Basically been trying new methods lately, after having my 400d for about a 14 months now. Doing alot of sport the normal focusing tech of bleeping on one depth of field wasn't going right for me...so after a read through the manual i found ai servo wich helps alot. But lately iv came across photographers using manual focusing methods and waiting for the subject to come into the depth of feild and getting the picture then, i was just wondering what techniques people use for whatever shooting, dosent necessarily have to be about focusing. might sound like a noob but gimme some tips...you know you want to

pre focus 70% of the time.

that is focus on a point you know the object will pass and take the image when it passes your pre detemined point.

other times normal auto

and rarely ( when shooting macro ) manual