An Athletics Compendium

TheUteratureof Athletics than the Coe book (in that it goeswellbeyond middle-distancerunning),it is a similarly definitive work, a fine mix of theory and practice, and will be an essential source of referencewellinto the twenty-firstcentury. The best Olympic histories are undoubtedly Duff Hart-Davis's Hitler's Games (1986)andMandell's YheOlympics (1972).Bothmen applya clinicalhistoricalrigour to their analysis of the 1936Berlin Olympicsand to the Olympicmovement, in distinct contrast to much of the Olympic historyof the second halfof the century. In 1992Jennings andSimpson'sacid The Lards of the Kings appeared,presentinga quite differentviewof the Olympicmovement than previous bland,uncritical,historical accounts. Similarly Turnbull's Steve Ovett: Portrait of an Athlete (1982) and Harris's The LegendofLovelock (1965),gave a realisticpictureof modern athleticslight-years awayfrom the generalrun of biographies. As wemove into the twenty-firstcentury,there are a fewclearlyvisiblepatterns in athleticsliterature.Thus, though the marathon boomhas flattened,there stillappears to be a strong demand for bookson distance runningand with it literature on attendant areassuch as sports nutrition.We will also undoubtedlysee more on such subjects as plyometrics,weighttraining,and sports psychology. The demandfor comprehensivetechnicalmanualshas unquestionablyslackened. This mayreflectamove awayfrom after-schoolsport, the provisionbygoverning bodies of more specialised coaching literature and the work of the National Coaching Foundation.And, thoughmuchof the literatureon sports psychologyhas been similarly generic, there willprobablybe more specificallyathleticworks similarin nature to javelin thrower Steve Backley's The Winning Mind: aGuide toAchievingSuccessand Overcoming Failure (1996). Though the generalathleticsbook has probablyhad its day,there is stilla need for practical manuals dealingwith curricular athletics teachingand the group coachingof youngclubathletes. Curricularteachinghas been paidlittleattention sincemynow dated ModemSchoolsAthletics (1966).Similarly,group coachingwithinclubs has received scant attention, possiblyreflectinga decliningclub population. What is still signallylacking in the coaching literatureis the humane, pragmatic approach taken by the American coach Dean Cromwell in his Championship Technique in [rack andField (1941) for, though the present manualsdeliver far more knowledgeon techniqueand training than was availableto Cromwell,theyrarely relateto the athleteas a human beingand their practicalimpact is therebylessened. And, behind much of the literature,academicallycorrect though it may be, is the assumption that there is a direct correlation 'twixt volume of knowledge in such areas as biomechanics and energy systems,and effectivecoaching.Thus too muchweighthasbeengiven in the literatureto academicknowledgeand too littleto the product of practical experience. Leavingasidethe officialhistories of Keddieand Lovesey,andMelWatman's fine 1968 work, there is a significant lack of an in-depth warts-and-all history of British athletics,though Downes and Mackay's RunningScared (1996) points the wayto a more rigorousexaminationof our recenthistory. We therefore knowlittleof such issuesas the growth painsof Britishcoachingin the Dyson era, the collusionof governingbodiesin [ xx ]