UNCONVENTIONAL

A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO...

ALTERNATIVE SPORTS FOR STUDENTS

ISSUE 001 - DECEMBER 2011

Photo by LOVEUltimate

UNCONVENTIONAL

CONTENTS:PAGES 1 & 2:A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO... ULTIMATE FRISBEEBY FRASER KNOTT

PAGES 3 & 4:A BEGINNERS GUIDE

TO... GOLFBY JACK BRAMHALL

PAGES 5 & 6:A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO... FISHINGBY EDWARD WATSON

PAGES 7 & 8:A BEGINNERS GUIDE

TO... CROQUETBY JACK KELLY

Photo by Morning Calm News

FK: “How long do games last?”

JL: “Anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour usually. Time capped games tend to be 50 minutes roughly. If one team is beating another quite easily, they tend to end quite quickly.”

FK: “How big are the playing fields?”

JL: “The standard field size is 64m long with two 23m long end zones on each end, and 37m wide. For seven a side it’s the perfect size. If you’re play-ing an indoor game however, or on a park or beach, where you have less people playing, the field should be a lot smaller.”

FK: “Is there a regulation disc that must be used?”

JL:: “They must be 175 grams, and white plastic is better than the colored ones. I think you usually have to order them, or buy them at tournaments. That’s what I do anyway.”

FK: “What other kind of equipment do you need? Like, knee pads or helmets?”

JL: “Cleats or football boots are useful; if you want to be fast and able to make sharp cuts, you need them. Equipment usu-ally depends on how competi-tive your team is. I see some teams with really expensive strips, but you don’t need knee pads, you’ll see a lot of padding on injuries though.”

FK: “What kind of penalties are there?”

JL: “There are fouls such as pushing or tripping, but there are “picks” - which is when you get cut off from the per-son you’re defending. It’s the same as in basketball, but it’s illegal in Ultimate. There are also travels, which is when you move your pivot foot when you have the disc.For most of these penalties, play stops, and the disc is returned to whoever threw it before the penalty happened.”

FK: “What would be the best way, for some one interested in playing Ultimate to start?”

JL: For some one at university, showing interest in the universi-ty team would be easiest; they will help you out with training, and teach you all the rules and technicalities of the game. I definitely recommend sticking with your university team if you want to get into it seriously.”

FK: “Finally, what would you say is the best part?”

JL: “It’s the sportsmanship of the game. I play rugby and the respect for other players is completely different in Ulti-mate, even when competition becomes intense, every one re-spects each other and just has fun, it makes it a joy to play”

So, for those newly converted Leeds Met Ultimate fans out there, and for anyone inter-ested, visit leedsmet.ac.uk for further details and information on the Leeds Met team.

ULTIMATE FRISBEE

A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO...

Photography by San Diego Shooter Photography by San Diego Shooter

A beginners guide to…Ultimate Frisbee

By Fraser Knott

The game of Ultimate, of-ten referred to as “Ultimate Frisbee” or “Disc”, is a game played with a flying disc, where the object of the game is to score points by passing the disc to a player in the opposing end zone, similar to an end zone in American football or rugby. Players can not run with the disc, and can only move one foot (known as a pivot) while holding the disc. It is a profes-sional sport played in more than 42 countries by hundreds of thousands of men, women and children.

According to the Ultimate Play-ers Association website, the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association estimates that in 2008 over 5,000,000 people participated in the sport in the US and UK, and was included in the World Games for the first time as a full medal sport in 2001.

While most league team members usually range be-tween the ages of 20-30 it can be played by any one in de-cent shape and health, and has taken the college and universi-ty sports team sector by storm over the last few years, with Leeds Metropolitan themselves recently investing in a team.

I caught up with York first team member, Jack Law, who gave me the low down on Ultimate. We spoke of training, getting started, rules, regulations, and tips to get you lost in the world of Ultimate.

FK: “For those unfamiliar with Ultimate, and for those wanting to start, how do you play?”

JL: “Play starts with the defen-sive team in their end zone and the offensive team lined up on their end zone line. The defen-sive team player throwing the disc raises a hand to begin play. A player on the receiving team raises a hand to signal and play begins. The defensive

team then throws the disc to the other team, like a kickoff in American football. Once a player catches the disc or the disc is picked up, the player must come to a stop and have one foot planted until they throw the disc to another play-er. The player has ten seconds to pass the disc, and this count must be counted by a defensive player near to the offensive player. If the offense unsuc-cessfully passes the disc in the 10 second “stall” the defensive team becomes the offensive team and takes possession of the disc at the spot the previ-ous thrower was standing.”

