Sporty

Can you change how you think about pain, and therefore your experience of it?In this series, four very different people are each trying to take control of what they can in their lives. So far it's been exercise, diet and sleep.Now, it's pain

There's an awful lot that can keep you awake at night.In this series, four very different people are each trying to take control of what they can in their lives. So far it's been exercise, and diet.Now they discuss their difficulties with sleep - and what sends them into the arms of Morpheus.

Life is full of slings and arrows that are outside of your control. So what about the things that are within your power, to make you feel better?This time the focus is on what you eat and drink.Four people each on a quest to take control of this share their experiences and insights.

Life is full of things that are beyond your control. You lose your job. A relationship ends. Someone dies. Or indeed, there's a global pandemic. So what about the things that are within your power, that can make you feel better?This special series over four weeks in turn focuses on diet, sleep, pain, and in this episode - exercise. They're the controllables.

Summers of long ago are evoked by old abandoned crumbling cricket pitches. Meet a sports lover whose mission is to find and photograph them.

We're dreaming of a white Christmas here on Sporty, with Australian Winter Olympians, past and prospective

Formula E, Extreme E and eSkootr are all new forms of electric vehicle racing. They're pushing the high octane motor racing industry to environmental responsibility. But how can you be a petrol head when there’s no petrol?

Back in 1978, a couple of thousand runners lined up to compete in the first-ever Melbourne Marathon. Among them, 5 young men - who've run every single one of those marathons ever since. They're now well into their 60s and 70s, and about to do it all over again. So what's compelled them to keep going? And why are more and more ordinary people drawn to competing in endurance events?

Why do some people sweat a lot, others a little? If you sweat so much that you have trouble holding a tennis racket or weights, are there safe and successful treatments?

Olympic gold medallists Cate Campbell and Bronte Campbell have competed against each other their whole lives. Surely there's massive sibling rivalry between them?When you exercise do you sweat a lot, or hardly at all? Why are there such differences from one person to another? And how can the chemical composition of your sweat be used to monitor your training load and athletic performance?

Are you okay about watching sports events where it's pretty likely competitors are doping? What about when your club says it won't tolerate sexual violence from players, and yet there they are on the field again?

One of the battles fought on the home front during the First World War was over the meaning and purpose of sport. Why?And, stories of youthful formative experiences in cricket from former international player Adam Gilchrist and commentator Alister Nicholson

Lots of lifestyle factors are known to influence the variety of microbes living in your gut, and therefore your health. The focus is now turning to the role of exercise. It’s emerging that top athletes have microbes that the rest of us don’t, that affect sports performance.Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have made their mark in lots of sports at the top level, but not netball. Jemma Mi Mi is currently the only Indigenous Super Netball player. Former Australian Diamonds player Sharon Finnan-White has a radical proposition: an all-Indigenous team for the Super Netball competition.

What's a soccer match like when there's no heading the ball? Is it still a good game?Plus, is going vegan better for sports performance?

How many people have their best ideas when out for a walk? Well, Aristotle, Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed and Steve Jobs would all be in that category. Why does walking affect how you think? And - football is all about running to get possession of the ball. And yet, the soccer player who's regarded as the best of his generation prefers to walk. It's been said that Lionel Messi walks better than most players run. Why?

We all do it without thinking about it. We breathe in, we breathe out.How much does the way you breathe, though, affect you physiologically and psychologically? How can breathing techniques improve performance in sport and exercise, as well as reduce stress and pain in daily life?

What makes surfing a distinctive sport unlike any other? And, how one tennis club has kept its juniors active and engaged through numerous lockdowns.

Meet the world's first carbon neutral football club.Plus, a run through AFL footy banners.

How do you reconcile growing up with expectations that you're going to be a star footballer, but you don't quite make it? It's not the stuff of the usual football memoirs, but almost making it to the top of professional football is actually a much more interesting story.

What needs to change and what needs to stay the same about the way the Olympic Games operate?

Jessica Fox won the gold medal at Tokyo in the women's canoe slalom. Her father Richard is a former canoe world champion. The two have a bond forged over years of early mornings on rivers and race courses.Dennis Cometti is a much-loved veteran sports broadcaster, best known for his AFL coverage on TV and radio. His son Mark became a professional wrestler in the U.S, before returning to Perth and joining his father in the radio commentary box. 

Why do people rave about the physical and mental health benefits of cold water swimming? Also, do fitness trackers make you more active?

While the Olympic Games were a 19th century invention, the Paralympics didn't get going until well into the 20th century. The stories of three pioneering Australian Paralympians who competed in those early days of international disability sport.

He’s just turned 40. He's been a top tennis player for 20 years and it seems hard to imagine the game without him. Why is Roger Federer so good, so enduring and so popular?

'Older, wiser, slower, stronger' is Dean Karnazes' motto these days. The veteran U.S endurance athlete and New York Times bestselling author has run vast distances everywhere from Death Valley to Antarctica. He says he runs not to live longer, but to live more fully.

