I have a few people asking me who was Mr Burns from my last post… well that’s him from the Simpson’s above. Now you understand about his posture:) rounded shoulders and forward head posture. In my experience you really need to focus not only on the chest and back but also the hamstrings and feet. Yeah… you got it the whole body. Every things connected.

Interestingly the adrenal glands are linked in Chinese and alternative medicine to the calves. I have been getting tight calves recently and have had to take a good look at my stress levels and food choices.
I have cut right down on the coffee and avoided foods that stress my adrenals… my endocrine type is adrenal which means I am always a little open to pushing them too hard.

My calves have started feeling better already even after a couple of days. The body is so amazingly complex I am always blown away by it.

On the topic of the World Cup… I suppose everyone saw Robert Greens fumble in goal the other day.
To my U.S friends thanks for all the great jokes

I read an interesting article by an ex-wicket keeper (cricket and he was seriously good… is now an artist… no not prince)… In it he talks about fear and tension. How tension causes our bodies to function abnormally.

“You’re trying to collect the ball with your hands while using your shin as a second line of defence. It’s all very well for a wicketkeeper because your gloves and pads are much bigger than a cricket ball, but if you keep things in proportion then Green would have to be 18ft tall, and have giant Kenny Everett-style hands, before it’s going to be a safe option for him.

My preference would always be to smother the thing, get your body down behind it so that you’ve got your chest, arms and legs helping to protect the goal. That way, if you get some sideways movement, you can cover it.

It reminded me of Scott Carson’s error against Croatia because both were clearly terrified. When you’re tense your body becomes stiff and won’t do what you tell it.

It’s the same in goalkeeping as in wicketkeeping: you need to be supple and move with the flow of the ball. Green just plonked himself down on one knee, and he went very early, maybe before he’d read the direction of the ball.

He didn’t have the timing because he was so anxious. You’ve got to ask whether he had enough time to get his head around being England’s No 1 all of a sudden.

The pressure on these guys is so overwhelming, it’s hard for anyone else to understand. I really think you’ve got to give goalkeepers a bit of leeway, and tell the world who’s playing the day before the match.”

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I really feel for Robert Green and I suspect that the beliefs of a whole nation and the newspapers that our goalkeepers always mess up will have quite literally penetrated his psyche/energy field/mentality.

I do know that they do not use psychologists and the one’s I do know who have worked in football seem to go into all the psycho analysis stuff that puts players off ever trying to master their inner environment.

In this area I think England are so far behind other countries like the U.S… when will they stop using the same people and bring in some new blood with new ideas.

Einstein wrote:”Nothing more stupid than doing the same thing twice and expecting different results” … what about 40 years of doing the same thing.

Anyway just thinking about these things is tensing me up … so I’m off to do some breathing squats and let my body do what it naturally does.:)

Here are some amazing goalkeepers to cheers you up