Success in Athletics and how to obtain it

144 SUCCESS IN ATHLETICS difficulty to contend with, and be "so much" at a disadvantage to his heavier opponent. It would be perhaps interesting to look at an example worked out from assumed figures as to distance, etc., and then remark on the various points which occur afterwards. Assume a r6-pound hammer to he thrown a distance of I 50 feet, and four turns to be taken to generate the necessary velocity before releasing the hammer from a 7-foot circle. In diagram 21 the small figure in the centre represents the path, starting at s and working round to the arrow- Diagram 21. head, made by the hammer– thrower in four complete turns; the larger (dotted) figure sur– rounding it is the path de– .scribed in the air by the ham– mer-head itself during these four revolutions, starting at s' and finishing at the arrow– head, where it is released to go on its journey. The reason that these circles are eccentric is accounted for by the thrower having constantly to change his feet in turning _to pull round the weight, and also due to the weight itself, which, with its consJantly increasing velocity, causes him to lose his balance to some extent. This brings up another point, and that is "the correct number of turns which should be made." There is a diversity of opinion on this point. Now, as the whole distance of the throw depends on the velocity at which the hammer, or rather weight, is moving at the moment at which it is let fly, or, to put it in more- technical language, leaves the circle on