Reiseplan » ning footballers in a sport-specific way allows coaches

In little more than a month, Tiger Woods went from being tough to beat to having a tough time even playing. Woods said Wednesday that soreness in his left elbow would keep him from defending his title next week in the AT&T National at Congressional, and that he would not compete again until the British Open next month at Muirfield. This is the sixth straight year that injury has kept him from either playing a tournament or finishing one. The culprit this time is a strain in his left elbow. The problem first became apparent during the opening round of the U.S. Open last week at Merion, when he was flexing his left wrist or dangling his arm behind his back after shots out of the thick, punishing rough. "I was examined after I returned home from the U.S. Open, and the doctors determined I have a left elbow strain," Woods said on his website. "I have been advised to take a few weeks off, rest and undergo treatment. Ill be ready to go for the British Open, and Im looking forward to playing at Muirfield." His injury is a blow to the AT&T National, which benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation. This will be the third time since it began in 2007 that Woods has missed the tournament because of injury -- knee surgery in 2008, his left Achilles tendon in 2011 and an elbow injury this year. "Any time you have Tiger in the field, it certainly adds to it a lot," tournament director Greg McLaughlin said. "But we have a very nice field this year and we look forward to a great AT&T National." Masters champion Adam Scott and U.S. Open champion Justin Rose are among those scheduled to play. McLaughlin said Woods is to be at Congressional at least on Wednesday to take part in the opening ceremonies. Woods was not specific about when or how the latest injury happened. He first showed signs of being hurt after hitting shots in the rough during the rain-delayed opening round at Merion, though he told a USGA official it was "fine" when he left the course Thursday evening. After finishing the first round Friday morning, he said only that the reason he grimaced after shots out of the rough was because of "pain" and that he felt it on a few shots. That afternoon, he revealed that he first hurt his elbow at The Players Championship, but he declined to say which round or on what kind of shot. Woods won The Players Championship on May 12 for the first time in 12 years. It was his fourth PGA Tour win of the season. Woods picked up those four in just eight starts worldwide, and the win at Sawgrass was his third victory in his last four tournaments. The exception was the Masters, where he tied for fourth, four shots out of a playoff. But the last two tournaments have produced a surprising outcome. At the Memorial, where Woods was a five-time winner and the defending champion, he had the worst nine-hole score of his career with a 44 on the back nine that led to a 79 in the third round. He tied for 65th and finished 20 shots behind, his largest deficit for a full-field event. At Merion, he wound up with a 13-over 293, his highest score ever for the U.S. Open and tied for his highest 72-hole score in any major. Even so, the announcement Wednesday was surprising. Woods had said Friday at Merion that he would not have withdrawn even if it were not the U.S. Open. He was not asked about his elbow the rest of the week. It will be the 10th time Woods is unable to defend a title in official PGA Tour events, with six of those related to reconstructive surgery on his left knee after he won the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. The last time he failed to defend was in 2010 at Bay Hill, when he was returning from the scandal in his personal life. His website said he felt minor discomfort before going to Merion and aggravated the area last week. Woods extended his regrets to AT&T, secondary sponsors and fans in Washington for not being able to play. "The AT&T National means a lot to me and my foundation," he said. "Its especially difficult not defending at my own tournament. Its going to be a great event, and I look forward to being there to provide my support." AT&T is under contract as title sponsor through 2014. The Dallas-based company recently announced that it would take over as title sponsor for the Byron Nelson Championship starting in 2015. It also is the longtime title sponsor at Pebble Beach. The British Open is July 18-21 at Muirfield, where Woods bid for the calendar Grand Slam ended in 2002 when he was caught in nasty weather. Woods shot 81 in the third round -- 10 players failed to break 80 -- for his highest score as a pro. Pat Tillman Jersey . 