Coaching and Care of Athletes

SPRINTING full effort. Jog a little to cool down, and then rest before practising cornering about half a dozen times round the curve of the track. Jog 300 yds.; then get a shower-bath and a fairly deep massage to remove from the muscles the waste products of exhaustion. Thursday. Trot up and down the roo yds. path three or four times, moving easily in the sweat suit. Do 5 mins. of body-bending and stretching exercises; then practise three starts without the gun, finishing out through the worsted stretched between the winning– posts 30 yds. from the starting-holes. Run roo yds., striding easily through the first 50 yds., a little faster through the next 40 yds., and finishing out at almost full speed over the last IO yds. Friday. Rest. Saturday. Jog an easy 300 yds. Do 5 mins. of body-bending and stretching exercises; then go across to the curve of the track and practise cornering for I 20 yds. at about three-quarter speed twice. Finish off with a 300 yds. jog in the sweat suit, followed by the bath and massage. On this evening the coach should have an encourage– ment talk with his athletes. Final Week Monday. Jog 440 yds. with all muscles relaxed. Do 5 mins. of body-bending and stretching exercises; then take two starts under full power without the pistol to correct faults, followed by four to six pistol starts, varying from three-quarter to almost full speed. Jog 220 yds. to cool down. Get a shower-bath and massage. Tuesday. Jog 300 yds. Do 5 mins. of exercises, and, according to the nature and temperament of the sprinter, either give him some starting practice or take him to the curve of the track and practise him in cornering for 120 yds. at three-quarter speed twice. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. These three days should, in my opinion, be rest-days for the fully trained sprinter who is going to run in an important competition on the Saturday. Massage should be long and fairly deep on Wednesday, light on Thursday, and lighter still on Friday. Saturday. Limber up with a jog. Do some bending and stretch– ing exercises and a few starts; then try to get your athlete into a real competition frame of mind before he faces his event. Rest him and relimber him between the heats and the final, and also between the events. Mter the competition see that he cools down properly, gets his bath, and also his massage. Make a point of spending that evening with him. You must encourage him to greater efforts ifhe has won; equally you must encourage him if he has lost by making as little of his faults as possible, and showing him how easily they may be remedied if you are both working together. 201