Athletics (British Sports Library)

FOR PARENTS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 23 The main thing is to know the style and to keep the muscles in good condition. While learning to throw the discus I used to practise two and three hours at night, and learned a form different from anyone I have ever seen." Just think of it a moment, two or three hours' light practice every night for a number of years, purely and simply to build up or acquire the correct technique. No straining, mind, no striving after immediate results~ just painstaking practice to get the right sequence of movement. Pope's procedure was the right one, and applies to the track events just as much as to the field events. Again, one may well quote the great American high jumper and former world's champion, Dick Landon, who has beaten 6 feet 5 inches. He writes me that he "gives little attention to training, other than a small amount of practice prior to competitions and a great amount of walking," but when he entered Yale University from the Hotchkiss Pre– paratory School in 1917, and came into the hands of the late J. J. Mack, he devoted hours innumerable to the practice which ultimately produced his present perfect style. I have quoted Landon, because his remarks raise the question of walking as a preliminary stage of athletic preparation, a system which I have noticed is very popular in Scandinavia.