Alexander Technique And Sport

With the Olympics starting today in London, it is hard to escape sport for the next couple of weeks. One of the things all the sports on display have in common is the need for control, balance and poise. These are all things that Alexander Technique can help with, as well as avoiding injury, and Alexander Technique has been successfully used at this highest level. 

Rather, than recite a list that would include Olympic show jumpers, rowers, runners, including the London Olympics’ chairman Lord Coe, I thought it would be interesting to find some clips of great sporting moments demonstrating particularly good use. In the end, I decided to limit myself, to a man who was not an Olympian, but is regarded as the best batsman of all time – Don Bradman. Don Bradman was a man Alexander very much admired and in this clip from You Tube you can see why. 

If you watch Bradman demonstrating each stroke at 2.48 you will see that for each stroke he carefully puts lengthens over the leg he wants to support him before stepping forward or backwards with the other leg. The bat is raised as he goes over the supporting leg and is only used to make the stroke once the moving leg has been placed where Bradman wants it. As, he says they are all ‘practically the same.’ It is a beautiful display of control and use.

For those who crave a little Olympic Glory, here are two clips Seb Coe winning the 1500 in Moscow and then the British Gold medal winning coxless four rowing team in Athens where Mathew Pinsett and Alex Partridge are the two rowers who took lessons. They were taught by Caroline Chishom to ‘overcome an almost religious belief in the contracted muscle, an over-trained physique and an immune system on the blink.’ Semi-supine was to help them recover from races better, to prevent injuries and to boost their immune system. They were also taught about the importance of lengthening muscle for making longer more powerful strokes, while using the hip joints rather than bending at the waist. It all helped with all their other training to help them get Gold. 

No posts till September as its the Olympics and then the festival here in Edinburgh.