The awesome role of backspin in swing bowling and dipping yorkers: A thread.

If you've ever bowled any kind of seam in your life, you know that your fingers impart a backward spin on the ball as you release it.

Turns out, this is important in multiple ways.

First up, releasing the ball with backspin gives it rotation about its horizontal axis, much like a cycle wheel.

Much like a wheel, this enables the seam to stay upright (or slanted) without wobbling.

This is conservation of angular momentum.

This is important, because if the seam is wobbling around, it's almost impossible to get swing.

So your fingers naturally put backspin on the ball, which keeps the seam well-behaved, in a line, which is essential to even generate swing.

Turns out, this is not the only way it's important.

Remember when they talk about bowling fuller when it's swinging?

That's to give the ball more time in the air. More time = more swing = more lateral movement. Also, late swing.

Fine. But what does backspin do?

Backspin enables the ball to hang in the air for longer.

Why? Because of something called the Magnus effect.

The Magnus force is due to this backspin, and it lifts the ball.

The ball hits the ground later than it would if there were no backspin.

Patterns of play, tactical approaches and theoretical concepts in football - Explained and visualised.

•Phases Of Play
•In possession
•Out of possession

Thread (Part 1)⬇️

•Phases Of Play

•Half-Space

🔴In Possession

•Hold-Up Play

Ahead of Boca-River tonight, a LONG READ thread on River Plate's 2010/11 season: How did a massive club and institution like Club Atlético River Plate get relegated from Argentina's top tier in June 2011?

🇦🇷 #longread (3,000 words)

This thread is based on the fantastic When We Were Kings podcast with the blessing of its creators @ErikNiva & @andreassonhakan. Because the podcast is in Swedish, I wanted to translate the story and share it in English.

Disclaimer: this is NOT a dig at River Plate. My book's title/front cover overwhelmingly suggest that it's exclusively about Boca Juniors - that's not the case. I'm 100% neutral when it comes to Argentinian fútbol. This thread is not written to antagonise River fans!

June 2008. River Plate win the Clausura 2007/08 title (a 19-game half season) with Diego Cholo Simeone as manager. It's their 35th league title! River's attacking players: Radamel Falcao, Alexis Sánchez, Ariel Ortega, Sebastián Abreu, Diego Buonanotte, amongst others.

10/08/2008: The story of River Plate’s relegation in June 2011 starts on 10th August 2008! River Plate draw 1-1 away to Colón de Santa Fe on the opening day of the Apertura 2008/09 - it would be a bad campaign:
P19: W2/D8/L9. Cholo Simeone resigns after 1 win in first 14 games

1) All day long everything that was trending for me was Football related. I only follow politics here so just chocked it up as @ jack suppressing tweets again. Even #LinWood wasn't even showing up on my trends & we all know that's bs. Came across @WhipLash347 tweet so I dug.

Open Letter: “Is this Nate?”

It’s sizzling in my chest, so here it is. I don’t want to hurt the poor guy who called me—probably forced to call me—but it needs to be said. Yesterday, at about 11:00 at night, I got a call from a representative of the Governor’s office.

A nice guy. But last night, this guy wasn't so nice. He told me, with profanity and threatening piñache, that he’s, “not f##cking happy” about a tweet that I sent out. I didn't even know what Tweet he was talking about. But it turns out, he was mad that I criticized the . . .

Governor’s plan to go to the Bills game because only 6.500 people were allowed to go and I felt it reinforced the belief—incorrectly or correctly—that the #COVID restrictions do not apply to elites. Pretty mild, but I’m a team player. If this man had just called me . . .

and told me that I misunderstood the facts, got it wrong, I would have taken the Tweet down. But again, he called me at 11:00 at night. Swearing. Keep in mind, at this point, I’m just a taxpayer. I’m not running for office. I have no more connection to the Governor than you ...

Please put yourself in my shoes. An emissary for one of the most powerful politicians in America called me, late on a holiday evening, looking to take my head off. Disturbing. This isn’t the first time some elite Democrat called me—either directly or indirectly—over the past...

Thread:
Happy Birthday @therealkapildev
Kapil Dev was always present, in every cricket-crazy consciousness of India of my boyhood

#onthisday #cricket

One just had to close one’s eyes & the graceful, lithe run up could be seen, leap before delivery, head tilted to the left, right hand close to the chest left raised in front of the face, and then the left arm extended outwards as the right came around to send down the delivery

All through the 1980s with more cricket being telecast one found almost every cricket pitch, from coaching centres to school games, full of bowling actions that were almost exact replicas of the great man’s. Yes, Indians could bowl pace, successfully, and Kapil had shown the way

Anyone with more than a few paces in his run up seemed to follow in his excellent steps, at least as far as running up to the wicket was concerned. Almost every young lad in the country aspiring to bowl pace at any level of the game emulated the action.

From the early eighties, some occasionally tried to model their run up on Malcolm Marshall, although few managed the pace. One or two made a decent caricature of Imran Khan. But by and large, the template remained uniformly Kapil.

