Player of the Day

SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE

Today's Player of the Day is:
Thomas Firkin

Although many would disagree or are disappointed at this it has to be done. Didn't exactly dominate but still manage to retain King for a long time and was rarely in the line. Thomas wasn't targeted today by any players and nobody finished him which result in him lasting in Kings today until the final whistle.
Congratulations.

Lunchtime Report

Don't have a lot of time to do a full report now, might do it later tonight.

Today's Player Ratings:
Tim Apps: 5
Alejandro Barrientos: 7
Julian Beardman : 0
Jan Coetzee: 5
Rory Fearn: 5
Thomas Firkin: 9
Shane Garner: 0
Simon Gray: 8
Callum Ireland: 5
Travis Judd: 3
Aniket Mehindale: 5
Lance Molyneaux: 6
Hayden Murray: 6
Max Prestidge: 5
Thomas Smith: 6
Kawana Waugh: 4
Rhys Williams: 5

Today's King: Thomas Firkin

Player of the Day

THAT'S THE HAT TRICK

Today's Player of the Day is: Lance Molyneaux

Although his game hasn't been spectacular of the last few days we have seen some excellent form in Kings. Played competently in all squares including King with some fancy looking behind the back shots and through the legs shot. Makes today his hat trick of finishing in Kings and so deservedly gets player of the day with his only true competition being Hayden Murray.
Congratulations.

Lunchtime Report

Lance made this his third lunchtime in Kings showing some stunning form as he played some great shots, especially those behind the back ones. There were gaps as players had to go swim for the vertical form and many amateurs joined as substitutes to fill the line and add numbers. It was really hot today and I'm sure the swims were appreciated.

Its hard to write a report with so many players missing at different times but I did see some good handball by some players. Although there were two players who ran the game today, being Lance and Hayden. They completely controlled Kings. Shane Garner started well as did Julian who was a regular in King. Tooslows seemed to be a favorite today which frustrated many of the slower players who did not want to put any effort in as they were "too hot". This resulted in an easy path to Kings for some and a hot bore for others.

As players dribble in from the swimming pool the competition increased and we saw some great shots from many unexpected players. Hayden Murray was one of the better players this afternoon and between him and Lance Molyneaux shared the squares. Today was a day for everything. All types of shots were observed and all players had their say to make a pretty hot a boring day really with nothing really out of the ordinary.
Lets get a more organized game going tomorrow with some true handball.

Today's Player Ratings:

Tim Apps: 5
Alejandro Barrientos: 5
Julian Beardman : 6
Jan Coetzee: 4
Rory Fearn: 6
Thomas Firkin: 6
Shane Garner: 4
Simon Gray: 6
Callum Ireland: 5
Travis Judd: 3
Aniket Mehindale: 3
Lance Molyneaux: 7
Hayden Murray: 7
Max Prestidge: 5
Thomas Smith: 3
Kawana Waugh: 3
Rhys Williams: 4

Today's King: Lance Molyneaux

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Player of the Day

DOUBLE WHAMMY

Today's Player of the Day is:
Simon Gray

What do I need to say? Fantastic once again. Need I bring up Mr Consistency or are we all thinking it? Countless finishing shots and round after round in King. Ruthlessly eliminating those in his way he moved up. dDdn't dominate as such like yesterday but good form nevertheless.
Congratulations

Lunchtime Report

Again Lance finished in Kings today showing great consistency as we saw that strong finish but still did not shine as he should of with a very poor first half to lunch time. This is a pretty fair mould which many players today were able to fit in.

Another hot day saw players fatigue and tire. Lance Molyneaux, Shane Garner are just two of the players who started horribly today. They sat in the line for a long time, but the sport psycology counselling sessions really paid off as they talked to themselves and picked themselves up to go out with a bang. We saw the inverse for Alejandro Barrientos, Travis Judd and Hayden Murray who all began with boost which saw them controlling the game only to slip and stumble out of Kings.

