If you are a slate pool table owner, congratulations on making your dream a reality! Buying a table is surely a very cumbersome task. From picking the best out of the varied stock of pool, billiard and snooker table; to ensuring your slate table is more authentic than the imitations, is quite a journey and an achievement in its self.

Now that you own one, you must be convinced that yours is the greatest most perfect slate table in the whole world. Buying a good quality slate table does deserve a pat on the back but your job does not end here. Slate pool tables are brilliant and retaining their brilliance each day would need some toil.
What you should firstly come to terms with at the very start is that slate pool tables deteriorate over time. Whether you go for a stroke everyday or leave your table looking like a showpiece; pool tables come with an expiry date unless made of pure slate. There may not be anything that can really reverse its aging, but you can surely help it age gracefully. That’s right, before you go bonkers about playing pool with your pals make sure you know all that it takes to retain and maintain its glory.

When it comes to slate pool tables in particular, you must be sure that it is leveled. A slate that is not leveled even by an iota can adversely affect game play. Never attempt to move a fully assembled pool table even by a feet. This will offset the level and you may crack the wax that holds up three pieces of slate. Sitting on the pool table is a also bad idea as it puts the wax at the risk of cracking up. Your table is sensitive and any sort of rough handling can cause serious damages. Avoid getting pets or small kids anywhere around the table. As absurd as it may sound, lights too affect your tables. Constant exposure to sunlight may cause your table cloth to fade and even cause bleaching. Remember to use a pool cover when the table is not in use.

For cleaning the cloth, it is strongly recommended to use a light vacuum cleaner instead of a brush. If you happen to use a brush, always use a brush specifically made for pool tables. While brushing, ensure it is not done against the grain but towards the pockets or from one end to the other. In addition to the cloth, it is extremely crucial to ensure that the balls are clean. The cleanliness of the pool balls can preserve the life of the pool cloth and consequently the table’s magnificence.
The real deal here is to be a responsible owner and treat your table with the love and care it deserves. The next time you play a mind blowing game with your friends, do remember to employ these steps after the game and see how your table continues to reward you!

Swimming is an activity that is enjoyed by all. Swimming is also said to be the only activity that you can never unlearn. Swimming is known to have amazing health benefits. All these are widely known facts. What’s lesser known though is that swimming is an excellent sport for individuals living with vision loss!

The only fear a person without sight has while swimming is that even the visioned has the fear of drowning! There are several tricks that help people with low or no visibility swim like a mermaid. Let’s look at some of these.

Counting the number of strokes while swimming the length of the pool really helps keep a track of the finish line. Tactile feedback like swim ropes and markers too help a great deal. Competitive swimmers are known to make use of tappers. Tappers are just people who tap the swimmers with a long foam poll. These people come into play only when the swimmer is close to the end of the pool or when he/she needs to take a turn. Placing an audio device also makes for a strong indicator of the fact that the finish line is near.

Swimming for the blind is not restricted to pools. The pool may be a safer swimming option but it compares nothing to the sea. Swimming in open water spaces should be achieved with a sighted person or a group. Being receptive to sounds signaling the direction of land can prove helpful while determining the direction in which you want to swim.

The nature of aquatic activities is such that it can be enjoyed irrespective of physical and mental challenges. The most fantastic thing about learning to swim is that it boosts confidence, motivation and self-esteem. Apart from it being an absolutely fun sport, it gives a great sense of achievement to one and all. For people with mental and physical challenges exercise is believed to be an ordeal. Swimming, however, is a great and rewarding activity that helps one stay fit.

Swimming brings a number of benefits to all ages and abilities. Adopting some of the above steps can enable people with visual conditions to enjoy this awesome sport. Whether you are learning it for the first time, or are on a look out to enjoy your precious time with family, swimming is the way to go!

If you are done reading sundry articles about the amazing benefits of swimming, it is certain that you must be excited about incorporating swimming as a part of your daily routine. Merely enrolling yourself at a swimming club is not enough, you must make a list of all the things you need to pack for making your swim session a success. Let us help you with some essentials that you must have in place before you go for your swim.

Swimwear
No points for guessing indeed, swimwear is the most obvious clothing that you would need. Why it is worth mentioning, however, is so that you know your swim wear meets the guidelines laid down by the pool authorities. Before you go on a shopping spree to buy your perfect pool costume make sure you have checked with the pool on what fabrics and styles they allow. Some pools have reservations about certain swim wear and you wouldn’t want to regret putting all that money on a swimsuit you wouldn’t ever use.