1/? A thread...Why am I right about certain aspects of strategy, even understanding it better than Nicklaus? Far too often players of past generations hold their playing background out as an appeal to their authority. I did not play on the PGA Tour, why?

2/? I didn't specialize in golf until high school which left my true playing experience far behind my peers. I then transferred schools after my freshmen yr & had to sit out 1.5 yrs. I then played spring my 3rd yr & fall my 4th b4 breaking my leg in Feb my redshirt jr yr

3/? After breaking my leg I didn't touch my clubs for almost 18 months. I got a job in real estate in Dallas after graduating & played golf on my bday (July 4) at Gleneagles in Plano & shot 68. I stewed all night watching fireworks & dreamt of professional golf.

4/? The right blend of emotion from fireworks w/friends, a great round of golf that day, & the perfect amt of beers & I decided I was going to quit & play professional golf. I won my 1st mini tour event six weeks later with 67-68. Following yr I traveled the Hooters Tour w/...

5/? Chad Campbell & Chris Riley & knew I had the physical skills they did but I only won twice on that Tour while Chad won damn near every week. I attributed it to my being an over the top hothead. Truly world class basket case. This is b/c I was a perfectionist & couldn't...

Bruno Fernandes

Player Analysis | A THREAD

An analysis where we look at how Bruno Fernandes, the Portuguese magnifico has revived the confidence of the Red Devils.

(Data accurate till 31st December, 2020)

When Bruno arrived at Old Trafford, @ManUtd was sitting at 5th on the table - six points behind Chelsea and fourteen behind Leicester! The image given below explains why United had to sign the Portuguese and how he turned the table around pretty much single-handedly.

United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer mostly plays in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Bruno Fernandes as the player behind the striker. At times, Solskjaer has employed Fernandes as the highest central midfielder behind the two strikers in a 4-1-2-1-2 setup.

(Source: @SofaScoreINT )

In general, like most other creative midfielders, Bruno Fernandes tries to occupy the gap in between the opposition’s midfield line and defensive line. He often drifts to both sides as well, to support the wide players.

Female athletes are still subjected to the equivalent of a sex test, based on whether they appear feminine.

Dutee Chand in her successful appeal against the validity of the IAAF’s hyperandrogegism regulations, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) originally began investigating her after complaints that she “ran like a boy”.

Chand was banned in 2014 after the AFI decided that her androgen (testosterone) levels were above the 10 nmol/L permitted by the IAAF’s hyperandrogegism regulations, resulting in her missing the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Androgens, including testosterone, are naturally produced in significant – but varying – levels by both men and women.

Endocrine profiles in 693 elite athletes in the post-competition setting’, found that 16.5% of the ‘male’ athletes had low testosterone levels, and 13.7% of the ‘females’ had high testosterone levels, ‘with complete overlap between the

The Premier League schedule can just about handle the games that have been postponed... so far.

But the league is on the brink of a fixture crisis, and the failure to entertaining agreeing curtailment / abandonment options may come back and bite them hard.

From the initial fixture build there were three Premier Lague catchup dates built in - the midweeks of March 2, April 20 and May 19.

However, these placeholders were primarily for teams which reached the Carabao Cup final and/or the FA Cup final.

Added to that, even without COVID postponements, if a PL team were to get the semis of the Champions League or Europa League and the final of both domestic cups there aren't enough spare midweeks to fit those games in.

Looking at you, Man City, Man United and Tottenham.

Now it looks like we have the added complication of Tottenham v Fulham being postponed.

If at least one of those clubs remains in the FA Cup through to Round 5, the game can only be played on March 2.

But it could get even more complicated.

If Tottenham reach the Carabao Cup final, they also have to rearrange (coincidentally) Fulham v Tottenham which is due to be played April 24.

If Spurs go far in the UEL and to the FA Cup final, they will have nowhere to play TWO matches before the season deadline of May 23.

WARRIORS-CLIPPERS REWATCH THREAD

Okay, thought I would get into the Warriors' unbelievable comeback win over the Clippers last night. Let's dig in.

Steph Curry's first 3 of the night came off an unnecessary Nicolas Batum gamble. Shouldn't have gone for the deflection.

This is a good use of Curry as an inbounder in ATOs. Leveraging his gravity to get Oubre a drive to the rim from a fake handoff, made easier by the Clippers not having anyone to help on the drive.

Really crafty pushoff by Curry on Patrick Beverley here. Forces Beverley under Looney's screen, and that's all the space Curry needs.

Hedging/trapping Curry has become the norm now, especially with the kind of roster Curry has to work with (i.e., average-to-below-average shooting).

I absolutely love this wrinkle they've put in to prevent hedging/trapping. Somewhat of a screen-the-screener/DHO action.

I've noticed Kerr likes to go with a 2-2-1 zone press with the 2nd unit every now and then. Really cuts into the shot clock and forces the opposing offense to rush. Case in point: Reggie Jackson doing god-knows-what and dribbling into nothingness. Warriors eventually force a TO.