FK: “How do you score?”

JL: “Goals are scored by a team successfully passing to a player located in the defensive end zone. After a goal, or “score”, the team switches their direc-tion of attack and the scoring team pulls.The game continues until a team reaches 15 points with a two-point win over their opponents, or until a team-reaches 17 points.”

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A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO...

G LF

I am a rugby player, when it comes to sports I am all about power and strength. Tech-nique is something that I lack. Perfect then I write an article detailing how to get started in golf.

Golf is a traditional club and ball sport. The players take it in turns to use different types of clubs to hit a small ball into consecutive holes in the lowest amount of strokes. Golf is unlike most sports as it does not have a designated play area; each hole at each golf course you visit will be different and will require a different style of play. This is one of the many reasons golf is so popular as it always of-fers a new challenge.

How to get started:

The mistake I made, and I am told most people also make, is getting all the gear and heading out straight onto the golf course.Golf is a highly technical sport and requires practice before taking the plunge. I

recommend heading to a local driving range before setting foot on the local golf course.

The driving range is useful for beginners as you can learn to perfect your swing, the big-gest factor in how you will play. It also gives you the feel for certain clubs and how they strike the ball. It is use-ful for you to get a feel for certain clubs before purchas-ing anything as gold clubs can be expensive.

After a while you will have developed your swing, and will understand the game a little bit more, next comes the equipment, and there is a huge world of gadgets and gizmos that will apparently boost your game, but for now we will stick to the very ba-sics required to play you first round of golf.

Equipment:

Golf balls- The balls used in golf are iconic, and every-body will have seen one dur-ing their lifetime. They come

in many different colours, but do have to stick to certain regula-tions regarding their material and size, so make sure you are only using legal balls.

Tee- A tee is a plastic or wooden, little stand for your ball, you can only use this for your first shot on the hole. It is used to lift the ball up from the ground so the driver can be used to hit the ball a good distance.

Clubs: Clubs are the biggest and probably the most important part about your equipment, and be-cause they aren’t cheap I will look at just the bare essentials that you will need.

• A driver. The driver is generally the club you take your first shot from the tee with. They have large heads and allow you to hit the ball the furthe st distance. The driver comes under the “woods” section of your clubs, due to the club traditionally being made from, you guessed it, wood. Nowadays materials like alumini-um and carbon fibre are used as a substitute.

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Drivers vary greatly in price from about £50 up to £200 and even more. For a beginner the cheaper the better. Golf is a serious game so until you know that it is for you, cheaper equipment will be the best idea.

• Irons. Irons as the name suggested we traditionally always made of iron. Irons will be the clubs used the most on the fairways by the player. In a full bag there will be lots of numbered iron clubs. Each club has a different angle on the club face. A 1 iron has the lowest loft and the longest shaft, while the 9 iron is the shorted and has the highest loft. For a beginner a 5 iron and a 7 iron will suffice. This will give the beginner a good mix for shorter and longer shots on the fairways of the course. Irons often come in large sets, so it is recommend-ed to see if you can get your hands on these two irons sec-ond hand, so you don’t waste your money on a big

golf club set.

• Pitching wedge. The pitch-ing wedge is another iron club, and is technically the 10 iron. It is a multi-purpose club, that doesn’t hit as far as the other clubs but give a high lob to your shot, allow-ing the golfer to hit the ball high over certain obstacles. There are a few different types of wedges available to a golfer, how-ever for a beginner the pitching wedge is the best choice as it is a jack of all trades when it comes to short shots for the player, and for hitting the ball out of dangers such as bunkers.

• Putter. Probably the most important club in your bag, with-out it your short game will be non-existent. The putter is used when you get the ball onto the green. Greens are notoriously tricky, the grass is very short and the ball moves very fast along it. The put-ter is only ever used on the green and rather than hitting the ball, it is more of a tap, the ball then rolls along the green and hopefully into the hole.

Where to play?