Another nice performance by Tim Apps who hadn't started the season well saw a stunning skimmer take Shane Garner out clean swept.There was more from MR Consistency as well as some of Alejandro Barrientos' trademark too slows. A new ball was introduced today "The Master Handball 2000" which gave strength and confidence to those who were lacking causing an amazing atmosphere which was on the verge of getting out of hand.

Travis Judd had a nice game today playing his ever so high slam shot as the headers flew left, right and center. Jan Coetzee looked as strong as ever today but for unknown reasons did not make an impact on the game. After a fight in the changing room Aniket Mehindale came onto the pitch in distress and full of anger, a longlived fued between himself and Alejandro Barrientos distracting him from the game. There have been claims that "discriminatory racist comments" and "unnecesary bullying" are to blame but we do have to question Alejandro's motives.
But the game was otherwise played in good spirits and the competition was strong. The Handball Premier League is showing its true colours now.

Today's Player Ratings:

Tim Apps: 7
Alejandro Barrientos: 6
Julian Beardman : 0
Jan Coetzee: 5
Thomas Firkin: 6
Shane Garner: 7
Simon Gray: 8
Callum Ireland: 5
Travis Judd: 6
Aniket Mehindale: 4
Lance Molyneaux: 7
Hayden Murray: 7
Max Prestidge: 5
Thomas Smith: 6
Kawana Waugh: 3
Rhys Williams: 5

Today's King: Lance Molyneaux

Player of the Day

MR CONSISTENT

Today's Player of the Day is:
Simon Gray

With a bumpy start he managed to consistently retain King and force out many players who grumbled and groaned. Was best performer today but nearly succumbed to Tim Apps a close competitor. With lots of low shots which many found difficult to handle and some great glancing headers Simon Gray took the game by its throat and dominated.
Congratulations.

Lunchtime Report

Motivation and enthusiasm came to a halt today defying the rising trend which is most probably a result of the weekend. Lance Molyneaux finished in King even after an average performance.

Tim Apps was one of few who stood out today with a thunderous start to the game today. He managed to snatch King a number of times and retain it. Simon Gray a usually high performer continued his fine form today with another good session as he commanded the squares unlike Rhys Williams who despite the advice was unable to. Shane Garner's performance was not up to scratch today as he struggled to make an impression on the top players. All eyes were on Thomas Smith as the most recent player of the day to step up and work bt we didn't see it in him today.

Rhys Williams started in his preferred position (King) and managed to maintain it for a round or two. A secret alliance where Lance Molyneaux intended to betray Rhys Williams failed and was unsuccessful as Rhys never made it to King again, but we did manage to see Rhys play some unorthadox headers. Some players refused to get him out commenting that; "He's a scapegoat, free square and most of all ridiculous entertainment".

Some new Kings took the throne today, Callum Ireland being the most significant. It was an accomplishment for him, a real milestone in his handballing career. After Shane Garner's horrible performance today the players sponsor have threatened to withdraw funds unless a new coach was appointed. This was a real shock to The Handball Premier League as supports believed that such a young player should not have such pressure on him.

All players contributed today and we saw the best and worst of them all. Alejandro Barrientos as per usual showed enthusiasm that many lacked. But all was well...
and they lived happily ever after.




....Amen

Today's player ratings:
Tim Apps: 8
Alejandro Barrientos: 7
Julian Beardman : 6
Jan Coetzee: 7
Thomas Firkin: 5
Shane Garner: 4
Simon Gray: 9
Callum Ireland: 6
Travis Judd: 5
Aniket Mehindale: 5
Lance Molyneaux: 7
Hayden Murray: 6
Max Prestidge: 5
Thomas Smith: 6
Kawana Waugh: 5
Rhys Williams: 6

Today's King: Lance Molyneaux

Player of the Day

THE KING

Today's Player of the Day is:
Lance Molyneaux

Played a stunning game all over. Spent more time than anyone in King and only once in line. Made some flashy looking serves and teased and destroyed enemy players on all sides with some sterling stuff. Deserved it but just snatched it out of Jan Coetzee's hand who followed closely behind with a good performance.
Congratulations.

