Thursday 9 May 2013

Interesting stuff (to me)

A few things I pulled from blogs i like.


Life expectancy:

WIth thanks to Danny Green who put me on to the blog of Mike Joyner (http://www.drmichaeljoyner.com ) who i have plagiarized as if a professional copycat. I met Mike when he came to Perth in 2012. He is an extrodinary intellect and a great guy who gets the balance between work, family, life and self time in a way I could only aspire to. His output on all fronts is testament to a man who either doesnt sleep or knows how to focus really well.

 

How about this graph which charts years of life expectancy on the y axis and time from 10000BC to the present on the x axis.

It seems to correlate very well with our travel experience ie there are a lot of people in the world now.

 

Added to this, (you should go to Mikes website) the population pyramids of the early 20th century are gradully fillling out such that the pyramids are becoming a lot more rectangular. In other words there are a lot more middle and older aged folk than there used to be (absolute and percentage).

Luckily for me, he uses Australia as one of his examples so i have already made tables for which i thank him again. Bottom line is that "holy crap" there will soon be a lot of older people who are not working and who will be relying on either a pension or their own savings. The pension is pretty much funded by the younger people who still work. Not sure about the ratio of young to old currently but as that number diminishes, who will be there to pay their taxes to support the aged who, at least in Asutralia, seem to feel the right to governmental support.

Ouch, when you think about it, the pension age was set to 65 at a time when people died about 65 - 75. Now, in Aiustralia the average life expectancy is in the 80s. Pity the poor government who tries to bring in leegislation increasing the pension age.

A further problem comes with longer living and that is more of the chronic health problems we are already seeing. The ones you dont cure but provide significant morbiditiy such as diabetes, obesity, arthritis. The medical cost of looking after your own is going to increase. Who is going to pay?

 

 

A bit about Federer.

I think he is the best player i have ever seen. He is beatable now by Djokovic who moves and returns in a way previously unseen, by Nadal whose has 30% more spin than other tour professionals, power and ability to hit passing shots from the bleachers and Murray who is just so quick.

Thing is, they all seem to try whilst Federer seems a different degree of effortless. his movement is a lesson in coordination. He does'nt smash his forehand, the power seems to come from the ground and up through his racquet.

Here is a link to a New York Times analysis of his movement, It requires flash so cant play on Apple devices which just sucks.

Below is a video that I saw on the Robert Krulwich blog which shows how the Federer serve is exaclty the same to wherever he serves the ball. There is no discernable difference between a serve to the ad court backhand or forehand. Makes it quite hard to read.

 

 

 

Check out this blog to see a similar thing for one of the great baseball pitchers in the game at the moment. Five different pitches, all from the same exit point - wouldnt have thought it was possible.

 

 

 

Wimbledon 2012. Should you have a spare 23 mins then watch this. He is awesome or as one of the commentators says, "delicious". As well as watching his unbelievable movement and balance, I find it interesting to watch the game change as he moves through the rounds and comes up against Djokovich in the semifinals and Murray in the final.

 

 

 

Are we practising the wrong things or at least not all of the right things?

Never ceases to engross me - the effortless power through balance, position and timing. This is the same of all great sportspeople - Kelly Slater, Bruce Lee, Carl Lewis (even if he was a cheat), Shane Gould, Zidane etc etc

If so much is timing, think the torque of Tiger Woods or the Federer backhand, then maybe we should all be practising a lot more balance, posture, position, motion work etc as opposed to the mecahincs of the game itself. The meta game? Feldencrais, yoga, understanding position in space?

Yannick Noah was the first of the Pros to do formalized motion work ie how to move - it got him over the line at the French in 1984 or maybe it was the year before? He wasnt the best by a long shot but his athleticism and movement were key.

 

 

Enough

LD

 

1 comment:

  1. I like it too.... interesting...
    I should get 1p from my UK pension fortnightly when I hit 70 or it might be 75 now... they started increasing the rate... just before we left!!!... by then it will be worth less than a drop of water!!

    And on the other stuff... my scientific study of 1... supports the theory that yoga is indeed amazing for fitness, balance and control whole playing sport- that's why in the absence of structured practice this year I am struggling!!!- my excuse anyway...

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