The seven metre long jump
My son has been aiming for a seven metre long jump for a couple of years now. It is a really big milestone and he has been moving towards it very gradually. It’s possible that without all the Covid restrictions in 2020 and 2021 he might have got there previously, but we can never be sure. This season, he’d already made it to 6.92 – just one cm short of his PB set last year. His 2020 PB (when there were hardly any...
Cars, Covid and the best laid plans
Isn’t it funny (not in a good way), how outside circumstances constantly change plans? I remember this being a problem when my kids were very little. I learned not to tell them about any plans, so I didn’t have to deal with the inevitable disappointment when somebody got ill and forced our plans to change. It’s also been an issue throughout the Covid pandemic – due to lockdowns, cancellations, people being ill...
Long jump: Start of the 2022 outdoor season
Summer is here, which means the start of the outdoor athletic season and a return to long jump competition for my son. The outdoor season run from April to September, with the key months being May to July. Just as he did with the indoor season, my son had a slightly shaky start to the season. Eventually, I will learn to remember that shaky starts are the norm. Every time he has a not-so-good competition, we wonder if he’s peaked...
Can clever kids be good at sport?
Can clever kids be good at sport? The short answer is yes, of course, they can. There are plenty of ‘clever kids’ in professional sport. Off the top of my head, I can think of Sam Underhill, England rugby player, who went to grammar school and was studying politics and economics at university alongside playing professional rugby. There’s also Polly Swann, Team GB rower, who went straight home from the summer Olympics...
