Preseason training

[Lucky Knickers]

I was looking at some of the pictures of preseason training and feeling relieved I don't have to run up those dunes.
I noticed that Rob Spurs had the boys running a pattern that looks like the opera house from our guernsey. Then stumbled on this.
See picture here (http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/afl/written-in-sand-this-is-swan-town/story-e6frexwr-1225960379548)
Very clever.

[Damien]

Well there you go, I had a quick look at the photos earlier and wondered the significance of the running pattern.

[AnnieH]

What a huge effort.

They want to get their fitness levels above 2009?

If they go into 2011 as fit as they were in 2009 (and barring no serious injury), granny here were come!!

[Triple B]

I wonder if there was a helicopter hovering overhead?

It may well have been planned for an advertising campaign for the new season.

[Kirkari]

I liked Mal's deadpan video commentary. "This is me dominating."

[liz]

What a huge effort.

They want to get their fitness levels above 2009?

If they go into 2011 as fit as they were in 2009 (and barring no serious injury), granny here were come!!

What happened to 2010?

[DeadlyAkkuret]

I liked Mal's deadpan video commentary. "This is me dominating."

Where's the commentary?

Edit: Found it, lmao what a pisser! "This is me giving encouragement to Josh, he was on my team obviously. I wasn't giving much encouragement to the other boys"

I can't tell if he's trying to be funny but that's brilliant lol.

[Primmy]

I would call that Dry, very very dry commentary.....classic.

[Bas]

What happened to 2010?

What happened in 2009? We missed the finals.

Yes I can see the opera house in that sand pattern. I also see a little sheep and a moo cow and a cuddly horsey too. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Bas]

I would call that Dry, very very dry commentary.....classic.

A remarkable contrast for him from Club Champion Dinner. He'd probably say he was hydrating himself in anticipation for the dune runs.

[Auntie.Gerald]

do u think in pic 10/10 that is Kennedy on the inside lane ??............it saids it is on the caption but I wondered if it was a player training with us we dont know of ?

http://www.sydneyswans.com.au/photo%20galleries/tabid/16822/default.aspx

[BSA5]

do u think in pic 10/10 that is Kennedy on the inside lane ??............it saids it is on the caption but I wondered if it was a player training with us we dont know of ?

http://www.sydneyswans.com.au/photo%20galleries/tabid/16822/default.aspx

Seriously? That's definitely Josh Kennedy.

What I find interesting is that in picture 1, it looks a lot like Kieran Jack is wearing a Power Balance band.... :(

[swansrob]

do u think in pic 10/10 that is Kennedy on the inside lane ??............it saids it is on the caption but I wondered if it was a player training with us we dont know of ?

http://www.sydneyswans.com.au/photo%20galleries/tabid/16822/default.aspx

What BSA5 said - definitely Kennedy.

[ugg]

What I find interesting is that in picture 1, it looks a lot like Kieran Jack is wearing a Power Balance band.... :(

Looking through the gallery, he's not the only one!

[Big Al]

What I find interesting is that in picture 1, it looks a lot like Kieran Jack is wearing a Power Balance band.... :(

I think the power bands are a scam but if you genuinely believe they work then they probably will. The mind is an incredibly powerful tool.

[Bas]

I think the power bands are a scam but if you genuinely believe they work then they probably will. The mind is an incredibly powerful tool.

They were selling them in Melbourne last week at Equitana for $70 each. I declined to purchase.

[Jewels]

I think the power bands are a scam but if you genuinely believe they work then they probably will. The mind is an incredibly powerful tool.

They seem to be working OK for the Pommie cricketers!

[swansrob]

From a couple of weeks ago...

?Corrective Advertisement

Power Balance wristbands

In our advertising we stated without qualification that Power Balance wristbands improved your strength, balance and flexibility. We admit that there is no basis for our unqualified claims and therefore we engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in breach of s52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974.

If you feel you have been misled by our promotions, we wish to unreservedly apologise and offer a full refund.

To obtain a refund please visit our website Power Balance (www.powerbalance.com.au) or contact us toll-free on 1800 xxxxxx

This offer will be available until [insert date six months after the commencement date of the Undertaking]. To be eligible for a refund, together with return postage, you will need to return a genuine Power Balance product along with proof of purchase in Australia.

This Corrective Notice has been paid for by Power Balance Australia Pty Ltd and placed pursuant to an undertaking to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission given under section 87B of the Trade Practices Act, 1974.

[BSA5]

I think the power bands are a scam but if you genuinely believe they work then they probably will. The mind is an incredibly powerful tool.