Being a beginner at golf can be a very daunting feeling. You have to go and play at golf clubs, where some members are very good, and some clubs can feel slightly elitist, this is something that should not de-ter the beginner. I spoke to the manager of a local golf club in Leeds Chris James about being a beginner at golf;

“A lot of people get really intimidated by golf clubs, they often see the clubs as particu-larly elitist, but this is untrue, there are a number of golf clubs which can be restrictive in their membership policies, but there are a huge amount of options around locally, wherever you live. My best ad-vice is to find a municipal golf course locally and get a feel for a real golf course, then if you do enjoy it and want to continue think about joining a club, they can be expensive but the courses you get to play on are vastly superior”

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A legal requirement for all fishermen in the UK is that they have a valid Rod Licence. But how do you get one and what happens if you don’t have one?You don’t need any training to attain one and they can be purchased from your local post of-fice. The price will vary depending on your age and what type of fishing you are doing.A full season licence runs from April 1 to March 31 and always expires then! For Non-Migratory Trout and Course fishing this will cost you £27 but for Salmon and Sea Trout fishing the price rises to £72. It’s unlikely

you will need the latter if you’re just starting out, however.If the £27 is putting you off having a go do not worry. A day licence can be purchased for just £3.75 or an eight-day licence for just £10.

But what happens if you don’t have a licence and go fishing anyway? The punishments are rather hefty and they include a fine of up to £2,500 and some cases have seen people banned from fishing.So, make sure you’ve got your Rod Licence or receipt on you when you go fishing or you could end up in trouble.

FISHINGA BEGINNERS GUIDE TO

Michael Banks is a 27 year old fisherman from Droitwich Spa,Worcestershire.

How I got startedThe first time I went fishing I went with my dad when I was about eight years old. We went to The Herriot’s Fishing Pools in Droitwich and I remember it so well because I hooked a beast on my first go.It was a carp, and when you’re eight years old and you feel the rod bending over, and the fish is a good few pounds it’s a good ex-perience. It was a bit of a strug-gle getting it because of my age but I did. It was probably about three or four pounds so it was a de-cent sized fish. Obviously I didn’t expect to hook into something like that on my first go but I did.I was only using beginner tackle; a rod, thin line, small hooks and I was fishing on maggots which is an easier bait to use when you

learn to fish because you can catch more variety of fish on it.

Best experienceWhen I went night fishing once with a friend of mine we caught around 150lbs of fish. We spent all afternoon chucking loads of ground bait in and we fished a method feeder. A method feeder is just a feeder which is about a hook length and you leave it next to your ground bait so that when the fish feed off the lumps of ground bait they actually hook themselves on the hook because it’s so short.We were fishing with that through the night and we absolutely smashed it. We used more spe-cialist bait than maggots; things like luncheon meat, sweetcorn and boilies. Carp fishing’s not quite as amateur; you’ll fish for anything when you’re starting out.

Favourite fish.I like fishing for all of them but when you go carp fishing you’re guarantee a few decent fish. But when I started out fishing any fish was a buzz when you see your float go under. I use different techniques now but when I started I used a stick float but now I’d use ledgers.

I’ve caught a few big fish in my time. The biggest carp I’ve weighed was 13lbs but I’ve probably had one which was about 16lbs. I’m still waiting to catch a twenty pounder!

Favourite type of fishing.I like all types of fishing; I just love the anticipation of not knowing what you’re going to catch next.Night fishing is always good be-cause you can set up in the after-noon and then there aren’t many other people around to take the fish. You can just go through the night and carry on through the morning and into the next day.

If I could change one thing about fishing.Since I started the price of fish-ing has gone up a lot. If I had to change one thing in particu-lar it would be the rod licence that you have to have to fish.When I started you never need-ed one, you could fish anywhere you liked and it didn’t matter. Now though, you’ve got to have a rod licence and if they catch you without one you’re going to be fined thousands of pounds.To me, the whole industry has just become focussed towards money.

Why mess about with rods and reels when you can just as eas-ily take up Pole Fishing? Getting started couldn’t be easier. All you need is a few basic bits of kit available for less than £20!

What will you need?

Get Yourself a Rod Licence!

Pole: Also known as ‘whips’ when referring to smaller poles are best for beginners at either three or five metres. A smaller pole is much easier to control than a longer one and is also far cheaper.

Price: A three metre pole will cost you around £10.

Floats and Rig: These are what sit in the water and will catch the fish. They connect easily to the end of the pole and when you have a catch you will see the float move on top of the water. This is your cue to pull your fish in.

Price: The Drennan Tuff Eye Ready Made Pole Rigs are very popular and available for between £2.50 and £4.

Bait: Bait is simple. For your first time all you need is a few maggots to stick on the hook at the end of your rig and you’re away.

