Coaching and Care of Athletes

COACHING AND CARE OF ATHLETES With these trousers they wear either a cable-stitched sweater or pull-over or a fleece-lined shirt with a zip-fastener front and fairly tight wrists. The reason the track suit is so important is that the wearing of it expedites the warm-up in the limbering-up process, and, after that, helps to retain the body-heat of the athlete between training periods and competition. Each athlete should have his own towel and soap, his own small first-aid outfit, and, of course, a track bag in which to carry all his personal equipment. As I have said before, it is a good thing to write out a list of what one will want for training and competition and to paste that list firmly in the lid of one's track bag. Each athlete should also be in possession of a warm rug and a really waterproof groundsheet. One spends such a lot of time between competitions or practices in resting that it is always as well to have the groundsheet under one and the rug wrapped round one's limbs. The two serve as a protection against damp and coldness. A good woolly scarf is also a useful possession, and if one is going to train or compete in very hot weather it is as well to p.ave a sun-hat of some kind in one's track bag. The Americans have excellent sun-hats, which are made of linen, with a front peak of green celluloid, affording excellent protectior.J. .to the eyes. These are called 'coaches' hats,' but are equally useful to athletes. Impedimenta for the various events, such as javelins, discoi, hammers, and vaulting-poles, will be dealt with fully when we come to talk about the coaching for each particular event com– prising the track and field programme. In those sections -of this book also I shall have more to say about the particular types of shoes and the spiking of them for each event. Before the coach applies tests to his athletes in order to prepare training schedules for them there will be a number of other matters to consider, prior to his drawing up a set of rules, regulations, and suggestions. I have in mind such matters as diet, sleep, rest, and the daily schedule of practice. First of all, no doubt, t4e coach will lay down the rule that none of his charges is to take stimulants or,to smoke. 'Stimulant,' however, is a slightly misleading term. No coach, I take it, will countenance the use of any form of alcohol, but does not the term 'stimulant' cover rather more than that? Coffee and tea are mild stimulants, and I know of some first-class American coaches who recommend complete abstinence from strong tea or coffee. They hold that weak t~a is allowable, pro- IIO