I received my copy of The Sport and Exercise Scientist in the post today, and gave the cover the usual cursory glance. My scan picked up an interesting question: "Is studying anxiety interpretations useful for sport and exercise psychologists?". So I thumbed through and found a rather interesting debate between two sport psychologists, staged by email and reprinted for the benefit of others. The debate gave me heart and caused me frustration, because while it opened up an important avenue for research and practice, they both missed the fact that a theory has been in place for over 25 years that adequately addresses all of the issues raised. That theory is Reversal Theory (Apter).

Imagine the scene. It is the future, and scientists have learned how to 'read' human DNA with such accuracy that they are able to predict our future health, as well as the careers that will be most suited to our abilities. The genetically elite are identified early and groomed for lives of leadership and brilliance. The biologically impoverished are relegated to the performance of the most menialtasks.

Anxieties over childrens safety and wellbeing are understandable, and it is only right that parents and teachers are mindful of potential dangers. But children need to be able to take acceptable risks in an environment that allows them to extend their abilities and confidence. If children are deprived of these experiences they will not learn to handle the risks that they are certain to meet as they make their way through life.

Nice post by mental coach Emma James, on how working with Nepalese Olympic Committee forced her to think about herself.

I'm astounded at what is clearly a reaction to hypnosis based on a complete ignorance of the facts. Firstly, to suggest that hypnosis detracts from the players being "who they are and what they are" and "It may give kids a mixed message if you can't do it on your own." is complete nonsense - if you're saying players shouldn't use mental training to improve at their sport, then surely they shouldn't be doing physical training either? According to this odd logic, getting the players fitter or bulking them up already suggests they can't do it on their own!

After Michael Phelps was exposed by the News of the World this Sunday as a pot smoking fiend and all-round danger to society, the blogosphere has been positively throbbing with "BongGate" posts.

As a Liverpool FC fan, it was disappointing but inevitable that Robbie Keane left Anfield yesterday. The papers today suggest it was a poor decision by manager Rafael Benitez, but a decision to move from one organisation to another is always a joint decision by both employer and employee - so 50/50 for that one.

After a few days of total "energy work" rest and some improvement of my labirynthitis, I resumed the experiment.Today I believe I chose the best sequence: breathing exercises, seated meditation, zhan zhuang and, in the end, mental rehearsal.

Of all of the decisions parents face regarding their children's future, choosing between shoulder pads or running shoes for their Christmas present seems trivial. Well, according to Kevin Reilly, president of Atlas Sports Genetics, this is a decision you should not take lightly."If you wait until high school or college to find out if you have a good athlete on your hands, by then it will be too late," he said in a recent New York Times interview. "We need to identify these kids from 1 and up, so we can give the parents some guidelines on where to go from there."

Water polo is one of eight sports yet to have its funding for 2012 decided. UK Sport have said that no sport will be cast adrift -but with current funding levels water polo has already been drowned. Only sports which are 'competitive' will have a place in the Games but how can a team sport achieve the required standard with a budget that does not allow the current improvements in performance to continue?

The Sports Development Foundation Scotland (SDFS) is a registered Scottish charity,[1] and company,[2] established to increase the finance available to Scottish sporting organisations by raising money through donations from individuals and companies directly to their specific projects of choice.

ndy Murray's loss this week in the Australian Open served as a timely reminder of just how tough elite sport is.I mean, that's obvious, right? Surely by definition, to be the best in the World is a fantastically difficult thing to achieve. But that's on one level....

This morning I published a blog on CelebrityTweeter.com about the sports stars who do Twitter. This might seem like an easy task, but no, it was actually really hard to find 20 sports stars who Twitter. To be honest, I had to push the envelope (as they say) just a bit. I managed to find a Swedish showjumper and a college football coach to hemp me make up the numbers.But why is that?

Well I kinda gave away what this post is about right off of the bat. We are all blessed or cursed (depends on how you see it) with a natural body type. This largely due to our genetics (thanks mom and dad) and is something that is pretty much irreversible. There are three different body types classified as Ectomorph, Endomorph and Mesomorph. For most of us, mesomorph is ideal and pretty much the entire reason we hit the gym week in and out. Although we cannot reverse the way we were born and decide to come out a mesomorph, can we change it?

Recently, there seems to be a lot of buzz going on about interval training being very beneficial to weight loss and body composition. As I am a huge proponent of interval training I find that most people have a general idea of what interval training is but do not know the correct way to perform intervals. Many people believe that if they just go balls out for a while than relax for a while they are performing an interval. A true interval should be done based on an individual's heart rate.

The first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year, the Australian Open, begins tomorrow and the pre-tournament jousting has begun. Andy Murray, having won the "World Championships" (an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi) and the Qatar Open already, is the form player on the tour just now, and he has certainly been the centre of attention out in Melbourne, but it would be foolish to rush to conclusions on the evidence of those events.Andy Murray

Oh dear, oh dear, another ghastly portrayal of sport psychology in the media!!! In today's Times, a double page spread about British tennis hopeful, Anne Keothavong relates her experience with an American sport psychologist, who told her to talk to a tree.

With the 24/7 media coverage of pro sport, sports fans have become accustomed to and somewhat complacent with hearing about athletes and their deviant acts.In fact, new statistics reveal that bad behavior is clearly evident among high school athletes, particularly in high-contact sports.

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Did you know that 90% of us will suffer from back problems at some time in our lives? 60% will be sub-acute or chronic and at least half of these cases will be caused by poor posture. Pilates can help you avoid this.