Athletics (British Sports Library)

DISCUS THROWING 157 free from indentations. The whole implement is enclosed in a smoothly rounded metal rim forming a true circle. Lighter and smaller disci are made for the use of boys. The best implements are made from Finnish birch and can be obtained from A. G. Spalding and Brothers, High Holborn, London. It is well to be sure that one is equipped with the official pattern discus. One of the first difficulties with which the novice discus thrower is faced is that of how to hold the discus. The size and shape are such that it can in nowise be gripped, but must be maintained in the hand resting upon the upcurled tips of the fingers (Sket ch 1, A), and held in position by the centrifugal force set up in the turning and swinging movements. A careful study of Sketch I will reveal the fact that the fingers are not widely separated, as is the custom of so many British discus throwers, and that the thumb is kept comparatively close to the index finger instead of being spread out at right angles to it. Three other points to bear in mind are that the tip of the thumb should come level with the rim of the discus, that the fingers are sloped slightly backwards, as shown in Sketch 1, A, and that, throughout the whole evolution, the rim of the discus farthest from the fingers should rest entirely against the forearm just above the wrist. This latter feature is well exemplified in the drawings