‘Where can I do clay pigeon shooting?’ was a question asked by Steve, a 49-year-old fireman from the West Midlands, who has been reading Adrenamag’s articles on clay pigeon shooting. Steve, who has always wanted to shoot clays, and would like to organise a day’s shooting to celebrate his 50^th birthday, also asked: ‘What simple tips can you give me about clay pigeon shooting. And should I have lessons before we go?’

Adrenamag took these queries to Tom, a 25-year veteran in teaching novices to shoot on stag-parties and corporate days out. Tom said: ‘I always say to people have a go at clay pigeon shooting – after all that’s the best lesson there is. Get the feel of the sport and see if you like it.’

‘Do you need a shot gun licence to shoot clays?’ Steve asked. ‘No,’ said Tom. ‘If you buy a gun and shoot regularly, then you will need one, but you will not need a licence for a day’s shoot.’

Tom’s tip for better clay pigeon shooting

1.     Listen to advice. Very basic, but we get a lot of guys – and it is guys – in stag parties who just want to blast off. Take the time out to listen and you will be a better shot.

2.     Keep an eye open. Find out which is your dominant eye – your instructor will help with this.

3.     Put your whole body into it. The skill of shooting is moving smoothly – not snatching. This means moving your whole body.

4.     Line up the clay. Watch the line of the clay – or bird as we say here – see how high it is above the trees, etc. That way you can track the line of flight.

5.     Calm down. Shooting is about lowering the pulse and being clinical.

If you want to do clay pigeon shooting, click here.

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Karting is a great sport for kids. Says who? Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button, to name a few junior karters. No wonder then that junior go karting is buzzing with would-be F1 champions and junior thrill seekers.

So how do you get motoring into the sport? Well, one of the reason’s that go kart racing is  booming is that there’s so few barriers to entry, according to Chris Pullman, senior operations consultant at the track in Kent where both former F1 world champions Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button first got to grips with racing.

‘Racers as young as four are welcome,’ he says. ‘Obviously, we don’t stick them on the petrol karts but they can ride on our electric karts around our Kids Mini GP Circuit and they love it.

‘Then from six onwards, youngsters can get involved in the Bambino School. This prepares them for the faster karts by teaching them important skills such as pedal control, steering, control of the kart and safety awareness.

‘Traditionally, the earliest children could start racing was at eight. But, as they mature quicker these days, we feel there is a great opportunity for them to learn the basics of driving to prepare them for full racing at eight years of age.’ To race competitively in the UK, eight is the age to be but with the continued success of British drivers in the F1 championship, it’s understandable why kids from as young as four are keen to get behind the wheel.

If you want to spin around some karting circuits for your kids. Or even for yourself, click here.

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Is there no limit to the reach of zorbs? (Large plastic things with people rolling about inside, for those who didn’t know.) US singer Pink arrived at a festival and zorbed her way to the stage in a zorb, couples are even getting married in zorbs. No wonder zorbing gift vouchers for zorbs are proving so popular.

Roll-up, roll-up have you got your friends and family the most popular gift around? Click here for details.

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One in three UK workers is too shy to get sweaty in front of colleagues according to a British Heart Foundation (BHF) survey. The BHF study, which looked at UK workplace exercise trends, revealed that over half of UK workers are desk-bound for most of the day with nearly 50 per cent eating lunch at their desks. According to the findings 81 per cent of UK workers fail to get the recommended amount of exercise a week.

With the UK government predicting that 36 per cent of men and 28 per cent of woman will be obese in five years, what’s the answer? The BHF survey suggests the workplace is the perfect location for keeping fit and active, with half of UK workers admitting they won’t travel more than 10 minutes from work or home to exercise.

Lisa Purcell, project manager for the BHF’s Health at Work Programme says: ‘Embarrassment shouldn’t prevent people from being healthy at work. You don’t have to don a lycra leotard to get fit and healthy, the payoffs from even simple changes like taking a walk at lunchtime are too great to ignore. Getting healthy during the working day means you are less stressed and better motivated.

‘Bosses need to understand there’s a massive return on investment here. Simple measures to improve the health of your workforce – like swapping tea-break biscuits for fruit, or getting the team together for a lunchtime kickaround in the car park – can improve productivity, reduce staff turnover, and mean fewer sick days.

‘We are calling on businesses to take their employee’s health and wellbeing seriously, and start reaping the rewards,’ she said.

The BHF Health at Work programme, sponsored by Legal & General, has already signed up more than 800 organisations. Employees from bin men to bank tellers are finding there’s no need for blushes when they’re all in it together.

Apprentice star

Claire Young has lost four stone since appearing on the BBC’s Apprentice. She says: ‘All companies need a fit workforce – a healthy mind is a productive mind. The more employers look after their staff, the better they will perform. It’s a great way to ensure a happier and healthier workplace.’

