Pickup Sports Blog

Pickup Sports Featured on UrbanDaddy.com

Filed under basketball , Blog , Mobile , Pickup Games , Pickup Sports , Sports , Web

Thanks to Russell Brandom and the team at UrbanDaddy.com for the recent article and post.

Check it out the posting right here.

Go Daddy Go!

Pickup Sports Blog Featured on Bloggers.com

Filed under Blog , Web

So yesterday Pickup Sports was featured on Bloggers.

"You have been featured on BLOGGERS as one of the Bloggers of the day. Your profile and Blog "Pickup Sports Blog" has been showcased in Bloggers Home page (http://bloggers.com). In addition to that you are awarded with Featured bloggers badge on your profile."

Bloggers is a community where all the best bloggers connect, communicate and share blogs with each other.

Thanks for everybody's contribution and let's try our best to keep up the work!

Steve Nash played Pickup Basketball in China

Filed under basketball , Pickup Games

This is an old news happened on 8/31/2009, but there is something interesting about it.  Even the best players out there in NBA still have fun playing Pickup Games.  They are not even doing it for health or to improve, but purely just for fun.

China has becoming a super power, not only in terms of economy, but also in terms of atheletic attention.  After getting most amount of gold mdeals in Beijing Olympic 2008, China has proven itself as the top athletic country.  This is one of the reason why citizens of China has also become more active.  With players like Yao Ming being picked into NBA, basketball has become the most popular sport in China.

If you guys ever visit china, go to some basketball court and see whether you can find yourself a good game.  And if you can't find games, Pickup Sports will be coming to China too!

Improve your game quickly

Filed under basketball , Pickup Games

The best way to improve your game, whether it is basketball, tennis, or even pickuping women for that fact is to practice and play with the best. If I ask you what is the best way to pickup a new sport and become good at it? You might say, play against your friends and keep practicing. But from my experience, this is the slow way. In order to improve quickly you have to play as many differnt people and styles as possible. Practice on the other hand will reinforce your fundamentals and prevent embarrassment,  but in order to improve you have to add variety.

If you keep playing against the same people over and over your game plateus. Although it is fun to beat up on your less talented friends you have to challenge yourself and find someone who is better than you.

This is what pickup sports is there to do. I have been playing basketball with my MBA classmates for the past year. The game was getting easy and boring so I decided to challenge my self by going to the gym  to find a pickup game. I started with 1on1 basketball with an undergraduate. I did not score 1 point.

So if you think you are good, go find a pickup game. Don't settle. Remember there is always someone better from who you can learn from.

How to Serve in Tennis

Filed under Pickup Games , Tennis

Serving , is probably the most difficult part in tennis, because of the rythym, and the motion. Just like anything out there, like going to the gym persistantly, you have to put time and effort into it to see any results. When I was training for tournaments I would practice at least 6-7 days out of the week for one and a half hours to two hours, and in 2 years my serve clock in at about 114mph and I was only 17 (thanks to my coach Alex). Now that im 20, and a little more stronger, and I would guess I could reach about 120mph now. Along with a big serve you need variety, so in this blog i'll talk about the serve.

In Tennis you get 2 chances to serve the ball. If you serve and the opponent doesn't touch the ball its considered to be an ace, and you win the point. If you miss with both chances then its called a "Double Fault", and you lose the point.

When serving you want to stand about a foot away from the middle, behind the baseline about an inch so you dont foot fault (which mean's you lose the point if you touch the baseline while serving), and your body a bit sideways with your left foot pointed at about 45 degrees from the baseline. So your feet should look like this for both of your serves.

Next if you notice where the yellow dot is, this is where you should bounce the ball. When you toss the ball it should want to land here because keeping your ball toss infront of you and in the same spot everytime makes it easier to hit

Pickup Basketball Rules

Filed under basketball , Sports

1. You can only claim the court that is not currently open.
2. Have at least 2 people to claim a half court, 8 people to claim full court.
3. Form a team that is balanced, otherwise it destroys the fun and the losers will simply quit.
4. Set the game points, 11 point game, 16 point game or 21 point game.  Regular shots are 1 point and shot from three point lines are 2 points in a pickup game.
5. If it's first game, you can shoot for who get's the ball first before starting the first round.  Otherwise the winner of last round gets to be offense first.
6. There are no referees, but violations still apply.
7. • For Offense: violation includes traveling, double dribble, offense foul
   • For Defense: violation includes regular foul, intention foul
   • 5 seconds and 3 seconds violations usually isn't included in a pickup game
   • Unless it's intention violation, there are no penalty shot.  The other side simply get's the ball.
8. After winning, the winning team can decide to play "next" challenger or retire with glory.  If there is no "next" challenger, same teams can start the game again, possibly switching players.

