Coaching and Care of Athletes

THE HAMMER THROW Lutz in Plate LVIII, Fig. I95· He is now ready to make the actual throw. This is a wonderful picture, for the hammer is right off. the right hip, the arms are fully extended, the body is resisting the pull, and the left knee is nicely bent in readiness for the final thrust in the delivery. In Plate LIX, Fig. I96, the throwing action is continued by Rein. Note the dead-straight arms, the stiffening of the left leg as a fulcrum to the throw, and the way in which Rein is putting the whole of his not inconsiderable body-weight into the final heave. Plate LIX, Fig. I97, shows Rein after the hammer has left his hands with a good heave away over his left shoulder. Note the straightening of the legs and the follow-through action of the trunk and arms. I mentioned that in the preliminary swings the hammer-head does not rise more than 6 ft. above the ground, and that the descending pull is equal in the first two preliminary swings, increasing in the third swing. In the turning movements the hammer-head rises approximately 9 ft. above the ground, and the pull, as one is turning from a position facing the direction of the throw to a position with one's back to that direction, is increased progressively as the hammer descends towards the completion of each turn, reaching its culmination on the last descent and in the final cross-body heave which constitutes the delivery. At this stage it seems to me necessary to interpolate a further explanation o~ the style now in use by O'Callaghan, the great German throwers, and throughout Finland. In the first place, as I have tried to show in Fig. I8I, the thrower's left foot does not at any time leave the ground while he is making the three turns with which he traverses the 7-ft. circle. The right leg is carried around the body, and the foot placed down for a fraction of a second on the completion of each turn as a stabilizing factor. But, it may be asked, how does a person cover 7 ft. of ground in three turns on his left foot without ever removing that foot from the ground? Here is the answer. The first half of each turn is made on the heel and partly on the side of the left foot, and the second half on the side and partly on the ball of the left foot. The turning movement is continuous. Thus if the length of the athlete's foot is I2 ins. his foot occupies that much of the circle in the initial stance= I ft.; from the initial stance he makes one complete turn on the heel, side, and ball of the foot= 2 ft. plus I ft. = 3 ft.; he then makes a second turn= 2 ft. plus 3 ft. = 5 ft. ; and a third 425