Analysis. History. Perspective.

Sports Then and Now



5 Sports That Improve Hand-Eye Coordination 1

Posted on July 24, 2020 by Brooke Chaplan

Your hand-eye coordination is an asset. Although it’s commonly associated with sports, there are benefits to hand-eye coordination that can be realized off the field. That said, sports can be among the best ways to get yours up to snuff. These five sports can greatly increase your hand-eye coordination.

Tennis

With tennis, it’s all on you to watch the ball and make sure you’re timing things just right. Make your swing too early or too late and lose a point. When you have proper control of your racket and keep your eyes focused, you can keep the ball in play for a very long time.

Basketball

The difference between sinking a basket and missing it can come down to being off by even a fraction of an inch. Professional players make it look easy, but they have become seasoned professionals through hours of practice that lets them figure out the exact right angle for getting the ball through the hoop. Start off by going to your local gym and working on your fundamentals, such as your aim and follow-through. As time goes on, you should have a much better percentage of baskets made.

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How Fashion Has Taken Over the NBA 1

Posted on February 04, 2019 by Martin Banks

Perhaps no sport is more associated with fashion than the NBA. The competition among players to dress the best is fierce, and it’s become a big part of the news cycle surrounding the league.

Players receive a lot of chances to flaunt their fashion choices. The most notable is the pre-game walk through the tunnel. Traveling to and from games, press conferences and other events provide opportunities as well.

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Over the last few decades though, the story of the NBA and fashion has moved beyond just pre-game and press conference outfits. Players such as Russell Westbrook and James Harden make regular appearances at world-famous fashion shows and on the covers of style magazines. Many players also have their own fashion lines and brand collaborations. Westbrook even wrote a book, titled Style Drivers, about his relationship with fashion.

In 2017, the NBA officially recognized the importance of fashion for the league by introducing the NBA Style Award, which the league gave out alongside awards for most valuable player and rookie of the year. Westbrook took home first place, followed by Cleveland’s Iman Shumpert and Chicago’s Dwyane Wade. Read the rest of this entry →

10 Ways to Increase Your Vertical Jump 0

Posted on December 05, 2018 by Sasa Cvetkovic

David-ThompsonAnyone who has ever played basketball has dreamed about leaping past and over a defender and performing a slamdunk in the best tradition of Horace Grant and Michael Jordan. Unfortunately, for most of us this seems like an impossibility. But your inability to do this likely has less to do with your technique than it does with your ability to perform a vertical leap. That’s the purpose of this article: to help you increase your vertical jump.

It’s important to keep in mind that improving your vertical leap means making better use of your leg muscles. So if you’re going to do this, your training needs to emphasize vertical movements, such as deadlifts, Olympic lifts and squats.

When combined with a solid understanding of basketball fundamentals, and increased vertical jump can give you a real advantage on the court. Keep the following in mind if you want to achieve maximum height when you leap for the slamdunk.

1. Get Rid of Those Knots in Your Legs

Muscle knots exist throughout your body and make your muscles weaker and shorter by stripping the length of muscle tissue. Slowly run a foam roller across your muscles, focusing on sensitive spots in order to release the knots there. You should work on the following areas of your legs, devoting roughly a minute to each leg.

Calf Muscles – Position the roller below your calf while resting the opposite foot flat on the floor. Alternatively, you could cross this leg over your shin in order to increase pressure. Then roll up from the ankle to the knee. Repeat with the opposite leg.

Quadriceps – Lie flat on your stomach and placed the roller underneath the front of the thigh. Then roll it up and down from the knee to the bottom of the hip. Then switch to the other leg and repeat.

IT Band – Lie on one side with the roller position close to your hip while resting the foot of the other leg. Then roll the roller up and down along the outer thigh. You can choose to enhance the pressure by positioning one lying on top of the other. Then repeat this process with the opposite leg.

2. Hip Flexor Stretch

If you’re going to successfully increase your vertical jump, it’s essential for you to be able to extend your legs much more quickly. One way you can practice doing this and enhance your ability is to do hip stretches. Doing a hip flex or stretch means you are pulling your knee up and loosening the muscles involved. This will help to ensure that your muscles won’t be tight and prevent you from increasing your vertical jump.

