Success in Athletics and how to obtain it
HAMMER-THROWING 139 flat upon his back at the instant of delivery, but he must by no means let this discourage him; true, he looks a fool at the moment, but that is of small importance if he learns his lesson and ultimately succeeds in his object. In the first attempts at throwing from a standing position the novice should not try to get too much "devil" into the effort, his object should rather be to attain style and precision. Having perfected himself in swinging the hammer and deliv<;!ring it, the pupil now comes to the stage at which he has to learn to make the turns; at first he will do only one, but as time goes on he will do two and later three, or even four, if he has the agility and perseverance of a Flaxman! Now more than half the success in hammer-throwing lies in perfect steadiness of movement and well-con– trolled, concerted action ; therefore, the thrower must at first make all his movements moderately slowly, so that he may learn to understand just what he is doing, and to judge the pace of his turns so that he controls the hammer and does not let it drag him around. In the preliminary swinging the momentum given to the flying hammer-head has been principally gener– ated by the arms, but in the actual turning, and before the final heave is reached, the arms act merely as a rope between the handles of the hammer and the body; this rope takes the strain. During the turning the momentum is given to the flying hammer– head by the rapidity with which the body pivots around on the feet. It will, however, be seen that it is important that the arms should hang straight out from the body with no bending at the elbows, as
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