Of course. The Placebo effect, the power of suggestion, it's all very real stuff. But believing they'll work in the first place is not a particularly glowing endorsement of a person's intelligence. Then again, when you've got the money, might as well spend it.


Looking through the gallery, he's not the only one!

I saw a lot of wristwatches, and maybe LRT had one as well but it was difficult to tell. Jack's was the only one that definitely looked like power balance.

[Kirkari]

I think the power bands are a scam but if you genuinely believe they work then they probably will. The mind is an incredibly powerful tool.

Well, I don't know about the first sentence, but agree with the second. Maybe more like the fan rituals (to sing or not sing the song before the game, etc.) and how we think they influence the outcome of the game. They don't change the outcome but they change our enjoyment/engagement level. A wristband (or any amount of positive thinking) won't make Kizza better, stronger, faster, but the fact he bought it (especially given his reputation for being "careful" with his cash) means he's focussed on being better, stronger, faster, so no harm either.

If he wears the wristband and believes in it so much he stops training, let's see how effective it is...

[Go Swannies]

Of course. The Placebo effect, the power of suggestion, it's all very real stuff. But believing they'll work in the first place is not a particularly glowing endorsement of a person's intelligence. Then again, when you've got the money, might as well spend it.


A friend of mine is a senior immunologist working with NASA and the Australian Antarctic Division and from what he's told me the placebo effect is remarkable. Not only that it works but that is can even work if you tell people that it's a placebo. Give people pills and tell them these are the real thing and these are placebos and both groups react as if the pills were all genuine. So, in the case of the Powerband, you could sell it to someone telling them that it does nothing and it will have the effect for which it's sold. That's just weird.

[laughingnome]

Of course. The Placebo effect, the power of suggestion, it's all very real stuff. But believing they'll work in the first place is not a particularly glowing endorsement of a person's intelligence.

So what of the numerous people in competitions who have lucky socks, lucky undies, dress left-to-right, don't talk, do talk, get dressed at an exact time, and any number of other seemingly insignificant things that sportspeople do in the belief that it will in some way give them the edge? The belief that something works can give even the strongest mind a jolt, it has nothing to do with natural intelligence.

[Big Al]

They seem to be working OK for the Pommie cricketers!

Only if the sun was reflecting off the bands into the Aussie bowlers eyes. Would explain some of the crap bowling I guess.

[Go Swannies]

So what of the numerous people in competitions who have lucky socks, lucky undies, dress left-to-right, don't talk, do talk, get dressed at an exact time, and any number of other seemingly insignificant things that sportspeople do in the belief that it will in some way give them the edge? The belief that something works can give even the strongest mind a jolt, it has nothing to do with natural intelligence.

Isn't that rather "I didn't do this and lost" rather than "If I do this, I'll win"? The same reason that superstition says you don't carry bananas on fishing vessels.

[Bas]

Isn't that rather "I didn't do this and lost" rather than "If I do this, I'll win"? The same reason that superstition says you don't carry bananas on fishing vessels.

Very viscious those sea monkeys.

[Big Al]

Very viscious those sea monkeys.

(clap)

[Primmy]

Isn't that rather "I didn't do this and lost" rather than "If I do this, I'll win"? The same reason that superstition says you don't carry bananas on fishing vessels.

I dunno. I keep thinking "if I only buy a jackpot lottery ticket after it reaches $3m then I'll win". Stupid superstition.....doesn't work.

[BSA5]

A friend of mine is a senior immunologist working with NASA and the Australian Antarctic Division and from what he's told me the placebo effect is remarkable. Not only that it works but that is can even work if you tell people that it's a placebo. Give people pills and tell them these are the real thing and these are placebos and both groups react as if the pills were all genuine. So, in the case of the Powerband, you could sell it to someone telling them that it does nothing and it will have the effect for which it's sold. That's just weird.

I suppose that if you are expecting to experience the placebo effect, you will....


So what of the numerous people in competitions who have lucky socks, lucky undies, dress left-to-right, don't talk, do talk, get dressed at an exact time, and any number of other seemingly insignificant things that sportspeople do in the belief that it will in some way give them the edge? The belief that something works can give even the strongest mind a jolt, it has nothing to do with natural intelligence.

What of them? There is a big difference between doing something out of superstition and paying $70 for dodgy sports science with no basis. If somebody happened to have a lucky Power Balance band, and they wore it for luck, then good on them, but most wear it because they genuinely believe it gives them greater core strength, when every single double-blind test has shown that it makes absolutely no difference.