In the hip flexor stretch, place your back knee right below your hip and lunge forward, pushing with your pelvis unto you begin feeling the stretch at the point where your femur meets your pelvis. Hold this position for about 2 seconds and then release. You should repeat this 10 times for each leg. Read the rest of this entry →

Live Basketball 1

Posted on September 26, 2018 by Emily Kalvin

Recently, fans from all over the world have become much more active in watching sports competitions live. This is because now it’s much easier to keep abreast of the most relevant events.

As for basketball, the events on the floor are always developing quickly. The leader can change several times during the game, so it is extremely important to follow the development of events. Due to the rich calendar, a significant number of games are held simultaneously, but now you will definitely not miss anything important. It is now possible thanks to the Internet portal 777score.com. Here, a simple and thoughtful interface allows you to navigate the platform easily and quickly find the most accurate information that is updated regularly.

basketball

Live score basketball is available in full at any time of the day. The thing is that attention is paid not only to the most popular competitions, but also to the leagues the results of which you will find only here. This approach allows you to get the most comprehensive information about your favorite game.

Special Features of Watching Games Live

Thanks to our platform you will always be updated on how events developed during the particular game. This is possible due to rich and updated statistics. The carefully worked out section will allow you to see not only the matter-of-fact result of the competition, but also to watch the moments each team created.

You can also follow individual successes of specific athletes. The advantages of learning the results from our website include:

•        accurate data;

•        only the latest information;

•        access via both PC and mobile device.

The main thing is to have a stable Internet connection. After that, you will get the opportunity to access the widest possible line of events. This approach is now really interesting for millions of users, who want to receive information not only about confrontations of the National Basketball Association, but also of other leagues. Together with our website it is very easy to become a real guru in the field of the particular sports discipline. Read the rest of this entry →

Biggest Changes in Basketball History 3

Posted on July 20, 2017 by Martin Banks

Basketball is an American invention, with a Canadian inventor. What began as a rather straightforward game in 1891 has grown into a global obsession. More than a century ago, James Naismith, a Canadian educator working in Massachusetts, came up with the game in an effort to develop a sport less physically punishing than football.

In the hundred-plus years since the first basketball game was played, the sport has undergone considerable changes. Read on for a look at some of the critical turning points in basketball’s development — from the introduction of the nylon basket to ball technology and the ever-diminishing shot clock.

Ending the Peach Basket Era

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When basketball started, scoring meant putting the ball in a peach basket or an 18-inch square box. The baskets hung from balconies installed on most indoor running facilities of the time. They were suspended at the 10-foot height still in use today.

Peach baskets have closed bottoms, which meant the ball needed to be retrieved each time a team scored. Basketball lovers decided to speed the game up by introducing a woven wire “basket” in 1892, just a year after the game’s invention. The following year, cast iron was used, and by 1912, the first nylon nets were installed.

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How to Increase Your Vertical Jump for Basketball 0

Posted on September 02, 2016 by Martin Banks

There are many physical attributes that can take your game to the next level. Point guards need to be quick and post players need to be strong, but there’s one trait that benefits players at all positions: jumping ability.

Having a high vertical jump will increase your ability to block shots, grab rebounds, disrupt players inbounding the ball and, most importantly, up your chances of dunking.

If you think your vertical jump is something you’re born into and stuck with, you’re about to hear some good news. There are many workouts you can do to add some inches to that vertical leap.

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Develop a Workout Schedule

You can’t reach a goal that you don’t set, and the best way to track your progression is to set a workout schedule for yourself. You can either develop one yourself, or you can do some research and find a vertical jump program. Read the rest of this entry →

  • Vintage Athlete of the Month

    • Rusty Staub: A Man For All Ages
      April 8, 2024 | 1:26 pm
      Rusty Staub

      The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is a former major league baseball player who came into the game as a teenager and stayed until he was in his 40s. In between, Rusty Staub put up a solid career that was primarily spent on expansion or rebuilding teams.

      Originally signed by the Colt .45s at age 17, he made his major league debut as a 19-year old rookie and became only the second player in the modern era to play in more than 150 games as a teenager.

      Though he hit only .224 splitting time between first base and rightfield, Staub did start building a foundation that would turn him into an All-Star by 1967 when he finished fifth in the league with a .333 batting average.

      Read more »

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