Coaching and Care of Athletes

COACHING AND CARE OF ATHLETES men are concerned, if a man in taking his six throws in a training trial should suddenly reach a new peak, then, personally, I should be content to call it a day. In the same way with vaulters and high jumpers, when they make a new personal record I always stop them for that afternoon, no matter if it appears both to them and to me that they have the ability, suddenly developed, perhaps, to vault or jump a good deal higher. This, in my opinion, is one of the surest ways of preserving a man's keenness and keeping the edge on his appetite for work and further success. May I quote a few concrete cases to illustrate my point? In I9I9 W. A. Hill, of the Surrey Athletic Club, won both the IOO and 220 yds. English ·sprint titles. In I920 it was a moot point in the minds of many people as to whether Hill or H. F. V. Edward, of the Polytechnic Harriers, would be our best man for the sprints in the Olympic Games, which were to be held at Antwerp in that year. Edward continued to train under the late Sam Mussabini, but Hill went to Yorkshire to complete his preparation, and, or so I have been told, ran a most amazing I oo yds. trial, in some– thing very near world's record time, just before leaving England to compete in the Olympic Games. Prior to the running of this trial Edward had beaten Hill for the English IOO yds. title in IO secs., and had also won the furlong in 2 I ·6 secs., with Hill placed third. Edward ran no remarkable final trial before the British team went abroad. Now let us see what happened at Antwerp. In the roo metres Hill won the first heat in the eliminating trials in I I secs., whereas Edward was content to finish second to Charles Paddock, U.S.A., in the eighth heat, which was run in I o ·8 secs. In the second round Edward won the first he?-t from Loren Murchison, ·u.S.A., in 10·8 secs., while Hill took the second in I I secs. Then came the semi-final, with Edward &eating Jackson Scholtz, U.S.A., and Kirksey, U.S.A., in 10·8 secs. Hill was fifth in the second heat, which Paddock won from Ali Khan, of France, and Murchison in 10·8 secs. The less said about the final the better, because, through the interference of a Belgian marksman, the start was a bad one, and Edward and some others were literally left on the mark. Paddock and Kirksey, however, both got away well, beating Edward, Scholtz, Ali Khan, and Murchison, the winner returning ro·8 secs. It was said afterwards that, whereas Edward was unlucky to be g6