Coaching and Care of Athletes

\ COACHING AND CARE OF ATHLETES and then get the men straight into the dressing-room for their shower– bath and light massage. Wednesday. Limber up by sending the men for a very easy 8oo yds. jog in their sweat suits. Devote 5 mins. to bending and stretch– ing exercises, supplemented by special strengthening exercises. Send the men 250 yds., checking their times at r ro yds., 220 yds., and 250 yds. This is done for the purpose of seeing how quickly they get into their running, how they hold their form through the body of the race, and how they carry on their speed after passing the winning-post. Mter the preceding test let the men jog about on the grass in their sweat suits for two or three minutes. Then send them into the dressing-room to rest, if the weather is at all. cold or inclement; but if the weather is good and the sweat has dried off let them take a sun-bath for a period of IO to 15 mins. Run the quarter-milers 220 yds. around the curve of the track, and note what progress they are making in cornering. If you have an assistant to help you, check up on their times at I IO yds. and 220 yds. Finish off with an easy jog of 300 yds., and send the men in to their showers and massage, which should be longer and heavier on this day than on the two preceding days. Thursday. Let the men jog 300 to 400 yds. in their sweat suits to warm up. Then give them 5 rnins. of quick agility exercises, interspersed with stretching exercises. Have the men dig their holes at the usual start for the 220 yds., and, without using the gun, send them to run around the first curve of the track, handicapping them as necessary, so that you may see what sort of starting speed they are showing and how they are cornering on the first bend. Get the men back into their sweat suits, and let them jog a little after this practice. Then give them some practice in baton-changing and also in starting with the baton, but keep this practice down below full effort. Cool the men down with a 440 yds. jog in their sweat suits; then get them back into the dressing-room for a quick shower and some medium massage, not so light as on Monday and Tuesday and not so heavy as on Wednesday, but rather of a soothing and quietening nature. Friday. This should be a rest-day, but the coach can use some of the time in discussing theory with his men and in ascertaining for himself how much they have learned during the week. If there are heats on the Friday afternoon or a competition on the Saturday he can also have a pre-competition talk to get them into the right · mental attitude for what lies before them. Saturday. The coach should make Saturday a routine day. In the morning he should look after his athletes' breakfast and normal bodily functions very carefully, and should then discuss with them what preparations they are going to make for the competition, in 218