Coaching and Care of Athletes

COACHING AND CARE OF ATHLETES starting, as that has already been dealt with in Chapter XIV. Starting ability is almost as necessary to the half-miler as to the sprinter. The next point for the coach to remember is that the half-mile is not run in lanes, as the quarter-mile and furlong almost invariably are nowadays. Therefore he must teach his pupils a good deal about racing for position at the beginning of the race, or staying out of the struggle the better to be able to make one's effort when there is less opposition towards the end ofthe race. The coach must certainly teach his pupils pace judgment also. Tactics and strategy will be fruitful subjects for discussion, since, the half– mile not being run in lanes, there is always a chance of a man's being 'boxed.' The coach must teach his athletes when and how to challenge for the lead, how to resist challenges, and how to get themselves out of difficulties if they do get shut in. The purpose for which the athlete is training may have much to do with his schedule, but does not alter the fact that the coach should teach his men all permissible methods of running the race. When an individual athlete is being trained with everything pointing to one peak performance, and everything else in the way of racing is subsidiary to it, then the most definite campaign of all can be planned. Let me quote as an example ofwhat I have in mind the case of Tom Hampson, who made everything subsidiary in his training and competitions in I 932 to his purpose of winning the Olympic championship at 8oo metres. Determination to achieve a particular object was even more pronounced in the case of J. E. Lovelock, for I am convinced that throughout the 1936 season it did not matter one single jot to Lovelock whether he won or lost all races leading up to his great triumph in the 1500 metres at Berlin. In the case of lesser lights who are training for a season of com– petition an entirely different state of affairs obtains. Where the average athlete is concerned, it is well for the coach to remember that half-mile strategy is of two kinds. His men who have plenty of sprinting ability and whose muscles do not tie up very easily may well be taught to 'run against the field.' The coach should teach this type of athlete to watch his opponents with the care that a cat will watch a mouse. He must train them always to keep well within striking distance of the other competitors. Coincidentally, it will be necessary for him to build up the ability of the sprinter type of half-miler to let loose his full power over the last furlong Qf the race. If this is done, and if the man keeps well up with the 230