Coaching and Care of Athletes

COACHING AND CARE OF ATHLETES A novice should do nothing beyond preliminary swinging for a few days. It takes time to acquire the knack of swaying one's body in the proper balance to resist the pull of the hammer. If he will watch the hammer-head while it is in sight this will help him to get the balanced body-sway. As soon as the· athlete can swing the hammer around his head freely and fairly fast he should practise standing throws at the end of preliminary swings, but without too much effort at first. When he ca]l_make a standing throw with steadiness and strength he should be taught a single turn without throwing. All athletes then wish to throw with one turn, and the majority -of coaches allow them to do so. I am opposed to this practice. When a man throws with one turn he almost invariably, instead of turning, jumps round for the sake of getting speed, and thus acquires his first bad habit. It seems to me far better to persuade the athlete to be content with standing throws while he is mastering the two turns, since he will then be sure of making the delivery after really turning, and not .merely jumping round. Besides, much time and loss of patience will be saved in the long run. The third t:yrn, although essential, is a refinement which can be added to the --...... technique after considerable progress has been made. Mter throwing with two turns has commenced considerable time can be spent on building up the turns to the throwing position, and throwing SQmetimes with fast turns and a light delivery and vice versa. Work too on the 'pull-follow-turn' theory, already explained and illustrated in Fig. r8IA. Co-ordinate the action of the legs, back, shoulders, and arms in the delivery, and teach rapid rotation of the hips from right to left as the throw is made. Work t.o discover the athlete's (a) optimum speed in turning, (b) proper inclination of the plcine in which the hammer-head should move during the turns, so that it may correspond with the correct angle of delivery. Faults for which the coach should watch are: (I) In the preliminary swings: Lack offull arm extension; failure to sway the body to resist the pull of the hammer; the shaft of the hammer making too great an angle with the ground, instead of being almost parallel when above the head. (2) In the turns: The turn is not started when the knees are slightly bent and the hammer is off the right hip; the hammer gets so much ahead that full pulling power cannot be applied ; the high and low points are wrongly disposed; the athlete does not 428