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5 Tips to Win a Tiebreaker

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You might have landed yourself a tiebreaker with a monster comeback and are feeling strong, or you might have blown a lead and are beyond frustration. Whatever the reason or state of mind, here’s the reality: You’re not winning. You’re not losing. You’re tied. Here’s what you need to do to untie things in your favor.
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Hydration: A Major Pigskin Problem

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Most gridiron warriors are significantly dehydrated even before stepping between the sidelines, according to a new study out of Indiana State University.
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Training with Ronnie Brown
As running back Ronnie Brown and the Miami Dolphins’ Wildcat offensive continue to perplex NFL defenses, Stack magazine recently featured video of Brown training at Athletes’ Performance. Check out footage from Ronnie Brown’s workout routine below, and visit Stacktv.stack.com for more.
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Returning Tricky Shots

(Photo by Feng Li / Getty Images)
Hitting high, kicking shots is fun. It puts your opponent on the defensive and induces short balls to easily put away. Returning high kicking shots, on the other hand, is not fun, since you’re on the defensive and prone to hitting short balls that can easily be put away. Rather than continuing to reach up and flail about, try the following to blunt your opponent’s advantage and dictate play.
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How to Improve Lateral Speed for Basketball

(Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images)
You may be able to run up and down the court in a flash, but how well do you move side to side? Your lateral speed is one of the most important factors to become a better defender in basketball. To improve, start by activating your muscles with a proper dynamic warm-up. There's a lot of acceleration and deceleration needed so it's important to loosen your hips and groin first with movements like lateral squats and drop lunges.
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How to Improve Your Net Returns

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The volley really is the simplest of strokes. The problem is that people complicate it, leading to what should be easy winners finding the bottom of the net or back of the fence. It’s time for a return to basics.
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Best Exercises to Improve Balance for Surfing

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Q: What are the best exercises to improve balance for surfing? - Jimmy, Chula Vista, California
A: A good place to start is to improve your ability to get to your feet quickly and maintain balance on the board. Try adding drop squats to your workout. They'll help you learn to reestablish your balance on the board as fast as possible to help you get up on a wave. Drop squats are dynamic, so warm up with sumo squats and lateral squats.
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"Hitting either slice or topspin will take the pressure off and will force your opponent to have to make decisions about how to handle heavy, high bounces or low, short shots."
—Brad Dancer, University of Illinois men's head tennis coach in "5 Tips to Win a Tiebreaker"
"The biggest determinant of calorie burning is your metabolism. And the biggest factor in that is your lean muscle mass. Build more lean muscle, increase your metabolism. "
— fat loss expert Alwyn Cosgrove in "5 Keys to Fat Loss".
Master the World's Greatest Stretch
Performance specialist Nick Winkelman explains why this is our favorite movement.
Click here for more videos from our experts.
"While alcohol can make you sleepy initially, it should never be used as a sedative because it disrupts your sleep cycles, especially REM. This stage is particularly important to athletes because it’s when you consolidate and commit to long-term memory what you learned during the day."
— from "6 Ways Alcohol Disrupts Performance".
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