Lunchtime Report

Many people were disappointed when Alejandro Barrientos ended in King. I say let the kid have his 15 minutes of fame. After all by the time you've finished reading this post you'll have forgotten him. Following the week that was, today was a great day for all aspects of handball, The too slowed were much too slow, the skimmers were skimmed fast, the headers were headed hard and the errors became errorer....er. But all was well in The Handball Premier League©.

I'd like to make an honourable mention to Rory Fearn who is putting in a lot of effort and showing commitment to join The Handball Premier League© he needs a fifth and final day on Monday to be initiated. The day was really devoted to two players who rose above the rest to dominate Kings with other players scattered in between their reigns of power. These players are Jan and Lance. Although neither of them finished in kings they controlled the handball court playing some stunning shots as they grew. Meanwhile on the other hand there were those who shall not be named who are just not performing to the standard of The Handball Premier League©. You know who you are! (feel free to comment on this, he he he he he) and I quote "the noobs became noober and the Kings became kinger". Alejandro Barrientos and Hayden Murray were not ontop of their game today and this was evident in the errors and incompetence to compete with the speed of the game they show.

The beginning of the lunchtime sparkled as Julian Beardman put up a fight to take and maintain Kings. He took the game by the scruff of the neck and bulldozed his way up knocking player after player out of his way. Some enemies were formed as time marched on, Thomas Smith made attempts to remove Hayden Murray and Glenn Northcott tried to take Rhys Williams out while Alejandro Barrientos had his eyes on Aniket Mehindale. Slowly but steadily improving, we saw Max Prestige pressurize players who had Kings in sight as he too managed to survive many rounds in amongst the Royal Triangle reclaiming King occasionally. Tim Apps was another who showed that he can play at a top level. Made King once unlike many many players today and pushed for the Royal Triangle time after time. By the end of lunchtime we were all disappointed that Moller hadn't extended lunchtime as all were keen for more.

Today's Player Ratings:

Tim Apps 7

Alejandro Barrientos 8

Julian Beardman 7

Jan Coetzee 9

Thomas Firkin 6

Shane Garner 5

Simon Gray 6

Callum Ireland 4

Travis Judd 5

Ciaran King 0

Aniket Mehendale 5

Lance Molyneaux 9

Hayden Murray 6

Glenn Northcott 5

Max Prestige 5

Thomas Smith 6

Kawana Waugh 4

Rhys Williams 5

Today's King: Alejandro Barrientos

Player of the Day

MISERABLE MADNESS

Today's Player of the Day is:
Thomas Smith

With more difficult than normal circumstances this player sowed the effort and reaped the Kings square. He did damage to many and spent the majority of the wet mess in King despite some top performances by a couple of good players.. Jumping inbetween Jack, Queen and King he managed to supress the top talent and hold his own in King while playing some great defensive as well as offensive shots. He worked his way up from a poor rating in his first match to PoD today, improving his form daily, and deservedly gets Player of the Day.
Congratulations!

Notice

Please Note:
Many players at FDMC have wanted to be included in the ratings and be named as a player in The Handball Premier League©. Unfortunately we do have limited numbers and would like to reserve this space for those players who show commitment and regularity. As a result of this if you're present less and less frequently you will be removed from the records. If you have not been included I apologize and encourage you to be present a lot more often and play regularly. If you feel that you HAVE shown these two factors then please leave your reasons and your name and the bottom of the post and I will make a reasonable and rational decision.
Thank you.

Lunchtime Report

Today's handball match was a very unproductive session for most of the players in The Handball Premier League© but not for all. The rain came belting down just before the warm up started and the cancellation of the lunchtime game was in everybody's mind through periods three and four. You could cut the tension with a knife.

