Coaching and Care of Athletes

COACHING ANb CARE OF ATHLETES . reach the centre of the circle, anq to have the athlete's left foot take the ground 6 ins. to 12 ins. short of the stop-board and on, or only just to the left of, the line of direction. It is suggested that this position gives the athlete a feeling of greater freedom and more room in which to break up without losing forward momen– tum when he reverses his feet. The object of putting the left foot down on or a few inches to the left of the line of direction is to ensure that full use is made of the final left-leg drive. When the athlete is in the putting stance, as shown by Clark in Plate LII, Fig. 168, the cumulative effect of all the forces of forward propulsion engendered by the shift is suddenly released. Do not forget that the whole evolution from the first preliminary leg-swing, right through the shift, right-left foot landing · in the putting stance, rotation of the hips, right-left leg-drive, and final arm delivery, follow-through, and reverse must be continuous, co-ordinated, and fast, but all carried out with that perfect rhythm which produces constant acceleration culminating in an explosive effort. The right-leg drive, to which Clark in Plate LII, Fig. 168, is seen giving effect, is combined and synchronized with a movement which comprises one of the main essentials of success in shot– putting. The action in question is a very rapid rotation of the hips from right to left in the horizontal plane. This action is common to the shot put and all the throwing events, and is the factor, moreover, which puts extra speed into the final propulsion of the missile. Quite recently at the School of Athletics, Games, and Physical Education I taught this hip-rotation trick to a javelin-thrower whose best previous all-out effort had produced about 130 ft. On the same day on which he mastered the trick he threw 150 ft. with a very easy five-stride run. To get back, however, to shot-putting, Plate LIII, Fig. 169, .shows K. Kotkas, Finland, one of the most remarkable athletes of tne present generation, for he stands 6 ft. 5! ins. in height and weighs 15 stone 10! lb. These are admirable proportions for a discus-thrower and shot-putter, and, indeed, Kotkas has thrown a discus 168ft. 2t ins. and put over 50ft. with the shot. But the surprising thing is that he tied for second place in the Olympic high jump in 1936 at 6 ft. 6! ins., but was relegated to fourth place under the I.A.A.F. 'Number of Jumps' rule. He sub– sequently set the European record at 6ft. 8 ins. 408