Cristiano Ronaldo is tested to the limit in this new 60-minute film.

Every aspect of Ronaldo’s game will put pushed to the max when he takes on a series of challenges put together by Castrol EDGE.

This is a very interesting video with sports scientists from all over the world exploring why Cristiano Ronaldo is such a highly talented and successful sportsman. The part where the scientists tracked his vision while trying to dribble the ball past an opponent is extremely applicable to floorball. Equally intriguing was how he was able to predict the flight path of the ball in total darkness and score, just by observing how the person is about to cross the ball.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure, beyond measure.

I’ma show you, how great I am.

Last night I cut the light off in my bedroom, hit the switch, and was in the bed before the room was dark.

I’ma show you, how great I am.

Only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick, I’m so mean I make medicine sick.

I’ma show you, how great I am.

This kid’s gonna be the best kid in the world.
This kid’s gonna be somebody better than anybody I ever knew.

I’ma show you, how great I am.

I have wrestled with an alligator, I have tussled with a whale, I have handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail.

I’ma show you, how great I am.

All you chumps are gonna bow when I whoop him, all of you, I know you got him, I know you’ve got him picked, but the man’s in trouble, I’ma show you how great I am.

But somewhere along the line you changed, you stopped being you.
You let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you’re no good, and when things got hard, you started looking for something to blame, like a big shadow.
Let me tell you something you already know, the world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows, it’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it.
You, me, or nobody, is gonna hit as hard as life; but it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take and keep moving forward.
That’s how winning is done.

‘Cause if you’re willing to go through all the battling you gotta go through to get to where you wanna get, who’s got the right to stop you?
I mean maybe some of you guys got something you never finished, something you really want to do, something you never said to somebody, something.
And you’re told not even after you pay your dues, who’s got the right to tell you that, who? Nobody.
It’s your right to listen to your gut, it ain’t nobody’s right to say no, after you earn the right to be where you want to be and do what you want to do.

Now if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth.
But you’ve gotta be willing to take the hits.
And not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody.
Cowards do that and that ain’t you!
You’re better than that!

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

All you chumps are gonna bow when I whoop him, all of you, I know you got him, I know you’ve got him picked, but the man’s in trouble, I’ma show you how great I am.

“I once heard a story about 2 farmers, who desperately needed rain. Both of them prayed for rain, but only one of them went out and prepared his field to receive it. Which one do you think trusted God to send the rain?”

“The one who prepared his field for it.”

“Which one are you? God will send the rain when He’s ready. You need to prepare your field to receive it.”

This was taken from a dialogue in the movie, Facing The Giants. I find it very meaningful even if you are not a believer.

We train hard everyday, to prepare for our competition. We practised all sorts of different scenarios without knowing whether they will really happen. We do all this because when the situation finally arrive, we will be prepared for it.

Are you prepared?

The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.

Socrates (470 – 399 BC)

Is this you?

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking,
so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine as children do.
It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own lights shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

Perhaps we should all find time to watch this movie together some day.

Last Thursday, I proposed to my team that I treat them to cinema on Saturday so they could catch a movie. Now I did not realize that the watching-movie culture is totally nonexistent and the average China citizen has no urge for their boss to spend RMB30 per person on a movie ticket when pirated DVD’s are freely available for RMB4 per disc.

So instead, they asked me to bring them to go pa shan or hill hiking. And they didn’t want to climb any hill, they chose the tallest hill in Dongguan. All I had to do was ensure that I treated all of them to a nice lunch after we came down from the hill.

To make matters worse, I went drinking on Friday night because I felt like life was nothing but a bleak empty lie and ended up waking up on Saturday morning with a headache and generally felt like shit.

When I got to the foot of the hill, everybody had already arrived. Jokes were cracked about how their obviously unfit boss was even going to make it up half-way. I looked at the damned hill and a cold clammy claw of fear gripped my heart when I realized that I was in over my head.