I'm starting to think Marvin Lewis is one of the more underappreciated NFL coaches of the past couple decades. Staying 16 years in one place is TOUGH, and I feel like people have forgotten a lot of context along the way.

In the 12 years before Marvin Lewis arrived, the Bengals were 55-137. In the two years since he left, they are 6-25-1. That's 14 years and 0 playoff appearances.

Lewis was 131-122-3 with 7 playoff appearances.

Lewis took over a 2-14 team in 2003. His first three years, he went 8-8, 8-8 and 11-5.

He got his QB in Year 2 in Carson Palmer and reached the playoffs in Year 3. But on his very first throw, Palmer tore his knee.

So, we begin the narrative that Lewis was 0-7 in playoff games. Fair criticism to a point. But here were his seven QBs for those playoff games:

Jon Kitna after 1 throw
Carson Palmer
Andy Dalton
Andy Dalton
Andy Dalton
Andy Dalton
AJ McCarron

The Bengals, who have a cheap owner as GM, not only struggled to find Marvin Lewis a QB but also struggled to get him much of anything. They consistently let good players walk, from Carson Palmer to Marvin Jones to Kevin Zeitler to Eric Steinbach to Leon Hall to Reggie Nelson.

Over 5,000 virtual match tickets sold! Thank you all involved especially the kind supporters of @SpursOfficial 🙌

Time to give our virtual ticket holders a match preview of our team and tactics! Don't tell anybody!

Goalkeeper - Mr. Thomas from No. 25 - Good positioning & never unsighted.

Full-backs - the Jones brothers from No. 23 - Always give the opposition a roasting. Different gravy.

Centre-backs - the Phillips family from No. 29 - Coordinated, good teamwork & never leave any gaps between them.

Left winger - Mr. Speed from No. 11 - Speed by name. Speed by reputation.

A Thread about the best test batsmen 1/25
#India #Aus #NZ #Stats #Cricket

A #statistical breakdown

Kane Williamson: 7115 runs @ 54.31, 24x100s
Virat Kohli: 7318 runs @ 53.41, 27x100s
Steve Smith: 7368 runs @ 61.91, 27x100s

Smith here has the best average by a fair way.

But the joy of cricket is in its intricacies so let’s dive a little deeper. At home the 3 batsmen are absolute run machines.

Kane Williamson: 3788 runs @ 65.31 13x100s
Virat Kohli: 3558 runs @ 68.42 13x100s
Steve Smith: 3485 runs @ 68.33 14x100s

Here their statistics are very similar.

However it is worth noting how hard it is to bat in each of these countries. These figures reflect the average runs of each players team mates in the last 10 years.

Australia: 44.27 runs/wicket
New Zealand: 42.28
India: 44.17

These numbers would suggest that it is slightly harder for New Zealanders to bat in New Zealand. However, the quality of batsmen from New Zealand is definitely lower than the other two countries in the last decade, despite recent improvements.

The class of a batsman is often determined by their record away from home. So how do the stats add up in this regard?
Kane Williamson: 2680 runs @ 42.53 with 9x100s
Virat Kohli: 3760 runs @ 44.23 with 14x100s
Steve Smith: 3609 runs @ 60.15 with 13x100s

Nostalgia Merchant

A Thread on players from the 90s (some of my favourites).

1. Sachin Tendulkar

2. Brian Lara

3. Mark Waugh

4. Curtly Ambrose

5. Jonty Rhodes

— THREAD —

Reasons I would like United to keep playing the system they played against Aston Villa

United decided to field four midfielders against Aston Villa, but like I mentioned before the game, they didn’t use a diamond and went for their usual 3-1-6/3-2-5 with Pogba higher up the pitch.

This system United played against Villa isn’t new since they used it multiple times this season with Martial instead of Pogba and Cavani instead of Martial. They also used it after the restart but the profiles were completely different as those from this season.

This season, it is much more balanced in my opinion, and the new depth in the team can allow injuries without changing the system. Now, I will look at the various profiles United have upfront to explain why this new system can fit United well.

Rashford drives at players better but also his shooting technique and the way he attacks the channels suit the right better. His goals from the 2018/19 season and the 2020/21 season in the PL are seen below.

Thread:

Man Utd 2 vs 1 Aston Villa — Tactics #MUNAVL #MUFC

One paper, it looked like United lined up in a 4231 however that was not the case on the pitch. OGS always like to use a hybrid of 2-3 formations in the different phases of the game. United in this case used 4-2-2-2 in possession which, in the final phase became a 4-2-4. #MUFC

Pogba was used wide left and Fernandes wide right as a 10 double pivot but the wide forwards. It is difficult to call Martial and Rashford STs in this game as the move wide a lot ( Hybrid Wingers/Wide forwards) & interchanged with Pogan and Fernandes. You'll see below. #MUFC

Example of Rashford moving wide and looking to play the other 3 forwards, (PP6,BF18, & AM9).

One of the main principles in United's playing style under OGS, the front 4 are always fluid; they interchange with each other frequently. Both teams were not concerned with their 2nd phase which resulted in an E2E game with a lot of space in midfield for quick transitions. #MUFC