Coaching and Care of Athletes

RELAY RACING The awaiting, or next outgoing, hurdler should take his marks directly the man who is to touch him off starts from the far end of the course. He should 'get set' as the incoming athlete clears the last of the ten flights of hurdles. Matters relating to the order of running athletes have been discussed in connection with flat relay racing. Another important factor for consideration in relation to the shuttle hurdle relays is the direction and strength of whatever wind may be blowing. A following wind may carry a man into his fences, and an ad– verse wind may bring him down on top of them. A coach should lose no opportunity of training hurdlers to run both with and against the wind. In no other way can he find out which of his men are best able to overcome these handicaps. Even these investigations must be whittled down ultimately, to ascertain which of his men has the greatest ability to adjust his striding to a following wind and which has the strength to battle successfully against a stiff breeze. Such considerations obviously must lead to frequent changes in the order of running the men composing a shuttle hurdles relay team. On account of. the mechanical precision asked for in hurdling it follows that the coach must find out who are the members of his team most capable of holding their form when called upon to make up a big deficit. The best man in this connection must be put to run the leg in which the opponents are most likely to be holding a lead. It is not just a simple matter of picking the fastest, or even the most courageous, man, for the man needed is the cool fellow who can hold his form both over and between hurdles when forced to race at absolutely top pressure to make up lost ground. The coach should remember that a I o stone man has less chance of doing well against a head-wind than has the ideally built, strong I 2i stone hurdler. Touch-off practice, like baton-passing for flat relay runners, should be scheduled for three days a week. Let this practice be carried out over two hurdles set up side by side, with a I5 yds. run on either side, so that each man clears his own hurdle.