So I decided if I was going to fail in front of my people, I might as well try to climb as high as possible before I collapsed into a comatose state from exhaustion. With this in mind, I took off and started running up the trail.

*puff puff*
Oh look a lake with swans
*wheeze*
I knew I shouldn’t have had that last pint of beer
*pant pant*
Nice flowers
*wheeze wheeze*
Damn, what stocks in my portfolio do I need to ditch?
*helpicantbreathemychestissotight*

And suddenly (well actually about 1 hour later), I was at the top of the hill. I had made it to the top, and all my young and fit folk were far far away. When they arrived about 20 minutes later looking very exhausted and pale, it must have been quite a sight, as I stood on the peak looking fresh and eating a croissant.

For croissants are rare in China, understand?

Over lunch, nobody made any remarks about the boss being unfit. Another manager, who was supposed to be fit did not even make it up to top, opting to go home instead at some point. Overall, I think they were all extremely exhausted, having completely underestimated how physically punishing hiking was on the human body.

I knew I couldn’t afford to look like a fool in front of my people, so I ran right ahead and that fear pushed me all the way to the top. In fact, when I reached the top of the hill, I actually mistakenly thought I was only halfway up because I perceived the hill as being really high and that I couldn’t do it because I lacked self-confidence (and stamina).

Life is a little like that. Most of the time, if you want something then you have to find something to motivate you to go and get it. 90% of the people never get what they really want, because they are too lazy or overconfident.

To succeed in life, you have to push yourself by finding something to motivate you. Fear seems to be good. Hunger also works. Fear of being poor all your life. Hungry for the better things in life that always seem out of your grasp. Anybody can do it. Few do.

What do you really want?

Everyone of you will grow up to become men one day, but not everyone will become leaders, or successful leaders. Some for their entire lives never even come close, while others tried and think they have made it only to understand the tip of the iceberg.

Me? I haven’t even reached the tip yet.

However, there is nothing to stop us all from trying, learning, failing, and doing it all over again. And that is life. Some succeed, the rest just take a longer time. It is a lifelong process.

So why not begin now?

I want to become a better player.
I want to become stronger/faster.
I want to win the championship.

What is your vision of success? The image is different for each of us. Even more so, setting goals is more than making the above vague statements. It means creating a written plan that includes reasonable and measurable long-term and short-term objectives. It means setting SMART goals.

Specific
The goal should be as specific as possible. A goal of becoming stronger is not specific. A goal of becoming the top scorer in the competition is specific. Even better is to set a specific target of 1 assist in every game.

Measurable
To be effective, the goal must be measurable. Obviously, scoring 5 goals is measurable, whereas becoming a better player is not measurable as stated. If your goal is truly lies in simply becoming better, identify some aspects that are measurable. Perhaps being able to score from 10 metres 90% of the time with a drag shot, or being able to connect passes to and from your teammates 80% of the time would be appropriate.

Achievable
There’s an art to goal setting that revolves around the goal’s difficulty. A goal too easy is not energizing. A goal too difficult seems hopeless. It goes to say that the goal has to be challenging enough for you to have to put in considerable effort to achieve them. Are you able to visualize yourself reaching the goal? Are you energized by seeing the vision? If both of these are not present, review your goals again.

Realistic
Do you have the knowledge, skill set, and competency to reach your goal? If your goal involves goal scoring, do you know the basic techniques, the different methods of shooting, and how to move to a goal scoring position? If not, perhaps your first goal should be to become competent in these areas.

Time
Setting a deadline provides necessary positive tension to give you the energy to get on with it. The time frame you select should be realistic. Being able to get 90% of your shots on target from 10 metres after 2 weeks is realistic, whereas trying to get 100% shot accuracy within a day is not only unrealistic but puts unnecessary pressure on yourselves.

Get started today by determining what you want. Once you know what you want, you are ready to create your goals. Start with your long-term objectives. These are things you want to accomplish by the end of the year. Next, establish short-term goals. These include monthly, weekly and even daily targets that will move you toward your long-term objectives.

