I was never a great sporty person but enjoyed playing Badminton, Volleyball, Tennis and Football. When I began to have balance problems I could no longer keep up with the physical abilities needed to to play and enjoy these sports any more. What I like to do now is just watch. My faviourate sport at this present time is watching American Football.
I chose this discussion because I know that there are many American people who have ataxia and use the Living With Ataxia site. Unlike football (or soccer as many Americans describe it) I think American football is more physical and more excitingly entertaining. I know I will come under critisism from others but I think the American version of football is a more intellegent game. What do others think? It would also be interesting to know what kind of sports people are still able to do or even hobbies they like who have ataxia.
Do you ever jab your fingers doing crochet Patsy? Hope your hand coordination isn't too bad? Last time I tried kniting of any sort was when I was at primary school. I made my mum a knitting bag which she still has to this day. When I was in hospital during hand therapy classes I played solitaire using small plastic pins to fit into the holes and made shapes and pictures in a simmilar way using another type of board. I was asked to see how fast I could pick pins up from a tray and place them into holes adjacent to it. This was very difficult because whenever I went to grab a pin my hand would crash into the tray and send the pins flying all over the place. Good hand therapy though.
Wats paddle boarding Michael? Sounds interesting. Do you have a specific football team you like to support? I watched a great game last week between the Phyledelphia Eagles and I think it was the Chicago Bears. I also watch the College football which I believe is nearly as popular as the NFL.
My CA is quite mild Iain I do sometimes do a double take with my hands [and feet!!] but it's not a tremor - luckily as crochet is my therapy -- that'a lovely that your mum still uses the knitting bag.
Most of my wool has been donated to me and I make things to sell on eBay for ataxia UK CrochetAtaxia-2008 is my ID.
I won't say whether American football is better than ours but for myself I very much enjoy it whereas I don't watch English football. Enough said.
I was sporty before CA. I loved athletics and used to represent my school at some diciplines. I played netball, badminton and table tennis and used to swim, the latter was to please my parents, I must confess to hating it. I did dog agility which involves a lot of running. I danced to quite a high standard, teaching for a while.
What do I do now? As you know I go horse-riding, which I love and what a work-out! I cross stitch having bought a needle threader. I used to work in beads but that has had to go. There is no way I can thread the beads. Not to worry, I just avoid patterns with beads. I make greetings cards for all occasions using varous mediums. Recently I attended an autumn Fayre and sold 38. Whilst I use various methods I cannot colour transfers. I get around this by using coloured mulbery paper, I place the transfer on the coloured paper. I have cards for every occasion Sympathy,Golden Wedding, Silver Wedding, Pearl Wedding, Good luck, mens birthday, womens birthday, childrens birthday and so on. What took me minutes before takes me an age now, but so what. If the card is particularly fiddly or the embellishment is small ( a jewel for a butterflys eye) and I am having a shaky day I will leave it until the next day.
I have a mini-bike so I work out legs and arms on that, it's very good.
Take care
Carol
PS I go to the stables on non riding days and clean tack- That's a work out in itself!!!
Carol that sounds a very busy life - do you manage to rest in the afternoon? Sometimes when my mind is active but my body exhausted, I lay on the bed and listen to hypnotherapy tape for 20 minutes - usually fall asleep!
Just to say my therapist recommended solitaire using marbles she also said large playing cards were good. I have got both and she is right, they are good for co-ordination. I also have some hand putty, that is good,
Take care
Carol
Iain Stevenson said:
Do you ever jab your fingers doing crochet Patsy? Hope your hand coordination isn't too bad? Last time I tried kniting of any sort was when I was at primary school. I made my mum a knitting bag which she still has to this day. When I was in hospital during hand therapy classes I played solitaire using small plastic pins to fit into the holes and made shapes and pictures in a simmilar way using another type of board. I was asked to see how fast I could pick pins up from a tray and place them into holes adjacent to it. This was very difficult because whenever I went to grab a pin my hand would crash into the tray and send the pins flying all over the place. Good hand therapy though.
Wats paddle boarding Michael? Sounds interesting. Do you have a specific football team you like to support? I watched a great game last week between the Phyledelphia Eagles and I think it was the Chicago Bears. I also watch the College football which I believe is nearly as popular as the NFL.
I am sure my life sounds busier than it is, I try not to sleep during the day because I am afraid the night would be spoilt, it is so long if you don't sleep at night. That said I suffer from extreme tiredness so I do rest during the day. I have a recliner chair which is very comfortable, I sit and re-charge the batteries. Often I take my ipad and play a computer game, this is good for the 'brain' and for co-ordination. I also have a virtual horse which has to be fed and groomed, you also clean the stable and the paddock and enter various showjumping competitions amongs other things. It makes you think.
I like the sound of the music. Take care
Carol Patsy said:
Carol that sounds a very busy life - do you manage to rest in the afternoon? Sometimes when my mind is active but my body exhausted, I lay on the bed and listen to hypnotherapy tape for 20 minutes - usually fall asleep!
We bought a recliner sofa last year and it's a boon - I put my netbook on the arm [it contains all my friends] and I play word games and cityville whilst I crochet and watch tv.
I always exercise in the morning before doing housework and preparing our evening meal then I deal with any ebay sales and go to post office and sometimes Tesco before settling on the recliner.
Except when I visit or have grandchildren here!!
I will be 69 on Monday - not getting any younger!!!
Due to Finances and been mostly housebound I don’t have access to many sports and having elements of Aaxia and Dystonia together means most of my body is affected by one or the other or both!
I have found Wii Fit very helpful, it has helped increased the type of things I can do and the length of time. Can play on them. it’s introduced me to Yoga and Pilates. I like Pilates it seems to have more floor based exercises in it than Yoga and I do well at these. I got into Boxercise recently too which is easy to do from my chair. I’ll be getting some new Boxing and Pilates games for Xmas, which I have looked at via You Tube to see what they require the person to do, so I can work out whether they are adaptable for me.