What next?All that’s left for you to do now is try it out for yourself. But don’t forget, fishing is a sport that

contains many different styles and many different techniques. It’s a learn-ing experience – often a very enjoyable one as well – and the more you have a go the more you’ll learn what works and what doesn’t. Enjoy!

Getting Hooked: It’s cheap as chips!

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Michael Banks: An insider’s view of fishing

CROQUET

It was a sport that originated from England officially in 1856. Although it started off as very popular it has over the last one hundred years been moved aside as the rise of popu-lar sports such as tennis has helped push croquet down in attractiveness. However there is still a market out there for this forgotten sport, and it easy easily accessible and cheap to be a part of regard-less of your age or gender. The basics of the game are that you have to use a mallet to hit balls through a hoop and in do-ing this overcoming your chal-lenger.

The brilliance of croquet is that not only are you outside and using physical skills, you are also challenging your mind and constantly making tacti-cal decisions in order to defeat your opponent. At the very top level you can often be thinking over ten moves ahead of the current one, whereas at a low-er level you are also constantly thinking about potential future moves that will help you win the game. Roger Berkeley who

is a spokesperson for the Not-tingham Croquet Club likened the game to a ‘mixture of chess and putting’ in relation to the tactical planning that is involved in chess and the precise placement that is used in putting.

Although it mainly attracts the older generation amongst the casual players, the majority of world class competitors are part of a younger crowd, and unlike many sports you could face the prospect of seeing a twenty year old versus some-one over seventy and due to the handicap scoring and physi-cal nature of it, it can create an even, exciting match up. The Nottingham Croquet club’s best player is a twenty year old Australian player who started out at a young age; however another one of the top players is a ninety year old who plays constantly with the use of his cunning wit and craftiness to add humour and skill to this tactical sport.

The potential of croquet is also on the rise as of late due to

university participation. Ox-ford University recently held a croquet trial that was attended by a large amount of students and others are expected to follow this trend. Its popular-ity amongst universities such as Oxford is vital to the success of securing the future of the sport, and making it popular with the younger generation that so far mainly idolise the larger sports of football and rugby.

I recently attended the Man-chester Croquet Youth Club who seemed very excited about the prospect of a maga-zine that promotes the lesser known sports such as croquet. The group leader Cathy shared my enthusiasm by stating “We are all very passionate about it too! I am also trying to pro-mote the game and another group has been set up as a result.” Cathy also went on to say that the majority of mem-bers are over sixty, however to help attract younger perfor-mances the group that she has set up also plays indoor games such as ‘dominoes, chess,

cards etc...’These games are all very closely related with croquet as it helps develop skills in the mind where you have to beat your opponent by constantly thinking about tactics and future moves.

Unlike most sports that you start out in croquet is not a massive financial burden, you can get a complete beginners set for under £30 and you can play it from on a professional court to in your back garden. You can also use the serious and tactical approach to the game or you can use it as a casual sport like darts or pool, by playing to kill a few hours here or there, or even doing what students do best by turn-ing in to a drinking game; beat-ing your mates is never better when at the end of it they are seeing of another pint.

The rules of the game vary from different match types, but the main type is the ba-sic you set up your own balls to win the game and get the most points, however there are always tactics to a game

like this and on occasions it is renowned for getting extreme-ly competitive, as you can delay the game tremendously by using negative tactics and block of your opponents from scoring. Unlike sports like golf where you are purely playing for yourself in croquet you can be playing that game but you can counter the our opponent quite easily if that is your set out game plan.

With major universities like Oxford paying a newly found interest in this underrated sport, croquet can surely only be on the up. It can be a fun casual game, a great tacti-cal game, and can be played anywhere where you can put a hoop to the ground. If you want to learn and go competi-tive there are numerous cro-quet cubs around the country that after speaking to are extremely eager to get the younger generation in to come and compete with the ‘old war hogs that are more than ready to compete with the youth of today’.

5 Interesting Facts aboutCroquet

1. Croquet is believed to have its origins in 17th-century palle-maille, a game often played in London’s Pall Mall. It has been said that only tobac-co smoke spread faster through the British Empire.

2. The most common form of the game is Association Cro-quet, which is the interna-tional version of the sport and is played by the majority of tournament croquet players.

3. Six of the top ten players in the world are English

4. Croquet was the first out-door sport to allow both sexes to play against each other on a level playing field.

5. Pictures of then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescot playing at his official resi-dence, Dorneywood, in 2006 while supposedly running the country prompted a 300 per cent surge in sales of croquet sets at Asda.

A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO... CROQUET

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