An Athletics Compendium

The literature of Athletics Althoughhe makesno attempt to justifyhismethods on any scientificbasis, Championship Techniquein Track andField is rich in practicaladvice. It is unquestionably the definitive coachingmanualof the first halfof the twentiethcentury.Cromwell describes the1940 PacificCoastConference Meet.His team, SouthernCalifornia,neededto finishfourth in the finalevent, the 4 x 440yds relay,to take the title.Alas,Cromwell hadonly a single specialistquarter milerin Upton, the rest of his team consistingof a jaded mixtureof middle-distance runners (Zamperini and Reading) and an unsuccessful 440 yd hurdler (Laret). 'Look', Isaid to Zamperini, 'A nice little lap round the track will get the tension out of your legs saenndd you homefeeling like a million dollars...' 'Laret', Isaid to our puffing lowhurdler, 'Anybodywho canstep overthe sticks like youwill find striding this flartace just a breeze.' 'Reading, the wayyou sprinted up from nowhere to score a point in that half-mile showysou are fulol f speed todayI.'told ourdisappointed half-miler.' 'And Upton', sIaid to our disconsolate quarter-mileYr, ou're thebest 440 man in thismeet. It wasn't your fault you got elbowed and pocketed.Now go and show 'em how a champ can run without interference.' Cromwell's tatterdemaliosnquad went on to rtuhnemselves raggetdo finish in the necessary fourth place winning his Trojans the Conference title.The collection of misfits had run a 3.17 relay... No world record-breaking performance ever made me feel any happier. The humanity and wisdom of a great coach speaks out from every page of ChampionshipTechniquein Trackand Field. One of Cromwell'sfavouritesayings was, '1 call allmyboyschamp, and some of them believeme'. Clearly, over a periodof a quarter of a century,a host of great athletes believedhim. The creation in 1947 of the Amateur Athletic Association Coaching Scheme brought with it a totally fresh approach to the technical literature. G. H. G. Dyson, mentoredbyF. A. M.Webster at the LoughboroughSchool of Sport and Games prior to the Second World War, became Chief Coach to the AAA in 1947, a year before the London Olympics.It sayssomethingabout the Britishattitude to coachingat that time that Dyson wasallowed to play no part in the preparation of the 1948British Olympic team.Sadderstill,hismentor F. A. M.Webster, then in the last yearof a lifedevoted to athletics,was denied access to his son, the pole vaulter F. R. Webster, at the team's Uxbridgetrainingquarters. Dyson's first taskwas to bring into beinga body of trained coaches and in the 1947-62 period he almost single-handedly created a British athletics coachingculture. Dysontook forwardWebster's work, in creatinga scientific rationalefor athletictraining. He leant heavily towards biomechanics and his definitive work was The Mechanics of Athletics (1962), a landmark work, the remarkable product of a brilliant, self-educated man. Dyson's (1951)is not, alas, of the same calibre,reflecting his lack of direct experiencein schools,and is essentiallya watered-downcoachingmanual.The great pityis that Dyson, an outstandingpracticalcoach, left behindno definidvework on athleticscoaching. [ xlt ]