Be careful not to push yourself too hard or too fast. While successful people know you have to stretch your talents to grow, they also know it’s important to set reasonable goals. Always be your own best friend. Never set yourself up for failure.

The first step to success is knowing where you want to go. The second step is having a plan to get there. Your goals are your road map. Follow them and you’ll be well on your way.

After all, not every player respond in the same way and some definitely require a little bit of prodding to help them progress.

At least that is what I believe in.

A big part of team dynamics revolves around the common goal of the team, and the common agreement on how everyone should work together to achieve this goal.

Unfortunately, this is exactly what is sorely lacking in the team.

In terms of the program and the quality of the methods used in training, we are definitely one of the best. However, players fail to observe and appreciate these and focus too much on their own pleasures and wants, instead of the team as a whole.

“Physical training is tiring, I’ll just slack off for a bit. No one will be able to tell. Only this time because I’m too tired.”

Your teammates are tired, the entire team is tired, the coach is tired. By slacking off for that bit, you are deceiving the team and the coach, who had trusted you in the first place. And unconsciously, that one bit that has gone unnoticed will result in you slacking off more often, and over time, these will accumulate into something significant, and the team will eventually find out when you constantly lag behind the rest. By then, it might already be too late to salvage the situation.

“My friends are going out for __________ (insert favourite activity), it won’t matter that I skip just one training. I’ll train doubly hard the next time.”

Firstly, it is not fair that your teammates are training hard every session and you are out somewhere enjoying yourself. Secondly, the team needs to train together to improve on team cohesiveness and chemistry, by not being around, everyone else will understand each other on court that little bit better while you will be the one who is going to be disadvantaged. Lastly, no matter how hard you train the next time, you will never be able to compensate because you can never perform at 200% for the entire training session.

“Coach is not here, I can slack off and he will not be able to know.”

This is a very common misconception that the coach will never find out what he does not see. He may not know for that one time, but as mentioned, such slacking off will accumulate and the results will show for themselves. He may not be around for you to see, but he does not have to be around to actually watch you. It is not what you do when the coach is around, it is what you do when no one is around that matters most. Your actions will also provide information about your character, which will probably be reflected on court, to the coach. Discipline and integrity are important values which the coach places high emphasis on, and it will never be compromised.

Every action that you do has its consequences. Your negative body actions may hurt another teammate unwittingly. A less than 100% effort will influence the rest to follow suit. A goal conceded by the defenders could be the result of the forwards not focusing on their task of pressing their opponents into making mistakes.

What is important here is that teammates must be able to push each other to become faster and stronger, physically, technically and tactically. You should not rely on someone else to push you. Take initiative, take ownership of the team, do your part to encourage each other, and put in your best individually to become better for yourself, and thereafter for the TEAM.

In “Total Floorball”, any player who moves out of his position is replaced by another within the team such that the team’s intended organizational structure is retained. In this fluid system, no player is fixed in his nominal role. Anyone can be a forward, defender or centre.

The success of this tactical theory depends largely on the adaptability of each player within the team, particularly the ability to quickly change positions depending on the situation. Players must be comfortable in multiple positions, putting high technical and physical demands on them.

Imagine a scenario where your team defender has possession of the ball in your corner. The ball gets passed around until a forward receives the ball in the position of the last man, who then launches the ball down to the original defender who had moved up to a scoring position and shoots first time into goal. Similarly, should the defender miss the shot and possession is lost, the team would still feel safe with the forward in the role of a defender.

It is unrealistic to expect junior players to be competent in all areas and that means specialization takes place at an early stage. In a way, it forces the player to excel in a particular department and makes coaching more effective, given the limited time available to school children nowadays. However, the player would not be able to mature into a complete player over time, especially when floorball is such a fast paced and intense sport. It would indeed be a luxury if a coach can have at his disposal, players who can provide different options in all positions on the court.

Nevertheless, this is a concept that is extremely attractive to myself and I would hope to be able to experience this either as a player or as a coach someday.