[laughingnome]

My point is that none of these devices (including powerbands) are shown to have any noticeable effect on performance, yet people are ready to line up and say they feel and perform better with them. That the powerband cast money and the others were free doesn't enter the equation; it's still all in the mind as to it's effect. If someone grabbed Ed Barlow in his time at Sydney and said "Hey kid, this thing helps prevent physical injury and pain, guaranteed!" and Barlow swallowed it, I would have no problem if it helped him bore into the packs instead of sitting off them. I have no objection to anyone thinking something does them benefit when physical science says it won't (provided it doesn't hurt them). At the end of the day, it's their money and they can spend it how they wish.

And even in the face of science, I'll bet anything that at least once on the 4th-5th days of the 1st Test each Australian Bowler had the thought cross their minds that the English Batsmen were wearing powerbands. I'm not prepared to discount it's use as a psychological weapon given the memory's trick of exacerbating certain responses.

[aardvark]

I dunno. I keep thinking "if I only by a jackpot lottery ticket after it reaches $3m then I'll win". Stupid superstition.....doesn't work.

I have the same problem/addiction i'm afraid...

[Yuri H]

I think it's bad luck to be superstitious. Luckily I'm not, knock wood.

[liz]

My point is that none of these devices (including powerbands) are shown to have any noticeable effect on performance, yet people are ready to line up and say they feel and perform better with them.

But if none of these devices are shown to have any noticeable effect on performance, surely that means that even a psychological effect is merely an illusion.

[Bas]

But if none of these devices are shown to have any noticeable effect on performance, surely that means that even a psychological effect is merely an illusion.

We can take it further and say all life is just an illusion. An object only exists because we believe it does. In other words, we create our own reality and are directly responsible for what happens to us. Focus on the negative and you will attract negative. That is why visualisation (on it's own) of winning money for example never works.

Don't you love footy holidays!

BTW Does anyone know a link saying which scholarship players have been released by the Club.

[BSA5]

My point is that none of these devices (including powerbands) are shown to have any noticeable effect on performance, yet people are ready to line up and say they feel and perform better with them. That the powerband cast money and the others were free doesn't enter the equation; it's still all in the mind as to it's effect. If someone grabbed Ed Barlow in his time at Sydney and said "Hey kid, this thing helps prevent physical injury and pain, guaranteed!" and Barlow swallowed it, I would have no problem if it helped him bore into the packs instead of sitting off them. I have no objection to anyone thinking something does them benefit when physical science says it won't (provided it doesn't hurt them). At the end of the day, it's their money and they can spend it how they wish.

And even in the face of science, I'll bet anything that at least once on the 4th-5th days of the 1st Test each Australian Bowler had the thought cross their minds that the English Batsmen were wearing powerbands. I'm not prepared to discount it's use as a psychological weapon given the memory's trick of exacerbating certain responses.

Yes, and my point is that if Barlow was to believe that "the holograms respond positively to the body's natural energy" (as they claim), then he's an idiot. Superstition is fine, nobody tries to justify those with science, but Powerband do, and people fall for it. It's bad.

As I said, if somebody had a "lucky" Powerband that they wore simply out of superstition, fine, but it's believing that they are a legitimate scientific piece of equipment that is the idiotic part.

[satchmopugdog]

We can take it further and say all life is just an illusion. An object only exists because we believe it does. In other words, we create our own reality and are directly responsible for what happens to us. Focus on the negative and you will attract negative. That is why visualisation (on it's own) of winning money for example never works.

Don't you love footy holidays!
.

I've walked into a philosophy class.......everything is atoms andspace and our thoughts...and the sound they make when they fallin the forest....WOW

[AnnieH]

Latest Pre-Season Photos (http://www.sydneyswans.com.au/photo%20galleries/tabid/16822/default.aspx)

O.M.G.

Is it just me, or has the running on the dunes bulked up our boys' thighs???

Goodness gracious. There are muscles that have muscles.

That'll keep me going for the holidays!!

[Primmy]

Well!! No Wonder the world is interested in seeing photos of nekked footballers....

[Jewels]

Well!! No Wonder the world is interested in seeing photos of nekked footballers....

Yer, but I can think of better ones to look at then Nick Revolting..........

[Primmy]

Ah Jewels, I have seen Benny Mac's back and can die happy.

Also I like NicMal's back, and I think his tatoo is just so Mal, so don't know what the fuss is about with anyone else, none of our business. But the photo was beautiful.

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Latest Pre-Season Photos (http://www.sydneyswans.com.au/photo%20galleries/tabid/16822/default.aspx)

O.M.G.

Is it just me, or has the running on the dunes bulked up our boys' thighs???

Goodness gracious. There are muscles that have muscles.

That'll keep me going for the holidays!!

Lol, no homo but pictures 2 and 4 impressed me. White and Pyke are giants!

Imagine Jesse finally reaches his potential? Scary!