Hopefully this sets some group for those who are looking for Pickup Basketball Rules.  Now go post a pickup game.

High expectation's for the future of "pickup sports"

Filed under Sports , Tennis

...that is, when more american's learn how important exercise is.

I am tennis/guitar player and also a college student and  am very dedicated to what I do. I've always believed if I wanted to do something, then do it right, and the only way you can get there is dedication, disipline, and the desire. Growing up I was chubby, and maybe even obese, and I thought I could just sit home watch cartoons and play video games. Untill my parents put me through different sports. I actually started off swiming, yes I was that chubby 10 year old in a speedo, but when I was put into a pool for the first time it was an amazing expierence. Which eventually led to me going back often, that led to me joining a swim team, and winning a bunch of swim meets.

When my swiming days ended I got into alot of other stuff like basketball, ice skating, football, jeet kune do, and judo. But nothing really stuck like guitar and tennis did. I still to this day have my first guitar even though I've moved on through 3 other ones, because of it memories of where i started on it.

Tennis is what really saved my physical apperance, beacause if I didnt pickup that, I might've gone back to eating chetos and playing halo for the rest of my life. But thankfully I met really good russian coaches that once played in the pro curcuit, who drilled me to death with forehands, backhands, and serves. If it wasnt for tennis then I'd probably weigh alot more than 180. Pickup sports I believe is a great tool to find people that enjoy the same actiivties that you do, if its from basketball to any other sport that floats your boat. I've also heard that evently "Pickup Sports" will soon be more musician freindly too. With all the bands out there missing a singer, drummer, bassisst, or guitarist, it would definately be awesome if musicians can connect better too.

Is Surfing a Pickup Sport?

Filed under Sports

If you're lucky enough to live in the Bay Area, you've been lucky enough to appreciate some of the unseasonably gorgeous weather we've been having recently.  Those of us inclined to brave the cold water in search of a nice ride found last weekend particularly special.  The waves were decent, the sun was strong and it was a great time out surfing.

But it got my surf buddy and I talking about the camaraderie and fellowship of surfers along the coast.  For the most part, surfers are pretty chill and accepting of beginners and visitors - because we've all been there.  But why can't surfing be a pickup sport?

It's more fun when you're with a few buddies or betties, and as many Ocean Beach surfers can attest, it's not always safe to be out by yourself.  So we figured surfing is another great sport that we can tell people about on Pickup Sports.  Just like other games on the Pickup Sports app, it passes the following criteria:

1) You can partake alone (but it's more fun with at least one other person)

2) Location is very important (since good surf breaks are found in many places)

3) If you're new to the area or sport, some local input is invaluable!

Let us know what you think, and if you're out to hang ten or thrash the lip, don't go it alone!

2011 NHL All-Star Game Adopts Pickup Game Format

Filed under Hockey , Sports

According to the Fanhouse Staff (@fanhouse), it's hard to imagine the Fantasy Draft for the NHL All-Star Game not returning for a second year.  Why?  Because the fans and media loved it!  Over 2.5 million viewers tuned in, and ratings were up 36% from 2009.  (The Winter Olympics took precedence in 2010.)  The players loved it too, but not all of them: Phil Kessel was picked last (which is never fun), but he received a car for it and some good-natured ribbing from teammates.

The new selection format leaves final selection up to captains, much like you would do on the playground for recess.  How awesome is that?  It's also pretty cool that a major sports league like the NHL would embrace the new format, which is nothing but fun and entertaining for its fans.

Pickup Sports is obviously a big fan of this move by the NHL to bring excitement back to the game.  Nice work to all those at the NHL for opening a new chapter for the All-Star Game!

More information on the draft, how it works, and what happened at the game:

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/11/10/nhl-makes-all-star-game-format-change-official/

http://www.nj.com/devils/index.ssf/2011/02/devils_patrik_elias_didnt_appr.html

http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2011/02/01/nhl-all-star-game-ratings-rise/

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/589304-nhl-all-star-draft-chill-out-hockey-fans-the-nhl-catered-to-you

Pickup Sports, Playing Pickup Games and Finding Activity Partners

Filed under Mobile , Pickup Games , Pickup Sports , Sports , Web