On this page you can find an explanation of many of the main terms and expressions thatr you will come across in relation to sports tourism and sports travel. I hope you find this page useful and please feel free to recommend any terms that should be added.
B
Bantamweight
This is a weight class used in boxing and also martial arts. To be a bantamweight boxer you have to weigh in between the 115 to 118lb weight. For a sport such as Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), the weight is 126 to 135 lbs.
F
Forehand
Forehand is a type of shot that one makes in tennis or squash and that involves the palm of your hand facing the direction of the shot.
Fosbury Flop
The Fosbury Flop is named after the high jumper Dick Fosbury, who created a style of jumping that involves jumping over a high jump bar backwards.
G
Gaelic Football
Gaelic Football is a very popular sport in Ireland and is controlled by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA).
With 15 players in each team, the game normally last 60 minutes, although it is sometimes played for 70 minutes.
H
Homerun
A ‘home run’ is used in the game of baseball and refers to when a player hits a ball and as a result, is able to get around all four bases to successfully score a run.
P
Pentathlon
A pentathlon is an Olympic event that is composed of 5 individual events. The competitor gets points for each event and these points combine to decide the winner.
The events in the modern pentathlon are:
- Cross country running
- Fencing
- Horse riding
- Swimming
- Shooting
S
Shinty
Shinty is similar in many respects to field hockey and it’s played with a wooden stick and ball.
Shinty is a game I played in secondary school in Plymouth, England, in the 1980s and it originated from Scotland but has been and is played throughout the UK (although mostly only in Scotland these days).
Snowplough Turn
A snowplough turn is one of the first things you learn as a beginner skier. The turn involves creating a v shape with your skies so that you can slow down.
Superstar Effect
The ‘Superstar Effect’ is the concept that having a sporting superstar participate in an event, impacts how the other competitors change their performance because of the superstar’s presence. You can read the seminal paper by Jennifer Brown entitled ‘Quitters Never Win: The (Adverse) Incentive E§ects of Competing with Superstars here‘.
T
Tailgate Party
A tailgate party is a get-together that is extremely popular in American football college and NFL games.
In the main car parks, visitors open up the boot of their car and organize BBQs, drinks, and parties for one or two hours before the game. More from the BBC on tailgate parties.
Taekwondo
Taekwondo is a sport that originates from and is extremely popular in South Korea. Taekwondo involves a mix of kicks, punches, with spinning kicks and kicks to the head scoring extra points. This is now an Olympic sport.
V
Varsity
The term ‘varsity’ is most commonly used when discussing the inter-university boat race between Cambridge University and Oxford University boat crews. This varsity boat race takes place annually every spring on the River Thames in London.
