Athletics of To-Day 1929

-- ----= Athletics of To-day being twisted on the hips in time with the backwards and for– wards arm swing. In the other American style, also much in favour with one school of French discus throwers, the discus is supported on the palm of the hand, while it is in front of the body, and is then swung with a turn of the wrist to the rear and a bending of the elbow to a position behind the back, as shown in Picture No. 3, Plate 50; this necessitates a much more forward body lean than is required in the other styles. The advocates of this form point out, with a good deal of truth, that it allows of a much faster first pivotal movement being made and that the arm too gains speed by flying out from the body, just as the ----* Fro. 39 governors of an engine rise and describe a wider circle as the engine gets up speed. To my mind, however, these advantages do not compensate for a cramped position and a first half-spin started so fast on the left foot that it leaves no cumulative force to go into the second three-quarter spin on the right foot, during which the athlete, as often as not, loses all control. Another point of dissimilarity between the European and American forms is that the latter usually commence the cross– circle action with a step forward, as shown in the diagram in Fig. 39, from a foot placement in which the athlete faces the throwing direction during the preliminary swings. The - .....