Exams!

Hey All!

Exams are next week (suxs!) and I just want to wish everyone good luck! Jia you and all the best so you wont regret after leaving the examination hall!

Cheers,
nuts

Comps Video Review

Hello ppl, here are some of the stuff we talked about after the review.

the main mistakes that we committed:

• sticking too close to each other (u noe the part where 1 shot can capture all of us)
  
• passes, not hand to hand, hit the boat, etc
• zoners should keep pushing (u noe the redtide guy said to his nus girls that u should just keep pushing, at least just keep disturbing someone)
• apparently we all like to look at the ball too much, instead of watching the ball we can spread out and/or push the people out of the zone
• again becos we keep looking at the ball instead of moving somewhere, we tend to not support the guy with the ball. go somewhere and call for the ball, expecting him to pass to you is WRONG
• passing too late...opponents start to pressure liao then we pass
• anymore? we lack confidence too i think.

some improvements! (not only from this comp, but generally)

•  build up our confidence (haha i dunno how..)
  
• mentality and game sense
• aggressiveness
• personal skills, ie stern-turns/bow-dips/hand-roll/etc
• team chemistry and communication (you know it's so amazing how all the cp ppl can pass without even calling or looking at the person? they seem to know each other so well..)
• that's all i can remember i'm sure there are more

haha i felt like we weren't very critical during the video review. we seem to be laughing more at ourselves than discussing what we should improve on and the mistakes that we did. ha and i realise we din talk about the stuff that we did good during the games,i think there ARE some stuff that we did well rite?

okay all the best everyone, 3 more weeks till the exams are over!
oh and follow your heart! know what you truly want and decide. about canoe polo or your current cca that is. ;)

cheers! Hao.
.haha so tired already, hope i din miss out anything nor sound like crap

After the Comp

The comp is finally over...the thing that has been keeping me on through all these quiz-y weeks.
But everyone's had fun rite? Remeber to evaluate yourself and think about the things that u done good and stuff that you think u done bad. Rmb all the good stuff you done and improve on all the wrong stuff u did. But don't harp on all your mistakes liao, learn from it and look forward to the next games.
For now study hard for the exams! After that we will all train hard and work hard alllllllllll the way for Augus Nat Comp. =) Hope we really improve tremendously and catch up to the other year 1's standard. study hard play hard!

anyway thanks for all the stuff you all did for me last night! really appreciate it.

Hao.
Haha comp over also signifies that i am no more comp capt anymore. boo...=(

p.s. can someone also please post some of pictures of the games? i think it's important for us to remeber.

GREAT JOB GUYS!!!

WE GAVE THEM A HARD FIGHT! ;) Woohoo!

Happy birthday comp captain!

Keep the target in mind

Good job guys! I think we are much better liao. Must work hard improve much more. Everyone must rmb target for Aug Nat Champs and work towards it.

ALL THE BEST GUYS!!!

enjoy the game!!!

(btw is that weehong? haha)

Trashed!!!! 24-0

Hello kids,

How do you all feel after your first game? Suxs? Depressed? Demoralised? Feel that you shouldn't have join this competition in the first place?
Or do you all feel more motivated to train harder?

Obviously, it suxs to lose, that's why people train to win.

Ask yourself, if given a choice, would you still want to play in today's match knowing you will get trashed?

Being a pioneer in a new sports for your schools is never easy, you all are the first batch of NUS high school canoe polo team, you all have no seniors to guide you all in the process of learning. No seniors to look up to, no seniors to correct your mistakes, no senior to demonstrate every moves. You will have to pick up everything from scratch all by yourself. You all are the pioneer, and soon to be seniors.

Now you all know your standard, where you all stand, how much hard work to put in, how much focus you all need, how much time you all wasted during training with all the nonsensical talk,

Do you all feel more motivated to train even harder?

I'm sure you all want to win, but you can't win just by saying you want to. It requires discipline, commitment, hard work, training is not about having fun, and sometimes is never enjoyable, tough, boring etc. The only fun is when you win during competition, or knowing that you have perform up to your standard.

This competition is just a eye opener for you, time to get serious and prepare for the challenges ahead. Jia you

Coachie

SPCPOC First Match

Hello,

I really hope today's game didn't put you down too much. Don't be too demoralised, sometimes what you are doing is the right thing, but just that the others aren't complimenting you that's why it seems like you're in the wrong. Don't give up! The next match is a NEW match.
Things we need to work on are our supporting and pass-and-go-ing. We know all these, is just that maybe we can't really focus on it. So drill it in your mind and let's see how the game improves in our next match. Don't be afraid that you can't come back in time, and TRUST each other to get your pass. Don't hesitate because you want to make sure if your pass successfully reach the person, or that if the person you passed to is gonna be tackled. Trust each other, and go forward to support. Pass and go, don't hesitate. It is not your fault that you can't come back in time to defend when we lose possesssion because you went up to support.
It might seem like it's easy to say or wadever, but just keep it in your mind, i'm sure our game play will improve. I hope this wont seem like it's a whole lot of bullshit, i really hope we can improve from all this experience.