Five corporate sporting events for shy employees

1. Paintball. No need to worry about getting sweaty in front of work colleagues when playing paintball: the protective clothing will hide your blushes and save your face. If you want to fire your work colleagues into action, click here.

2. Karting. Karting is another sport where the more retiring office worker can hide behind the crash helmet and the overalls. Put your foot down and get your colleagues away from the desk for some exercise. It may be sitting down, but the blood is pumping. More and more offices have having their Christmas parties on the track. Check it out here

3. Clay pigeon shooting. Here’s a sport that’s more swanky than sweaty. Green wellies, tweeds, picnics, oh and there’s also the shooting. Clay pigeon shooting is the perfect mix of social and sporting for lots of work colleagues. Take a shot at it, click here.

4. Segway. Segway racing is a popular corporate event that doesn’t have to embarrass anyone. With the average British office worker spending so much time chained to their desks, a whirl in the countryside maybe just be what the doctor ordered. To take a ride, click here.

5. High Ropes. Tree walking is a corporate sporting event that is rising in popularity. And just like Tarzan and Jane, it is possible to still look cool, although the loin cloth is optional. To book, click here.

The post Employees shy away from exercise. Blush-proof ideas for corporate sporting events appeared first on ADRENAMAG.

Five intrepid kite surfers braved the Irish Sea for a marathon 9-hour journey from Cloghy in Northern Ireland to Silloth, West Beach in Cumbria. The five kitesurfing enthusiasts – Fraser Dooley, Martin Sandwith, Stuart Wood, Nick Elliott and John Flynn – withstood the rigours of the Irish Sea to become the first people to kite surf from Ireland to England.

Bad weather in the summer of 2009 meant a previous attempt to do the crossing had to be abandoned. In 2008 the kitesurfing friends set a record by surfing the 30 miles from the Isle of Man to Ireland. But the 110-mile crossing of the Irish was not a record. Professional kite surfer Kirsty Jones was the first to kite from Ireland to Wales and she holds the current record of 149 miles when she kited non-stop from Africa to Lanzarote. The Cumbrian kite surfers raised money for three charities – the RNLI, NSPCC and the Maryport Inshore Rescue.

Branson’s birthday kitesurf

Sir Richard Branson, who counts kitesurfing as one of his favourite sports, celebrated his 60^th birthday with an attempt to kitesurf across the English Channel, along with five-time world champion Aaron Hadlow and Laird Hamilton. However, strong winds and choppy seas across the channel meant the billionaire businessman’s birthday attempt to become the oldest man to kite surf the channel had to be abandoned.

If you haven’t tried kitesurfing and want to dip your toe in the water, click here

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Put a paintball gun in someone’s hand and the natural urge is to knock an opponent’s block off. Well, a new craze has taken this quite literally. Paintball Lego seems to have inspired a young generation of junior paintball enthusiasts and budding filmmakers.

Shot using a Lego webcam, this new genre of movie is a hit on YouTube as fans create and shoot combat scenes with mini Lego figures.  Who knows, it may produce a new generation of blockbusters.

Many of the filmmakers are ten and under. Too young for paintball, laser combat offers these filmmakers the chance to experience the action first hand. Teenagers and adults can try out the grown-up version by clicking here.

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Age is no barrier to mini go-karter Rio Jones’s ambitions to chase down his hero Lewis Hamilton. The six-year-old from Hellesdon in Norfolk is already revving up to start a career in racing – the same age as the 2008 F1 World Champion when he started started kart racing.

Rio began go-karting in a small Bambino Honda kart that was specially restricted. His dad carpenter Jason Jones, 30, said: ‘Every week we gradually increased the power of the kart as Rio got faster.’ In only a few weeks, he reduced his lap time from one minute 53 seconds to just 38 seconds – only four seconds off the lap record for his local 500m-karting track in Cromer.

Rio has to wait until his seventh birthday before he can race competitively. He attends a racing cadet school at the Cromer track, where he is working towards achieving his racing licence, for which he has to be assessed on three different karting tracks by a qualified instructor.

Jason said: ‘Everyone down at the track has been saying how good he is and how with that sort of talent he could go very far. He loves it and watches all the Grand Prix races when they are on.’
One to watch for the future, Rio is currently looking for sponsors to help support his racing career as a season’s racing – even for a seven-year-old – can cost as much as £10k. But the family are determined not to let money come in the way of Rio’s obvious talent and ambition.
Anyone who is interested in sponsoring Rio, should email eljaycarpenters@aol.com.

And if you are interested in getting your racing career off the ground, click here.

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Karting is a sport notorious for breeding their racers young. But how young? Chris Pullman, senior operations consultant at the track in Kent where both Lewis Hamilton and current F1 champ Jenson Button honed their skills, is keen to get kids involved from a young age.

