Athletic Training

4 ATHLETIC TRAINING of increased cleverness and ability in the par– ticular event for which one is training. Fi– nally, the athlete will obtain what I call "re– flex physical action." This is nothing more nor less than doing in the most efficient man– ner the thing for which the athlete has been training-securing the maximum result with the minimum expenditure of effort. It means a co-ordination of the eye, the mind, and the body. A clever boxer in action illustrates what I mean. Every motion of his body, every step he takes, and every blow he aims are executed with the minimum expenditure of energy, yet it is all done unconsciously. Some persons are by nature clever physically, but exercise and training will give cleverness to the awkward man and make the clever one more skilful. What I have said in the foregoing para– graphs may sound a little scientific or psy– chological, but it will bear close study, and after the athlete has followed a course of training in any of the eve°:ts described in this book he will profit if he returns to this chapter and studies once more what I have said about physical condition.