Coaching and Care of Athletes

THE JAVEL IN THROW as may be had with the carry shown by J arvinen. It should be noted that the point of the weapon is directed downward, that the wrist is straight-neither flexed nor extended-that the angles made with the ground by the athlete's forearm and his javelin are almost equal, that the hand is about level with the head, and that the elbow is a trifle higher than the shoulder and pointing straight forward. The javelin is carried in the position shown until the thrower's right foot strikes Check Mark 2. From this foot and mark three bounding strides are made. During the three bounding strides the arm swings down, for– ward, and back for the commencing position of the throwing action. As the athlete makes the first bounding stride from his right to his left foot the throwing arm falls sideways. On the second stride (left foot to right) the trunk begins to turn from left to right, although the hips must remain square to the front. At the same time the throwing hand is carried part of the way back and down, while the left arm swings loosely across the body in counter-bal– ance, so that the hand comes about level with the centre of the chest. The head of the javelin must be in a line with the athlete's chin, and the tail of the weapon just clear of the ground. The throwing hand begins to turn into a palm-outward position. The action is well shown in Plate L, Fig. 154· During the third and last bounding stride (right foot to left) the che,st turns farther to the right, the throwing hand turns into a palm-three-quarters-to-the-right position, and the throwing arm is almost fully extended, as shown by Y. Nikkanen, Finland, second in the Olympic Games 0(1936, in Plate L, Fig. 155. The outward rotation of the hand drops the head of the javelin to the height of the nipple of the thrower's right breast, or even lower, and causes the tail to rise a proportionate amount. The length of each bounding stride is about 7! ft. The cross– step, which follows the third and last bounding stride, as illustrated in Plate L, Fig. 156, should be about 5 ft. It will be seen that the athlete, in making the cross-step, begins to carry his left arm for– ward and up, turns his chest still farther to the right, and, turning his throwing hand fully, palm outward, depresses the head of the javelin to the level of his right hip. In performing this action the flexion of the right arm is slightly decreased. Note that the right foot is going to reach the ground at an angls: of about 45° with the line of direction. All these movements are very clearly shown in Plate L, Fig. 156. 391