Please give your best and fight till the very last whistle blow for every match. We must show the other canoe polo people that we are meant for canoe polo, show that what we can become and show them that we have the potential. That way they'll all be expecting something from us soon, like the next coming August Competition.
You know it's not nice when people walk pass you, start pointing or glancing at you then start laughing rite?

You know why we're called the spicy lemons? It's cause lemons never fail to produce juice no matter how much they are squeeze. (haha by randy) =) PLUS we have the added spicy-ness! So when people get a taste of us, they'll be struck so hard that they will never forget, but they will still be coming back for more.

Haha corny. But rest well, and be prepared for our last 3 games next sat. Drink lots of water, eat more, sleep more. NP we got SOME chance lah;)

No bullshit,
Hao

Competition Learning Points (5/4)

Hey everyone, basically we learnt quite a few things today(or rather, forgot but got reminded).

1. (very important! - learnt before) PASS & GO. After you have passed to your teammate, MOVE to another place and anticipate a pass(of course go to somewhere your teammate can pass to you). It is no use to pass and stay there to watch tv. You are not creating opportunities for yourself.
2. SPREAD OUT(it's only a few posts down!!). Don't be afraid that your teammate is unable to catch a ball from you, and therefore stay crammed together. By staying crammed together, the opponent does not need to travel a lot just to mark you all, and they have a very high chance of interception. The SP Z players were crammed just like us because they wanted to intercept our passes. However, once there was a change in possession, they immediately spread out to the side of the pool. There are a few reasons as to why we should spread out. #1: The opponent needs to travel more just to reach you and mark you. By then, you could have passed the ball. #2: The opponent might not be able to reach you fast enough. You have time to think of who to pass to before they are lured over.
3. Move around constantly. Don't be static in the waters. We need to constantly move around and create opportunities for attacking. If we do not move, the opponent does not even have to move to mark us. They can just park there and get the ball easily. By constantly moving, we will always be one step(or one stroke) ahead of the marking opponent(because we know where we want to go). We have to perpetually look for open spaces so that teammate can pass to you. We must remember to move and support teammates quickly or ball possession will very likely be lost.

We have to remember the above 3 points at the back of our palm. They are the very basics of gameplay & we must know to apply them like some form of reflex action/mindset. They will apply even after we have gone on to more advanced forms of playing.

Some Rule Stuff

Remember that when we are sending out substitutes, the whole player's boat must be behind the out line before a substitute can go to the playing area. If this rule is not observed, a yellow card will be given immediately(player sent off playing area for 2 minutes). If 3 yellow cards have been given, the team will be disqualified. This is crucial!

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What I've observed today:

There were a lot of instances when the zoners could not get back in time(there was practically no zone) and it felt as though the whole team was depending on the keeper to save the situation. as hengfoo said, it is not the keeper's fault that when the opponent tries a near shot and the keeper is unable to block. the keeper's job is to block long shots, and the zoners are supposed to be the ones preventing the opponent from getting into near shooting position.

well, i guess we could be more alert in ways like, when possession has been changed, while the chaser can go pressure for ball, everyone else must be on their way back to the zone(it's like a reflex action). i think that today, a lot of the players were trying to fight for the ball and were too slow to get back to zone.

the problem might be that:

#1: we don't dare to spread out: opponent very easily gets the ball.
#2: when the opponent gets the ball, some people like to stay there and try to fight for the ball using paddle/hand/handtackling etcetc
#3: other players turn out to be watching tv there instead of returning to defend

we should all have a sense of urgency yeah(what hengfoo told us during the friendlies too).

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we must listen very carefully and apply whatever hengfoo teaches us after training/friendly matches. i notice that a lot of these mistakes have been mentioned before more than once but it has not been applied/might have been forgotten. you may like to "revise" these learning points again by reading our blog archives again.

an entire week of rest, reflections & mental preparations for 3 matches next saturday! all the best spicylemons!

SPCPOC confirmed details

Hello everyone!