Towels
Another obvious necessity, towels are important for you to dry off after your swim. What is important here is that you consider taking more than one towel with you. These come in handy during unforeseen circumstances.

Robe
If you do not want to walk around and outside the pool only in your swim wear, buying a robe may be a good idea. Robes also help keep you warm right after your swim.

Swimming Cap
Some pools do not let you enter the water without caps. It is therefore important you buy a cover for your long hair. Caps not only help keep hair intact neatly, they also protect them from potential chlorine/chemical damages.

Goggles
Goggles may not be an absolute necessity; however, it is a commodity that makes swimming more comfortable. Adding goggles in your swimming kit ensures that your eyes stay protected from the chlorinated water. If you are a newbie in the swimming sector, carry a pair of goggles to avoid any allergic reactions. Nose clip and ear pin is another optional accessory you could use based on your

In addition to the above you may also want to carry a bottle of water to ensure you are hydrated before, during and after your swim. You could add toiletries, flipflops, locks and even snacks depending upon how you would want to go about your swim ritual. Once all these things are in place you are ready to plunge into the pool and let go! Happy Swimming!

The US Census Bureau, in a report announced that some two and a half hours per week of a physical activity, aerobic in nature, quite like swimming can decrease the risk of chronic mental and physical disease. The benefits of swimming are umpteen, apart from being a fun filled recreational activity, swimming is known to have worked wonders with the human body. From making the body aesthetically ‘appealing’ to making the organs like the heart and lungs healthy, swimming does it all! Let us quickly run through some popular health benefits of swimming.

Physical fitness
It is quite well known that swimming helps burn a good amount of calorie, however, that depends on three things- your technique, pace and the basal metabolic rate. If these factors are in place, swimming indeed remains one of the best exercises that helps one reduce weight and tone muscles. Different swimming styles work on different areas of the body. Unlike most of our daily activities (or even other swimming strokes) backstroke helps open chest muscles. It also strengthens the upper back, pulls your shoulders back and helps create better posture. Breaststroke emphasizes the legs and core, while butterfly develops a powerful back, shoulders, arms and core. Both freestyle and backstroke help develop your core as well as strengthen your arms and legs. Swimming also helps use muscles that are usually under worked. While swimming, both the hands and the feet move in coordination and one has to maintain a balance to float on the water, this helps develop the deep stabilizing muscles in the core, lower back, hamstrings, gluts, lats, deltoids and traps.

Improves appetite
Swimming is also known to improve eating disorders. People with no, low or decreased appetite can increase their appetite manifolds by incorporating swimming in their lifestyle.

Healthier organs
Swimming can also help alleviate the symptoms of exercise induced asthma. It also increases vital lung capacity and improves breathing patterns. Studies show that swimming has beneficial effects on the heart as it helps reduce and regulate blood pressure.

Physiotherapy
Swimming is among one of the best therapies to recover from injuries. Swimming ensures minimal injuries and minimal heat exhaustion. It helps recuperate quickly in cases of fractures, frozen shoulders and ligament tear without feeling wear and tear in the body.

Since swimming has all the three elements of physical activities namely endurance, strength and flexibility, it qualifies as one of the best and most effective sport. If you are looking to delay the effects of aging, reduce blood pressure, increase muscle mass, improve oxygen and blood flow to the brain, and increase cardiovascular health, make sure you regularly go for a dip.

Breathing they say is as easy as ABC. Breathing is something that usually comes naturally but when you are under water, breathing and that too correctly, becomes quite a task. If you are a beginner and breathing while swimming makes you nervous, let us help you with some basic drills and techniques. These tips will familiarize you with proper breathing techniques and facilitate good breath control.

Face In water
If you are a beginner and try swimming with your head up, your body invariably drops. It is therefore better to start swimming with your face in water. In shallow water, hold your breath and couch down so that your face or head gets under water.

Good Body Rotation
Constant body rotation is an effective step to ease breathing. That’s right, once you rotate your body either way, you don’t need to turn your head further to breathe. Poor body rotation or rotation only to one side, causes disruptions in breathing. Good body roll makes breathing easier.

Bilateral breathing
If you breathe only on one side, you are most likely to have poor rotation on your non-breathing side. Bilateral breathing or swapping sides, is nothing but breathing to both left and right side. Bilateral breathing enables you to develop a symmetrical stroke that further helps cut straight through the water.

