Coaching and Care of Athletes

COACHING AND CARE OF ATHLETES The coast should not be utilized until a man has gathered his full momentum and feels that he can go on running just as fast with a long, swinging stride as he has done with a shorter stride in the initial drive. But it is an axiom that the longer he waits to produce his last great effort in a furlong the better will be the final result. What I have said involves the coach in the task of teaching the furlong-sprinter how to 'jump' his field by letting loose his final reserve of energy and speed at the proper moment. The ideal here is to teach a man that once he has gained his full momentum he should coast along, watching his opponents. It is unnecessary for an athlete, even in so short a distance as a furlong, always to take the lead in the first half of the raq:. It is better sometimes for him to stay at the shoulders of the leaders, thus giving them the task ofpacing him. The athlete should be taught to conserve some small portion of his energy on every single stride, and then, when he knows instinctively that his opponents are beginning to tie up, he can drive out for the winning-post. In such circumstances he will often find that he can beat men who have relatively greater running speed then he possesses. Now I will give the training schedule of one week each for the four periods into which I have suggested that the total training season should be divided. You must remember, however, that each programme is but a sample of the wor~ in the particular period to which it relates. In the preliminary season, which represents the first period of training, the sprinter should aim at developing the musculature of his upper arms and also of his shoulder girdle. Of late years it has struck quite a number of first-class coaches, who give a great deal of thought to their jobs, that it is a curious thing that sprinters so often suffer from breakdowns, especially in the muscles at the back of the thigh, whereas hurdlers do not. The sprinter runs but roo or 220 yds., whereas the hurdler runs 120 yds. and nego– tiates ten flights of 3 ft . 6 ins . hurdles, and yet the sprinter often pulls muscles, while the hurdler very seldom does so. One has wondered for some time why this curious phenomenon should be in evidence. The solution is probably to be found in the fact that hurdlers, in order to build up the technique of their event, do a great many stretching exercises, which make the muscles at the back of the thigh extremely supple. Obviously a muscle that is stretched often, but not beyond a reasonable point, becomes r88