Athletics (British Sports Library)

FOR GAMES MASTERS AND COACHES 141 weapons that have an entirely wrong hand-hold a:qd will not fly so far by 30 feet as the proper stiff-shafted spears which are made from the best sunside layers of the Finnish birch-trees. Hammer throwers should see to it that their hammers are of the proper swivel-headed, ball-bearing variety, shafted with piano-wire, and having the sort of handle, or handles, best suited to the individual's own requirements. In the case of nammers and shots, it is as well to repeat that these are made in three weights. The 8-lb. shot is for the use of boys under fifteen ; the 12-lb. shot for boys between the ages of sixteen and eighteen ; and the 16-lb. shot intended only for fully grown, well-developed men. Hammers are made in the same weights, but no boy under fifteen years of age should be allowed to touch one, and even boys under eighteen years of age should never attempt to throw a hammer weighing more than 12lb., and that only in the greatest moderation. The 16-lb. hammer is for the mature athlete. The use of the 16-lb. hammer and the 16-lb. shot should be at once discontinued at our Public Schools; firstly, because such a weight wielded in such a manner puts an unnatural and dangerous strain upon an immature athlete ; and secondly, because it is impossible for a youngster to acquire the correct technique if he is forced to practise and