Like a phoenix ...

Like a phoenix from the ashes, like the kraken from the deep, like yeast in a good sourdough, we will rise!!!

The last six months have seen lots of change and challenge for your intrepid Texas team. Many miles, games and milestones have come and gone. You will simply have to take our word, the season happened. For some of us the off season has begun, like it or not. Now comes the time to regroup, rebuild and reacquaint ourselves with our goals.

BUT! Before all that heavy lifting and soul searching, something fun. Over the next week or so we will introduce you to all the new throwers who picked up Highland Games in our area. There will be pictures and intro articles to the handful of new ladies in our region. After which we will return you to your regularly scheduled games reviews, rants and raves about products, lifting and conditioning advice  and the occasional musings of WHY we do this thing.

Dublin TX Highland Games & St. Patrick’s Day Festival

The little town of Dublin TX (Irish Capitol of Texas, so says Rick Perry!) is the site of the Dublin Highland Games. This year we got to throw on Saturday the 17th, St. Patricks Day itself.

Dublin is a small town with a huge heart; the people are out in droves at the parade and fairgrounds. Everything is done up in green, from the painted shamrocks on the intersections, festival signs, streamers and all the fabulous dressed up in their best Irish outfits. Lots of good food, fun and frivolity, and even historical re-enactment!

It was a beautiful day, not too sunny, little wind and no rain; it couldn’t have been a more suitable day for throwing. There was a big class, for the men and masters divisions. The women’s class was 4 throwers, and it was an excellent showing for the ladies.

As always the festival atmosphere at Dublin is great, with a crowd of people always moving in and around the throwers, hooting and hollering for the big throws and everyone loves the caber toss. Dave and Nancy (who also host the Salado Highland Games) do an amazing job and make the day easy and enjoyable.

I was very pleased with my throwing that day, and picked up some good scores as my sheaf is coming together, and my stones are moving in the right direction (i.e. farther away from me!). The best part is always the people, spending a day with the fun Highland games people makes all the travel worth while and enjoying a laugh with everyone is the best part of the day.

The drive home reminded me that Texas is a surprisingly beautiful place.

Vincent Brothers Clinic - Feb 25

Vincent Brother Clinic – Fort Worth Texas
Feb 25, 2012

The newly turned professional Highland Games Brothers. Andy and Matt Vincent put on an amazing Highland Games Throwing Clinic in Fort Worth, Texas, Saturday Feb 25. It was held in conjunction with the Noth Texas Heavies Kickoff Games.

The Saturday clinic was an all day affair with a good crowd that had a variety of experience. There were brand new - never thrown in games before people, all the way up to Competitive A men’s throwers years of competition under their belt. Andy and Matt Vincent are lifelong athletes with an extensive background in sports, and their guidance over the day showed that they have amassed a wealth of knowledge about movement, speed, power and how to get the most out of what you have.

The day started in order of the classic events. Stones, weights for distance, hammers. Then cabers, followed by the height events, weight over bar and sheaf.

Personally speaking, it was the most useful day that I have spent learning and exploring what to do with the implements for Highland Games. I was totally gassed the next day for the competition, but it was worth the sacrifice for what I learned. Seeing the different styles of Open stone movement that they discussed with each person really gave me the sense that Matt and Andy were taking into consideration each individuals ability. Personalized attention of that detailed nature is rare is a mass setting and I think it really demonstrates their eye for explosive movement and throwing, as well as the fact that they really wanted everyone to get something from them that day.

I got a great view into how a power athlete looks at the events, some different stances to try and I really made some massive improvements in all events. I am excited to see this carry on into my season. I can’t wait for the next clinic so that I can get some more lessons and refine my throws some more.

Andy and Matt placed 1 & 2 in their first Pro games in Phoenix, AZ last weekend. Congratulations to them both and another nod to them for putting on this amazing clinic.

Matt can be found HERE on the interwebs.
Andy can be watched HERE doing his thing.

Season Opener in Texas: North TX Kickoff Games & Clinic

First Games of the Season are at the end of this month!




The North Texas Kickoff Games in Ft. Worth, TX.


The North Texas Heavies are putting on their season Opener the Kick Off Games in Ft. Worth at the Zoo Park on Feb 26, 2012. Saturday, Feb 25th, they are hosting a clinic put on by the Vincent Brothers, who are some pretty outstanding throwers! I am personally really pumped to hear what they have to say.


The North TX crew are pretty much experts at putting on an amazing games. I have never had a bad moment at any games these fine fellows (and their partners) have put on. The judges are great, everything is set up, the swag is sweet, and the food is awesome. It’s a pretty amazing set up, plus, the lions at the zoo occasionally like to let it be known that they are just beyond the trees!

Vincent Brothers Clinic:
When: Saturday, Feb 25th
Where: Forest Park, Fort Worth, TX
Time: 9am sharp

Kick Off Games:
When: Sunday Feb 26
Where: Forest Park, Fort Worth, TX
Time: 9am sharp

If you haven’t signed up for the clinic or the games and you want to (and why wouldn't you want to)– please contact: Mark Cannon or Duncan McCallum at info@northtexasheavies.com or call Mark at 1-214-675-2829.

The entry form is at the bottom of the upcoming event page.




http://www.northtexasheavies.com/Upcoming_Events.html

SWOT - post 2

More on goal setting, and Brittney was kind enough to send in her SWOT for us to have a look at and go over in terms of helping us with goal setting. Reading hers made me have a second look at mine, and a fresh perspective on where I need to shore up my SWOT and where I need to dive in deeper.

I think that Brittney has done a great job of getting her SWOT together, she has put in some good Opportunities and Threats. We both need to add in weather to the threats, as in the heat of the Texas summer +100 degrees is common and that is pretty tough to get training in.

I also think that her weaknesses are well thought-out and clear, however.... like most women. I don't think that she gives enough credit to her strengths.

Decent strength and Decent technique is too vague. Brittney has done a few more years of Highland Games then I have, so I think that she can do some better self critiquing then this. In Fact, so can I.

That is the meat of it right there. Strength + technique (and some speed) are pretty much how you get the weights to fly in this sport. :)

So, homework assignment for me and Brittney is to get deeper into where we are strong, where we are weak, where we are fast, where we are slow, where we have good technique and where we have poor technique. We should do this for each event. Sound good B? You know where to reach me! :)

Then, we will be able to help ourselves focus our training on those weaknesses in the next set of goal setting... the SMART goals!

How to prep for the Zombie Apocalypse

Have you ever caught yourself saying this, “I am fit, I work out, why is this so hard? There is no way I could survive the zombie apocalypse in this condition!”  I found myself muttering this to myself and decided to ask older wiser lions what else I needed to work on to ensure my survival in the face of our inevitable invasion of brain munchers. Seems I missed a memo that all those gurus already knew about, making them worth the proverbial trip up the mountain of knowledge. Color me the humble acolyte when I learned what I was missing was GPP – General Physical Preparedness.

 

SWOT - Goal Setting 1

As we enter into 2012 and the season is starting – or has started depending on where you are in the world, we are going to have a little look at Self Analysis and Goal Setting and how it can help in the Highland Games season.

In this post we are going to look at the SWOT Analysis (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats) evaluation tool, which is also used frequently in business and athletics/sports. We will cover S.M.A.R.T (Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time Sensitive) in the next blog post as the second step to this goal setting extravaganza!