‘Racers as young as four are welcome,’ he says. ‘Obviously, we don’t stick them on the petrol karts but they can ride on our electric karts around our Kids Mini GP Circuit and they love it.

‘Then from six onwards, youngsters can get involved in the Bambino School. This prepares them for the faster karts by teaching them important skills such as pedal control, steering, control of the kart and safety awareness.

Two Young Karters Ready to Race

‘Traditionally, the earliest children could start racing was at eight. But, as they mature quicker these days, we feel there is a great opportunity for them to learn the basics of driving to prepare them for full racing at eight years of age.’

To race competitively in the UK, eight is the age to be but with the continued success of British drivers in the F1 championship, it’s understandable why kids from as young as four are keen to get behind the wheel.

Sports like skydiving and clay pigeon shooting do come with certain restrictions. To sky dive you need to be at least 16-years-old but parental consent is essential. Once you reach 18, however, you’re free to jump out of as many airplanes as you deem fit and mummy and daddy can’t do a thing about it.

In order to shoot at clay pigeons, while nothing is set in stone, Mike Williams from the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association feels that height is actually more important than age.

Callum McMillan(13yrs) – Started clay pigeon shooting at 7yrs and is one of the most promising shooters in the country.

‘Generally speaking, we don’t allow anyone under the age of eight to shoot,’ he says, ‘as they need to be able to support the gun safely. We have a Colts section and that is for children under the age of 16. The next step up from that is the juniors, and that is for competitors between the age of 16 and 21.’

Zorbing is an extreme sport that is increasing in popularity.  Seven is the magic age for this one but even then, youngsters are often restricted to hydro-zorbing – this only receives a three-star rating and is apparently a far cry from harness zorbing, which has been given a five-star extreme rating.  You need to reach the grand old age of 11 before you can take part in that.

In terms of paintball, Steve Bull, chairman of the UK Paintball Sites Federation, says: ‘Most sites insure young people from age 12 upwards or require you to be in year seven in school, although a small percentage of sites will require you to be 14 or even 16.’  But eager young guns can get a taste of the action with laser quest. As this uses light rather than paintballs, the starting age drops to six – and even younger on some sites.

While there isn’t a strict age to let kids loose on most of these sports, parental consent is always required.

If you are interested in checking out even more activities, click here

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Karting whiz-kid Jordan King was already getting revved up to chase glory in the annual Winter Cup season curtain-raiser at Lonato in Italy, when a brief brush with Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button reminded the Warwickshire ace where he wants to be in his motor racing career.

Having met Button at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards several years ago, Jordan again found himself face-to-face with Britain’s motorsport man of the moment when the McLaren-Mercedes star presented him with a trophy for being one of the leading drivers in the KF3 class of the UK-wide Super 1 Series in 2009. Jordan acknowledged that it was ‘quite something’ and ‘certainly a bit different’ to receive his accolade from a driver of Button’s status.

It was also undeniably a boost as the 15-year-old SWR-run speed demon prepares to renew battle on dual fronts following a prolonged Christmas and New Year break; readying himself for upcoming outings in the more powerful and fiercely-competitive KF2 class in both the final round of the 2009/10 Winter Series at PF International in Lincolnshire, and the Winter Cup at Lonato close to Garda.

Bidding to clinch the coveted ‘O’ Plate in the former and head into his main summer campaign on a high, Jordan also has a top five finish firmly in his sights when he subsequently heads abroad on his “Italian Job”, given that by his own admission he endured a disappointingly ‘average’ debut in the same event last year.

‘In testing we’ve been really quick,’ underlined the Repton School pupil, ‘so I’m feeling quite confident and quite happy with everything. I’ve not been out in a little while, but I always get up-to-speed really quickly and I’m really keen to be back in the kart again – I miss the adrenaline rush.’

If you are interested in trying karting, click here

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As the video shows, a combination of speed, mud and water can have unintended consequences. Rob Sawyer, who runs quad biking safaris on a 400-acre wood in Leicestershire, offers his mud-splattered advice on how to saddle a quad bike to ensure you and your bike stay out of the drink.

1. FIVE-ASIDE: Keep five points of contact; feet, hands and bottom. If a rider keeps a good/positive riding position they are able to control the bike more easily.

2. LEGS-UP: The riders’ feet must remain on the footplates at all times. If they try to steady the bike with their feet, it will be pulled as the feet can become caught by the rear wheels.

3. STAY COOL: If the rider is tense it will translate to the bike and become harder to ride. It also increases muscle fatigue in the arms.

4. FRONT-UP: Basically, it’s the opposite of motorway driving where you look way ahead. On a quad, look no further than your nose. Riders need to adjust their body position according to the terrain they are about to cross. By looking just in front they can do this.

5. LOW LIFE: Keeping a low body position on the bike keeps the centre of gravity lower and makes the bike more stable.

Want to tame the beast? Then click here.

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