Sports

There are really only three blades you need to consider if you are a serious speed skater. This is not as bad a state of affairs as you might think – a few years ago there were only two. Speed skating blades are fascinating things because the task they need to accomplish seems so...
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For the longest time, I thought that it was a losing battle. The dopers would always outfox the anti-dopers. It was simply a matter of resources – anti-doping agencies are generally poorly-funded and have to operate within the bounds of very strict rules and regulations. They have to be very sure about a person...
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I have written a bit on doping in sport in the past, but in light of the recent interview with Lance Armstrong by Oprah, I feel that I should say a little more. The interview itself is enlightening. Previously, everything I knew about Lance came from his book (which I read) and watching him...
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It’s been a while since I last posted, and in that while I’ve travelled a bit. One of the places I passed through in my travels was London, and I was fortunate enough to pass through during the time of the Olympic Games. There is much to be written about the Olympic games, of...
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Sport is a funny thing. It is almost universally recognized that if you want to be good at a sport, then you have to train for it. However, the “how” in how people go about doing that is a source of endless amusement and frustration. The first mistake is an easy one to make....
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I once read somewhere that if you took a race-ready rally car, and its street-legal equivalent (say a regular Subaru WRX), swapped the tyres, then drove both of them on a rally course, they would finish with very similar times. Why does this happen? Surely the rally car, with its lighter weight, finely-tuned engine,...
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Recently I have undertaken a new “job” as one of the coaches for the Danish junior ice speed skating team. Those outside of the world of speed skating will probably think that sounds like a big deal, but those inside the wold of ice skating are probably thinking “Denmark?”. You see, Denmark, despite being...
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In this article, I will try to examine and determine the root causes for these differences, not only as a recreational, observational exercise, but as this examination may hopefully yield useful information for technique development in both ice and inline skating.
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