Coaching and Care of Athletes

THE HAMMER THROW forced to attempt to think what he has to do when he is working at such speed is not likely to attain to any great success. The first thing to work at in actual throwing is the discovery of the optimum speed in the preliminary swings, and then the optimum speed at which each particular athlete should turn to provide the necessary impressed force for the delivery. As to optimum speed in swinging, it should be remembered that if the acceleration is insufficient the drag of the hammer will be too great to allow the athlete, subsequently, to turn fast enough; if it is too great the hammer will get continuously ahead of the athlete and out of proper control. If the thrower rotates too slowly or does not accelerate during each turn he will fail to make a complete rotation each time; if he turns too quickly he will find it difficult to observe the all-important principle of keeping his weight on, or over, his left leg. He will find it hard also, as he , turns, to keep the hammer rising and falling in the plane of his proposed delivery. The arms must be fully straightened when the hammer is in front of the body during the preliminary swings and all the time the turns are being made. The first duty of the coach in teaching hammer-throwing is to arrange the athlete comfortably with his feet at RI and Lr (Fig. I8 I). The feet should be I2 to I5 ins. apart, with the toes just touching the edge of the circle on the side of it farthest from the intended direction of the flight of the hammer. The pupil should be in the easily relaxed position shown by Rein in Plate LVI, Fig. r82. The thrower then inserts the middle joints of the fingers of his left hand under the top bar of the loop-handle and overlaps his left hand with his right (see grip in Plate LVI, Fig. I83) . The hammer is then swung to the right rear, where the head rests on the ground. The thrower has his knees slightly flexed, and his trunk, inclined forward from the hips, is turned slightly to the right. The swing is started with a long, easy, lifting pull, and the arms are fully and loosely straightened as the hammer-head comes to the front (Plate LVI, Fig. I83). The arms remain straight while the hammer travels across in front of the thrower, and are then raised to the left of the head (Plate LVI, Fig. I84), above which the wire shaft passes in moving to the right, when the right elb.ow comes close to the right hip before the arm is again straightened. Each of the three preliminary swings is made more rapidly than the last.