Sunday 20 June 2010

Summer Loving

Finally, we have what I would call a normal British summer. After a week of little/no rain and with no further rain forecast until at least next Sunday we can all enjoy the outdoors.

Or can we?

If you're anything like me then probably not as with the good weather you can kiss goodbye to rain affected cricket matches, so with a game on everyday it's all systems go. I can't complain as I need to make the most of this time of year but I can admit to being a little envious when my mates get talking about spending lazy afternoons in beer gardens etc.

However, all is not lost as tomorrow I'll be playing golf in the glorious sunshine in aid of McMillan Cancer Support. I lost my mother to breast cancer 8 years ago and feel very strongly that anyone unfortunate to be diagnosed with the disease should be supported and comforted as much as possible.

Hopefully, my contribution will make a small difference but it won't be plain sailing as the challenge is to play 4 rounds of golf on 4 different courses all in one day. That's 20 miles if I hit the ball straight, and with my swing I'm odds against!

Come to think of it, if I'm to get up at 4am then I need to go to bed.

.

Friday 18 June 2010

In The Rough

I watched the hugely interesting documentary, 'The Rise & Fall Of Tiger Woods' last night and boy was it an eye opener. I already knew that Tiger's late father Earl had crafted his career but was astonished at the lengths he'd gone too to ensure his son had the best chance of success. We've all heard of pushy parents but that guy took things to a different level! Maybe he went too far, but there's no doubting that what he did helped to create the World's greatest golfer.

The programme got me thinking. Do we all have the capacity to improve? If I'd practised for the same number of hours as Tiger, would the rate of my improvement have been as consistent and as rapid as his? The instinctive answer is no and the stock response is that we need natural talent but how do we know? Am I succeeding at trading because it suits my personal attributes, because I work harder than others or a due to a mixture of both?

One thing I can say is that you can't beat attention to detail, and after investing more time this year analysing my performance and studying the game of cricket it seems to be paying off.

Now, Who once said, "the harder I work the luckier I get?"

.

Tuesday 15 June 2010

Blah Blah Blah

One of the advantages of having this iPad is the ability to casually monitor the Betfair odds either on the move or whilst casually lounging on the sofa. This is something I used to enjoy doing when I had a laptop but after 30 minutes it used to get uncomfortably hot and the noise used to get slightly irritating.

I no longer have these problems as this nifty device makes no noise and doesn't heat up - can you guess it's my new best friend?

There are some drawbacks though, with the temptation for making 'leisure' bets extremely inviting. It's amazing how markets like the Eurovision song contest and Big Brother suddenly become so much more attractive when you you can strike a bet at a touch of a button.

.

Monday 14 June 2010

The Wonders Of Technology

I know, I know, it's been a while but after the lack of interest shown in my live coverage of T20 I figured that I wouldn't be missed too much.

A lot has been going on but for those of you interested, the IPL didn't turn into a bonanza for me but more of a damage limitation exercise following a couple of extreme losses early in the tournament. I plead guilty to being way too confident and not managing my risk so it should have been expected that I would pay. On the plus side those losses made me re-focus and May became my best ever month so once again every cloud seems to have a silver lining.

So why am I posting now?

Well I've just bought an ipad and thought I'd check out how easy it is to post from tapping away whilst watching TV. If this looks have decent when I get to look at it on a PC then this maybe the way forward as finding the time to fire up the computer and login etc. was just becoming too time consuming.

Now, how do I get someone to write this stuff for me? :-)

.
www.stanjames.com