These are the latest, final details of the competition. It is also time to hand in your indemnity forms and order your food from me. Please do so! Or risk starvation...... RAWR. (for 12th April only I presume)

5th April
4.15 pm - SP Z
Referees: Zoe Lek, Wei Chen
Linesmen: He Say Name Already

12th April
9.30 AM - Red Tide 1
Referees: Chad, Li Zongxian
Linesmen: NTU 2

2.10 PM - NP 1
Referees: Wei Chen, Kenneth
Linesmen: NUS A

4.40PM - Ocube
Referees: Wei Chen, Ray
Linesmen: Monsters

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Why aren't we assigned to be linesmen? hahaha.

Btw, we can go down to support:

5th April
12.25 PM - Rookies(SP) v.s. Red Tide 2

6th April
11.35 AM - Rookies(SP) v.s. He Say Name Already

12th April
11.10 AM - Rookies(SP) v.s. NTU Alumni(wooooo!!)
1.45 PM - Rookies(SP) v.s. SP C

(& definitely the last two weeks)

Why support Rookies(SP)? Because our Coachie is playin'! GOGOGO! Hahaha.

SpicyLemons, please rest well and prepare yourself mentally to put up a good fight in the waters! It is not unforgivable to make a mistake after you tried, but it is a mistake not to try. :) (Though try to familiarise with those points-of-note & training-learning-points below and be very very careful not to make stupid mistakes, most importantly don't watch tv in the game)

Don't give up just because the teams you'll be playing against are stronger. Don't let their headstart over you, skills over you etc become excuses for you to take losing for granted, and stop trying. Believe that with more practice and training, you guys can do it too. And I know you can.

Love, Tingan.

Pictures!

Pictures courtesy(sp?) of Darren!

Correction for Training Learning Point number 1

Opps, forgot to tell everyone that you can always drop the ball away from your own hand reach, and shield the ball with your boat. Then this way you will have more 5 secs. The situation for you to hold on to the ball for more than 5secs and commit the foul is when you got no one to pass and no space to shield the ball.

Pls dun really go and hold on to the ball for 5secs when you can shield.

Coachie

Training Learning Points (2/4 - it is APRIL now GUYS)

Here are the basic training points for today(if you would like to update, please do! or tell me to do it)

1. You have 5-seconds possession. Firstly, don't be so anxious to shoot that you miss the goal. Take your time, calm yourself down(does not take more than 2 seconds), aim and shoot. Basically, be careful about each step you take. Secondly, if you are trying to pass to a teammate, look around and take your time to find a teammate that is free/open/will get the ball. Of course, don't take too long. You must have a person in your mind already(what we learnt in last few trngs/land trng), and must be alert at all times and be aware of the game situation. If 5 seconds is up and there is still not a player in sight that is free, rather than giving an any-old-how bad pass that may very well land with the opponent(who can very likely go up and fast break), shield the ball until 5 seconds is up while your teammates can go back to zone.


2. SPREAD OUT once there is change of possession and you are attacking now. Spread to the sides! (see picture below - black dot represents front of boat) Don't stay crammed at the zone(lots of opponents there). Pass to a teammate that is far away PROVIDED you know the opponent cannot easily intercept or travel very quickly to your teammate to get the ball. (will someone please elaborate about this, i am not very sure about the explanation)
3. on losing side - play man-marking(for our standard, don't do this yet.)
4. on winning side - DEFEND. 1-3-1 is fine. don't do the stupid 3 keepers thing.
5. centre zoner, should sweep and try to push an attacker, who has slid in, all the way out to the back(try not to charge keeper). it is the attacker's own problem if he allows himself to be pushed since he is doing nothing inside(if we are caught in such a situation we should get out because we are not doing anything to help the team)

the rest, please just check below.

Focus on your studies, try to do your work earlier so you can concentrate on training! & also if there is extra training, we can turn up.

and PUH-LEASE, cut down on incessant nonsensical talk during debriefs(as well as during game - don't scold one another or waste time talking; competition waits for no one). i think i don't really appreciate it.

-tingan.

INDEMNITY FORMS PLEASE.

Latest details of SPCPOC

FYI, drawings are out and the teams we're playing against are:
-Ocube
-Redtide 1 (nus)
-SP Z
-NP1

apparently most of the above teams are very senior teams. Redtide's the most senior team in Singapore, ocube's Singapore Nat girls team, SP Z's the alumni team. But i'm not very sure about NP yet though. So for now just be optimistic and have fun at all the games!

The schedule's out but it's expected to change so not confirm yet. For now,
5 Apr:
SP Z @ 4.15pm

12 Apr:
Redtide @ 9.30
NP @ 2.10
Ocube @ 4.45


Thanks! Play hard okay? Give it ur best=)
Hao