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Howard Ganz, an MLB lawyer, said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos that Rodriguezs claims do not come "remotely close" to what is needed to overturn an arbitration decision in federal court.Day two of the UEFA A licence (part 2) was divided into the three sessions; one each in the morning, afternoon and evening. Dr. John Kremer, a Sports Psychologist from Queens University in Belfast, delivered the morning session on sports psychology in football. He covered an incredible amount of content, beginning with the premise that every time a coach opens his or her mouth, the coach impacts a players perception of his or her own performance. Depending on what the coach says to the player, this can have either a positive or a negative effect. Kremer believes that coaches are, by the very nature of their jobs, sports psychologists. The very best coaches have a high capacity to understand players; they can adapt their style of coaching, depending on the needs of each player. Kremer used this quote from Sir Alex Ferguson to explain the point, "Footballers are all different human beings. Some are self-motivators, they need to be left alone...for some, you need causes, your country, them and us...and those causes can be created by the manager." A key message that Kremer delivered was that as a coach, you need to look at who you are, what you can do, and what you cannot do. He believes that you should not surround yourself with people who are like you – you need people who challenge you, who offset your weaknesses. It was the same message that was delivered the previous day by Billy Dixon. Kremer said that players are not limited by their physical capabilities, as many players do not fully explore the limits of those abilities. The thing that limits players is their minds. An over-emphasis on results in football – especially at the youth level – limits our ability to produce players with, what Kremer called, NAch – Need to Achieve. This over-emphasis on results in turn produces an abundance of players with, what Kremer called, FF – Fear of Failure. Given the state of youth soccer in Canada, this discussion struck a chord with me. Kremers information confirmed everything that is wrong with results-driven youth football in Canada, and more important, everything that is right about the CSAs Long-Term Player Development (LTPD) plan. Kremer went on to discuss, in depth, a number of other important topics. Mental toughness, balancing the three Cs (control, confidence and commitment), IZOF (Individual Zone of Optimum Functioning) - which is the stress level at which an athlete optimally performs - and mental imagery were all explained, discussed and debated. When speaking about mental toughness, Kremer said something that resonated in the room. He said that an athlete must play their sport for themselves. If theey do it for someone else, they will be mentally fragile as a result.dddddddddddd Faye Downey delivered the afternoon session, and it was an extension of the lecture that she delivered on day one. The topic of her presentation was "Trunk Stabilization", and touched on issues surrounding stability, what the stability requirements were for elite football players, how Olympic lifting can aid the development of stabilization, as well as some practical applications of stabilization and strength training. One of the remarkable aspects of Downeys session was the topic of running. Many professional football clubs employ athletics coaches to train and develop speed in players. Yet scientific evidence proves that footballers do not run like track athletes. Downey went on to explain and demonstrate the correct running technique for football, and then had the coaches practice the technique themselves. Downey also said that SAQ (Speed and Quickness) training has little or no impact on developing speed in players. The reason is that it does not improve the players ability to generate force, which is a key component of power (speed). It was another fascinating presentation, and demonstrated yet again how advanced the game of football is becoming at the highest level. Given the years of study required to reach Downeys level of knowledge in her field, it was asked why this information was being presented to the coaches, if only at a superficial level. Her response was interesting – she said that having a broad knowledge of the mechanics of training footballers in a sport-specific way allows coaches to have an informed conversation with specialists like her when planning and periodizing their training calendar. Phil Melville, a staff coach for the Irish FA, and Nigel Best, Performance Manager for the Irish FA, delivered the evening session. There were four topics discussed over the course of the lecture: the use of statistics in football, trends in the modern game, blocking at set pieces and zonal marking vs. man-for-man marking at set pieces. I wont go into great detail about the discussions that took place. With 28 passionate, knowledgeable coaches taking the course – as well as the excellent instructors – there were plenty of ideas put forward for debate. No consensus was found on any topic, which only proves that there is more than one way to play the beautiful game. Day two is best summed up by a quote from Alfie Wylie, staff coach for the Irish FA. At the conclusion of our morning lecture, he dismissed the class by saying, "Remember, your mind is like a parachute; it only works when it is open!" ' ' '