If you've been watching the gymnastics at the Olympic Games, you'll be an armchair expert by now on the various events and apparatus. Imagine then if one those pieces of equipment was not properly set up - like, say, at the wrong height? It wouldn't happen, would it? One of the Olympic cycling races is the keirin. It's a version of a Japanese cycling sport that's popular but not altogether respectable

At the 1964 Tokyo Games, the Olympic flame was lit by a young runner, born in Hiroshima on the day the atomic bomb was dropped there in 1945. What symbolism and stories has this Tokyo Olympic opening ceremony evoked?

Can you change how you think about pain, and therefore your experience of it?In this series, four very different people are each trying to take control of what they can in their lives. So far it's been exercise, diet and sleep.Now, it's pain

There's an awful lot that can keep you awake at night.In this series, four very different people are each trying to take control of what they can in their lives. So far it's been exercise, and diet.Now they discuss their difficulties with sleep - and what sends them into the arms of Morpheus.

Life is full of slings and arrows that are outside of your control. So what about the things that are within your power, to make you feel better?This time the focus is on what you eat and drink.Four people each on a quest to take control of this share their experiences and insights.

Life is full of things that are beyond your control. You lose your job. A relationship ends. Someone dies. Or indeed, there's a global pandemic. So what about the things that are within your power, that can make you feel better?This special series over four weeks in turn focuses on diet, sleep, pain, and in this episode - exercise. They're the controllables.

Swimmer Maddie Groves' raw comments on social media about a culture of 'misogynistic perverts' in sport have focused attention on the lack of women in leadership and top level coaching positions. Can real cultural shifts only happen when this changes?Plus - hurling an axe at a target is a sure-fire way to release any pent-up rage you might be feeling with the world. As a sport, axe throwing is less than 20 years old.

We're living longer, so should we be surprised when a 50 year old wins a major golf tournament, or an athlete competes across multiple Olympic Games?Plus, you know how you can be really sore a couple of days after you've done some new exercise. Why does it happen? Is it bad?

Why are post-match press conferences obligatory for tennis players? For players now used to controlling their own narrative through social media, maybe having to front up to journalists and answer their questions is outdated and intrusive.Plus, is concussion the existential threat that all the football codes face? Do these sports have to do more, not only to protect their players but to safeguard their financial viability, as lawsuits loom?

Sometimes you end up leading a life you never expected to.Tanya Hosch is the first Indigenous person on the AFL's leadership executive. She's got no background in sport, but she's kicking goals, metaphorically. Mel Hoffman had no idea what rugby league was, until she met and married an NRL player. Thus began a life of getting to know this game, warts and all.

Cricket bats have been made from English cricket willow for more than 200 years. A more sustainable and cheaper high-performance bat made from bamboo could disrupt this. But how does any sport decide whether to permit or reject a radical new equipment design?

It's pre-dawn in the middle of winter. Think of plunging into the sea without a wetsuit, especially in parts of the country where the water gets really cold. Surely this can only lead to extreme discomfort, and possible hypothermia?  So why do plenty of people do it, and extol its physical and mental health benefits?

Women's gymnastics is one of the most popular sports, at the Olympic Games. It's also a sport where bullying and abuse is rife - around the world, including Australia. But if you peel back the layers, it's possible to reveal how, step by step, this became a sport vulnerable to a culture of abuse.

Why do the countless public health campaigns encouraging people to be more active tend to fail?

From Gallipoli to Baghdad and Kabul, cricket has been used in warfare for deception, distraction and diplomacy.

Imagine if Rugby League and Aussie Rules merged into one football code. It was once a very serious plan, that nearly happened. Who knew?And - can you love playing a team sport if you're not very good at it? Bushrangers Basketball says yes!

Sports concussion is emerging as more frequent and more severe in women than men. Why?

Competitive swimming has historically been white and middle-class. How might it better start to reflect the nation's cultural diversity?

When did humans start to swim? Extraordinarily, the earliest archaeological evidence lies in the Sahara desert.And, women and motorcycles.

Women and girls often feel uncomfortable about having to wear tight and revealing sports outfits. It's a reason they drop out of sport. For some it's about body image. For others it's cultural and religious. What are sports doing to address this?

A violent off-field altercation between players from two local cricket clubs led both clubs to completely review their values and purpose.A first-of-its-kind study analyses the differences in the way women in the AFLW kick a football, compared to male players.

How does breaking get to be in the Olympics? Is this really stretching the definition of sport?If you're a keen runner you could be going through 3 or 4 pairs of shoes a year. What do you do with the old ones?

You've probably heard of resistance training, but are you doing it - and should you?Plus, making the transition from one top level sport to another. Sharni Layton's story.

Summers of long ago are evoked by old abandoned crumbling cricket pitches. Meet a sports lover whose mission is to find and photograph them.

Do fitness trackers make you more active?And, why did tennis become one of the world's top sports?