I like art for fine motor co-ordination but rarely have time to get all my paints out, I have been enjoying the uDraw and finger painting on my iPad for a quick session, but have spent most of the last 5 months focusing on building my core strength up, getting better control over my arms as the involuntary movements in them increased and trying to lose weight. I’ve lost one and half stone (21lbs) so far, but not reached my goal weight yet.
Slow but steady and I’m trying to tone up as I go, my tummy is loads smaller and gone from size UK 20-16. last week I was thrilled when I got in some size 14 jog pants! :0)
I like gardening and walking but i have to do what i can now and not get cross and frustrated.I can do light gardening like propagating but I can't do the heavy maintenance work now. I have found I just have to find ways round things.Also with walking I can go out with my husband but I cannot walk unaided. I will have to find some new hobbies.
I do still knit but slowly like everything else.I can still do some things but I feel weary thinking about them and end up watching rubbish on the tv because it doesn't require much effort.
I won the cup at school for athletics so did a lot of running and jumping .I was very sporty like the rest of us but its no use crying over spilt milk is it. I think we are all very brave for trying and get very emotional when I see other people doing physical things for charity.
I agree but it has been so mild lately you almost feel guilty being inside.Gardener's World has finished on the tv now so there is nothing to inspire me except my magazine which lists jobs to do that I cannot do and I have to wait for the weekends for my husband to plough through the list. I am going to be assessed this pm for Riding for the Disabled following Carol's enthusiasm.
Well done you Marie - I hope the Riding is enjoyable for you. The sun is lovely here but it is still very cold. They discussed at the Ataxia UK conference how the cold affects our muscles - certainly does!!
Just looked at the college football standings and see that South Carolina are doing well Winning 8 and losing only 2. Carolina must be a big state as there are three (I think) college teems. San Francisco 49ers are also doing good. They are well on top in their section. I tend to look out for the Seattle Seahalks as I visited Seatle when I was sixteen years old. I have an uncle from Vancouver in Canada who took me there by car when I was over on holiday.
I'm not much of a sea sport person Michael but I used to like swimming at the local sports centre. I would need someone to take me there and watch I don't slip or fall. Once in the water though I would be fine. My wife dosen't like the water so I haven't been swimming for a long time. I used to love going for a sauna and in between doing a few lengths in the pool. A sauna is a great way to relax the muscles. I always felt good, clean and refreshed after I had been for a sauna/swim.
Michael Ward said:
Lain: My wife does stand up Paddle boarding. I do it with her sometimes however I'm kind of slow. I'm having a lay down paddle board made (12 footer) They are light and really fast. Much easier for my Ataxia since I can lay on my stomach and paddle which will help keep my upper body strong and improve my energy level.
College Football is very exciting in the States. Since I'm from Southern California USC is the favored Team for college ball.
When I was a kid the LA RAMS was our team. They moved to Saint Louis years ago. The San Fransisco 49'ers is our Pro Team these days.
Iain Stevenson said:
Do you ever jab your fingers doing crochet Patsy? Hope your hand coordination isn't too bad? Last time I tried kniting of any sort was when I was at primary school. I made my mum a knitting bag which she still has to this day. When I was in hospital during hand therapy classes I played solitaire using small plastic pins to fit into the holes and made shapes and pictures in a simmilar way using another type of board. I was asked to see how fast I could pick pins up from a tray and place them into holes adjacent to it. This was very difficult because whenever I went to grab a pin my hand would crash into the tray and send the pins flying all over the place. Good hand therapy though.
Wats paddle boarding Michael? Sounds interesting. Do you have a specific football team you like to support? I watched a great game last week between the Phyledelphia Eagles and I think it was the Chicago Bears. I also watch the College football which I believe is nearly as popular as the NFL.
Saw the game on ESPN early this afternoon Michael but only managed to watch the first quarter. I intended to watch the rest on a second replay probably Monday or Tuesday. Well done to the Trojans but I guessed the Ducks would have won having only lost one match before this game and playing on their own ground. Both teams are now on 9-2. Do you go and watch any of USC home matches Michael?
Could you imagine Ataxians playing American football? What could we call ourselves?
I'm not a Basketball fan Michael. We have a Basketball team over here in Scotland who call themselves the Scottish 'Rocks'.
I first became interested in American Football when your country brought the game over to us. The team I went to support set up and played at Hampden Park Glasgow and they were called the 'Scottish Claymores'. The league was made up of I think, 6 teams. Three or four were from Germany, One or two from Holland and one from Scotland. The two finalists would then compete for what was called the 'World Bowl'. I absolutely loved every day out. Anyway there weren’t enough people going to the matches and eventually the Claymores dropped out of the league.
Well I am away to watch the second half of an NFL match between the 'Philadelphia Eagles' and the 'NY Giants' where the Eagles are winning 10-3 at the moment. The game was on live just after 1 o’clock this morning 'British time' so I taped it.
As you mentioned getting season tickets to see the 'Lakers' perhaps a good name for an ataxia Basket Ball team in the same area could be the 'Shaker Lakers'!
I noticed that the South Calafornia Trojans are playing host to the Los Angeles Bruins on Saturday. Hope its televised.
I only became interested in College football since I was diagnosed and lost my jobs due to ataxia. I suppose its one advantage that I'm able to enjoy. Would love to play it though.
PS. Got myself mixed up earlier by mentioning Carolina instead of Calafornia. USA is so big! Do you know that the population in London alone is nearly double than that in whole of Scotland? We have only just over 5 million people which will be absolutely tiny in comparison to Calafornia.