People always ask me what London is like to live in. And I always say the same thing: it depends on your London. My London is not tourist London � no Buckingham Palace, no red buses for photos. My London is Brockwell Park at six in the morning, the outdoor basketball courts off Coldharbour Lane, the climbing wall in Bermondsey, the padel courts that have been opening up all over the city in the last few years.
Basketball has always been part of my life, but in a different way from football. Football is competitive, structured, serious. Basketball with my mates is the opposite � it can be chaotic, funny, occasionally brilliant. We play on the outdoor courts near my flat most Sunday mornings. If it rained less in London, we would play every single day. As it is, we play when we can and we make the most of every dry Sunday.
Padel is the newest thing. I have only been playing for about a year, but I have got completely hooked. It can look simple from the outside � a smaller court, glass walls, one bounce allowed, like in tennis � but it can be incredibly tactical. It is like chess at speed. I play with Danny and two other mates every Thursday evening. If we win on Thursday, we go for a pizza after. Simple incentive, but it works.
People sometimes ask me if I should have focused on just one sport when I was younger. If I had done that, I would never have discovered climbing. I would never have done the triathlon. And I would have missed so much � not just sport, but the people, the communities, the different ways of thinking about your body and what it can do.
So what might the future look like for Jake Miller? I might try open water swimming seriously. I could enter a longer triathlon next year. I would love to do a proper multi-day climbing expedition somewhere � Scotland, the Alps, maybe further. But if you ask me where I will be in ten years, I will tell you the same thing I told my teachers when I was fourteen and they worried about my focus: I will be moving. That is all I know for certain.
| Type | Structure | Jake’s example |
|---|---|---|
| Conditional 1 Real / possible |
If + Present Simple, will + base verb |
«If we win on Thursday, we go for pizza.»A real, possible situation and its likely result. |
| Conditional 2 Imaginary / unlikely |
If + Past Simple, would + base verb |
«If it rained less in London, we would play every day.»An imaginary situation � it does rain a lot, so this is hypothetical. |
| Conditional 3 Past unreal / regret |
If + Past Perfect, would have + past participle |
«If I had focused on one sport, I would never have discovered climbing.»An imaginary past � what didn’t happen and what would have been different. |
| Modals: might / could |
modal + base verb (possibility/tentative plans) |
«I might try open water swimming.»«I could enter a longer triathlon.» |
| Modals: would love to |
would love/like/prefer + to infinitive (wishes and preferences) |
«I would love to do a multi-day climbing expedition.»A strong wish � softer and more personal than will. |
Type 1 � real possibility in the present or future ? «If I study, I will pass.»
Type 2 � imaginary or unlikely ? «If I were a bird, I would fly to Spain.»
Type 3 � past situation that didn’t happen ? «If I had studied, I would have passed.»