when your team trains, ensuring there is a solid balance between different exercises will help improve your team’s overall performance. Training can be damaging to motivation if it is not conducted in a fun and engaging way, try implementing some fun variations into the training activities you do with your team and use it as a means to boost morale. Managers are required to think about all aspects of their team from training to team building you should be able to use any time you spend together to help make the team a stronger force rather than just focusing on sports performance.

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