Category Archives: Sports

Game, set, match.

• Tennis is generally a sport where you hit a ball over a net with a racquet, towards an opponent who aims to hit the ball back over the net.
• Artwork from 500BC in Ancient Greece shows an early form of tennis that was played.
• In France, during the 1400s, a type of tennis evolved and eventually included a tennis racquet and the term ‘tennis’ was used.
• Tennis was first played as a competitive sport in the early 1870s.
• Early tennis racquets were constructed from ash wood and modern tennis racquets are made from carbon graphite or fibreglass.

• Tennis racquets must be less than 81.28 cm (32 inches) lengthwise and 31.75 cm (12.5 inches) but can be any shape or weight.
• The general scoring system is 4 points (15, 30, 45, game) for a game, 6 games equals a set, and 2 sets equal a match.
• An umpire watches the tennis game from a high chair so he/she can see the players, the ball and the court.
• There are many tennis hitting techniques such as drives, lobs and smashes.
• Tennis games can be played single or double, but double games require teamwork to win.

Bibliography:

Vicaro, A 2000, Tennis, oling Kindersly, Great Britian

Freefalling…

• Sky diving is also known as parachuting.
• Sky diving is the practice of parachuting down to earth from an aircraft.
• Sky diving jumps are generally performed from aircraft, from 1,000 – 4,000 meters (3,000 – 13,000 feet) in altitude.
• First time sky divers jump with an experienced trainer, and this is called a tandem jump.
• Approximately 21 sky divers die every year in the United States of America, which is equal to 1 in every 150,000 jumps.

Sky Diving
Image courtesy of Alwaysmnky/Flickr

• As a safety precaution, most sky divers must have two parachutes on him or her, one parachute being a reserve.
• If you sky dive, you shouldn’t jump in bad weather like thunderstorms or big winds as there is a high risk of danger.
• Vertical wind tunnels and virtual reality simulators help sky divers train for jumps.
• On the 8th of February, 2006, in Thailand, a world record was set when 400 people jumped from an aircraft and free-fell whilst linked.
• In 2011, on his 40,000th jump, Don Kellner set the world record for the most sky diving jumps by one person.

Bibliography:
Parachuting 16 February 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachuting>

Concentrate now…

• Fencing is a sport that includes striking your opponent with a bladed weapon.
• Fencing was one of the few sports to be included in the first modern Olympic Games, and one of five sports that has been included in every Olympic Games since.
• Spanish fencing was being practised in the 13th and 14th centuries, and it is from this that modern fencing is derived.
• There are three main types of fencing weapons: the foil, sabreo or the épée.  The blades are flexible and blunt or flattened so they do not harm the opponent.
• The fencing uniform includes a jacket, a plastron (an underarm protector), a glove, breeches and a mask.

Fencing
Image courtesy of Qrodo Photos/Flickr

• The fencing uniform typically is made from cotton or nylon mixed with polyethylene, so that it is resistant to sword penetration.
• In the United States and European countries, fencing is a popular sport in some schools and universities and students have the opportunity to compete in the World University Games.
• In fencing competitions, weapons with electronic sensors are used to make scoring more accurate.
• Fencing is regarded as a sport safer than golf, and people are at the most risk when a weapon breaks.
• In fencing competitions, two people generally move back and fourth on a 1.4 by 13 meter(6 by 44 feet) strip, attempting to strike one another.

Bibliography:
Fencing 2 February 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fencing>

‘Elbow up, thumb down, palm out’ is how you put.

• Shot put is an athletic event when you ‘put’ or ‘throw’ a heavy, spherical metal ball.
• Shot put appeared in the Olympic Games for men in 1896, and for women in 1948.
• The first recorded competitions of shot put were in the 1800’s, in Scotland.
• Modern shot probably came about from the competitions that soldiers had in the Middle Ages, involving the throwing of cannon balls.
• The shot (ball) can be made from many materials including  iron, cast iron, solid or stainless steel or brass.

Shot Put
Image courtesy of Sangudo/Flickr

• The shot is thrown with a pushing action, with one hand.
• A shot put athlete stands in a typical 2.1 meter (7 ft) diameter circle and throws the shot as far as they can within the throwing area or sector.
• A shot can range from 1 to 7 kg (2.2 lbs to 16lbs) in weight.
• Shot put records have been set by Randy Barnes, 23.12 meters (75.85 ft), for men and Aratalya Lisovshaya, 22.63 meters (74.25 ft).
• In shot put, any shot that lands outside a sector, the throwing area, equals a foul.

Bibliography:
Shot Put 22 January 2013 , Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_put>