The wet conditions almost caused the King of the day to go unnoticed, as Thomas Smith battled through the rain. Clothes were drenched and hair was soaked but the commitment shone through like a shimmering light. We could almost divide the game into two halves, one where it drizzled and the other where it poured. With the conditions in mind, rolls was combined with the original rules during the second half to spice the game up, weather (hehe) it did or not is a matter of opinion as we saw many fancy moves side by side with some dull plays.
Travis Judd and Kawana Waugh showed why they deserved to be in the league as they fiercely competed for Kings and arrived there successfully too in the first half a number of times. When rolls was included Simon Gray and Hayden Murray stood out as they quickly and swiftly moved the ball on in rolls getting out each their fair share of players. Sadly we even lost some players to negativity of the wetness such as Shane Garner, Jan Coetzee, Tim Apps and Aniket Mehindale while others players made a very small contribution. Consistency was shown by some of the currently top players as they performed high than the rest despite the miserable weather. Ciaran King joined today to up the numbers, making his debut, but was unable to match Tom Fahy's stunning exhibit from yesterday. With the closing of the field random players joined the game today but as result of a lack of commitment and regularity will not be included in The Handball Premier League©.Occasionally we get lil'uns who decide they want to try the big league and fail. Today we had the "Tiny, annoying, kid who yelled from the sidelines". Alejandro Barrientos and not surprisingly Rhys Williams, who's lacking recent form, did not feature in the match and did not show their true potential but still add their 2cents to the wet mess of a game played today. We saw many a player make more frequent errors and misshits which would result in the game coming to an abrupt halt. Although it was wet and although it was difficult I think we can all agree that the best handball wasn't played today but rather that players showed loyalty to the game proving that this truely is The Handball Premier League©. Lets keep our fingers crossed that the conditions improve tomrrow.

Today's Player Ratings:
Tim Apps 0
Alejandro Barrientos 4
Julian Beardman 0
Jan Coetzee 0
Thomas Firkin 0
Shane Garner 0
Simon Gray 6
Callum Ireland 2
Travis Judd 5
Ciaran King 4
Aniket Mehendale 0
Lance Molyneaux 5
Hayden Murray 6
Glenn Northcott 0
Max Prestige 3
Thomas Smith 6
Kawana Waugh 5
Rhys Williams 3

Today's King: Thomas Smith

Oh and there's a new poll. Thanks

The Handball Shot Guide

This week's shot to practice is:

The Direction Changer

This is a very commonly used shot all over the handball court. When performed with precision can be deadly.

The shot involves facing the direction the ball will be coming head on. Upon the ball reaching your hand inbetween knee and chest level you simply step the leg, which is on the side that you're to change the direction of the ball to, backward turning your whole body side on to the direction the ball came from. You just nudge the ball in the direction you want the ball to go utilizing the power, speed and momentum the ball has already obtained to do the work for you.
You must ensure you hit the ball down and that you move your body as you change the direction of the ball so as to prevent it hitting you.

Now this shot is similar to the pull shot but must be differentiated from it, for the Direction Changer the ball must only change by an obtuse angle. Anything more than 89 degrees is a pull shot and so will loose a lot of the speed, power and momentum which are necessary to make this it effective. The best areas to use this shot are in Kings as the ball is sent from all sides directly at you. I do not recommend playing The Direction Changer in any of the corner squares without the skill or knowledge of what you're doing as the ball will most probably land outside of the squares resulting in you getting out. This shot can be very sneaky as it is often not expected and can generate a lot of pace if used in the right situations.

Pros and Cons

A few of the Pros

• Has a very wide target area
• Can easily get you out of sticky situations by getting the ball out of dangerous areas
• Is quick, deadly and unexpected
• When placed perfectly is unstoppable
• Usually a very low shot so players are unable to header it well

A few of the Cons

• Is often hard to control with such pace
• Cannot be used in one on ones
• Can only be used in half the squares
• Usually can only be used to get out weaker players due to the high opposite low square layout

Happy Handballing!