Focus on exhaling and not inhaling
Most swimmers avoid exhaling underwater which makes breathing tedious. If you exhale underwater between your breaths, it is easier to inhale when you breathe out. When you exhale under water through your nose, you blow bubbles. Try exhaling water so much so that you blow bubbles both through your nose and mouth. As your face enters the water, your mouth should be slightly open with a trickle of air going out between your lips. Some swimmers exhale through the mouth and nose, while others exhale gently through the mouth only. Many swimmers find a nose plug allows them to breathe more comfortably. Select the method that is most comfortable for you. Long exhalations ease your breath and help you relax.

Don’t panic if you inhale water
If you happen to breath in some water or accidentally took a gulp, do not get anxious. Instead of panicking, you should try to pronounce the letter K. This tongue movement keeps the water from getting into your throat.

Breathing easily under water helps cover long distances faster and with little effort. When the body is relaxed, the breathing rhythm can be controlled throughout the changing phases of the stroke, making it easier to swim at higher speeds and stay relaxed.

If the monotonous hurly burly of the city life has got into your nerves and you feel like running away into hiding, try mountain biking. Mountain biking is an activity that helps you transcend into greener pastures that are away from the civilization and the drudgery of everyday life. If you are thoroughly sick of your daily mundane routine and want an escape, check out what mountain biking has to offer.

It works like Therapy
If you are frustrated and need to blow off some steam, mountain biking gives you an effective and positive way to vent all your pent-up negativity. Just kick off and hummer it out on a mountain ride. It works better than psychotherapy for some!

You get some thrill in life
As an adventure sport, mountain biking evokes a spirit of exploration and risk-taking. Taking up mountain biking fills up your life with thrilling experiences of darting through rickety bridges, scaling up arrogant peaks, dodging obstacles and coming back to civilization glazed in mud, sweat and an air of adventurous accomplishment.

An awesome activity to get fit
Workouts on treadmills or sweating out in the gym does not always promise everyone a blast. Kicking up in the gym could be a great idea for the motivated but for people with consistency issues, working out is often another mundane liability. With mountain biking, every leg burn and every lung stifling climb rewards you with a real feeling of achievement!

You get healthier lungs
Unlike the city air that is polluted by the angry buses, cars and trucks, mountain bikers get to fill their lungs with fresh and sweet scented air of the mountains. There is nothing better than breathing into the cool forest air that is an awesome welcome change!

Offers you a great escape
If not anything else, mountain biking provides a perfect escape from the daily rut and rift. While on your bike ride, your brain would be entirely detached from all your problems and worries. Breathtaking landscapes, challenging trails and unadulterated beauty of nature would keep you captivated.

If you have previously experienced mountain biking and loved it, it is time to get back to it. If you are inexperienced and wonder where to start, research about easy trails and techniques that makes mountain biking for beginners equally fun. Make sure you use all the protective gear before you pedal away! Happy Riding!

Come summer and the water baby dormant in the daunting winters comes alive and yearns for a cool refreshing dip. Swimming is by far the best meditative form of activity that soothes the soul and body alike. As much swimming is a delight, installing pools can eat up all your savings. Above ground pools were probably created to solve this very problem. If you are a summer soul who likes to laze in a pool all day, it is time you get your own pool!

Above ground pools bring the luxury of swimming, into your personal space. A number of pools in sundry shapes and sizes are available for customers to choose from. Be it your backyard or the terrace of your abode, you can set up these pools and swim on. You are a people’s person and outdoor family entertainment is your idea of fun, opt for an above ground swimming pool and eliminate the hassles associated with traditional swimming pools. These pools are generally portable, storable and plain convenient.

Above-ground pools broadly can be divided into two types. The type is loosely based on the customer’s needs. If you are a light swimmer and want to test the waters on pool ownership and maintenance, ring pools are the ones for you. These are the least expensive and most convenient. These pools are popularly called, float to fill. Heavy duty-vinyl with an inflatable ring on the top is pretty much what ring pools are. As the pool fills with water, the ring on the top inflates and lifts the sidewalls into place. The mechanism is simple, usability is brilliant and the price exceptionally economical. If small time dipping is for you, this pool beats none.

The second type of Above-ground pool is a frame pool. It is obviously all that the ring pool is not. Frame pool has a metal frame and is way too sturdy. It can practically stick around an entire year and is equally flexible if you need to dissemble it. This pool is suitable for swimmers oscillating from lap to lap and caters equally to people who like sports like water polo. The standard frame pool requires a ladder to get in and get out and the waters typically run 6.5 feet deep! The durability of these pools is a big plus.

While installing traditional pools can cost you a fortune, above ground pools help you save a great deal! Join the fun this summer and soak up the sun in your very own above-ground pool.