Player of the Day

DEBUT DREAM!

Today's Player of the Day is:
Tom Fahy

Two years ago this player was playing in the average league and then he retired. He made his debut into the BIG league today and boy was it a dream come true. Quality shots were played all round with incredible consistency. Often unnoticed he made Kings a number of times and ended in the square as King as well. For a debut player to do so well is quite extrordinary and he threatened and eliminated all players all over the handball court. For his super start to The Handball Premier League and a rating of a high 8 I award The Player of the Day to Tom Fahy.
Congratulations

Lunchtime Report

The intensity of the game today picked up and everyone could feel it. We saw a few players make their debut with an exceptional debut by Tom Fahy who manage to survive the battle and who ended in Kings. Some great rallies surfaced with some hot burning one on one battles as well as some horrible errors which embarrassed the rest of the players of The Handball Premier League© The hot weather made it a sticky but very dynamic lunchtime nonetheless.

Glenn continued his useless tooslow form as he dropped a countless number of catches. A significantly better performance by a number of players today was a highlight of the game today. Thomas Smith, Simon Gray, Jan Coetzee and Julian Beardman went home last night with one thing in their minds, an improvement in their performance. This was evident today as all of them reached kings a number of times and played some fantastic looking shots. Alejandro Barrientos and Hayden Murray continued to use their favourite tooslows while Aniket Mehendale persisted with his hook shot which was so utterly devastating yesterday.

With the wind and the rain on holiday today some great rallies were present and The Handball Premier League shone. There were many power drive duels as puddles were not a factor, Lance Molyneaux and Hayden Murray being included in many of them. With a spring in its step the ball consistently bounce high today resulting in some finesse header shots and significantly less rolls. As the line grew longer players became restless and the King's call was being challenged often as players did not want to wait in such a lengthy line. Glenn Northcott and Aniket Mehendale are just a few who got out of hand. Lance, Jan, Shane and Simon were called on to play many last ditch efforts to get themselves of trouble and succeeded more often than not to allowing them to survive for just that much longer in the squares. Kawana Waugh, Rhys Williams and Travis Judd appeared to not be able to handle the pressure today as they disappointed themselves time after time. With close to a maximum number of players present today the game became a little more messy than usual but I think we can all say we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as the pressure pushed us to play as best as we could. Lets keep up the quality stuff guys!

Today's Player Ratings:

Tim Apps 5
Alejandro Barrientos 8
Julian Beardman 6
Jan Coetzee 7
Tom Fahy 8
Thomas Firkin 5
Shane Garner 7
Simon Gray 8
Callum Ireland 4
Travis Judd 3
Aniket Mehendale 4
Lance Molyneaux 7
Hayden Murray 8
Glenn Northcott 6
Max Prestige 4
Thomas Smith 7
Kawana Waugh 2
Rhys Williams 4

Today's King: Tom Fahy

If you have been left out or would like your player rating
please leave a comment at the bottom of the post. Thanks

Top Ten Tips

This week's Top Ten Tips is all about improving the mental aspect of your game.

Tip #10: Anticipate
Be prepared. Think that every shot is aimed you.

Tip #9: Positioning
Know where the lines are and where you are in your square.

Tip#8: Research
Know the shots that your opponents favour.

Tip#7: Self-Confidence
Believe in yourself when playing a shot. Don't be afraid to take a risk.

Tip#6: Understand
Read the play, see and understand where the ball will probably go.

Tip#5: Prepare
Talk to yourself prior to lunchtime, GET PUMPED for the game

Tip#4: Reassurance
When luck doesn't go your way reassure yourself that you will do better next time. Don't let it get you down.

Tip#3:Perseverance
When you're tired, struggling and it feels everyone is trying to get you out then push yourself onward.

Tip#2: Dream
Aim high, set goals, and do what ever takes to reach them

Tip#1 Be Aware
Know where your threats/targets are and be ready to aim your shots there. Be ready for shots from them too. They are most often your downfall.