Success in Athletics and how to obtain it

4 SUCCESS IN ATHLETICS fluence extends upwards, and the balance of pull upon muscles in front and behind the limb (speaking broadly) places overstrain upon one or other set. " Weak ankles," again, is a common complaint ; " apt to turn over" is another. These terms usually mean to the expert that the feet are at fault, and the athlete is roughly awakened to a · deep sense of " something very much wrong with him" when it is pointed out to him that he is suffering from " flat foot." Pain in various situations in the foot is deemed to be rheumatism, or " rheumatics " is the sufferer's way of putting it. These pains, however, are in most cases due to stretching of the ligaments, or fibrous bandages of the foot, when the arches are let down by lack of proper support from the muscles. The arches of the foot are kept ·in position by the muscles and tendons, or " leaders," much in the same way as the span of a suspension bridge is sustained by its wires. Any slackening of the wires means a dropping of the curve of the bridge ; in the same way, any slackening of the muscles leads to the lowering of the arch of the foot. Other combined arrangements of the muscles of the foot keep the · " springs " bent to a nicety, similar to the effect of an archer pulling at the string of his bow or cross– bow, and the tension resulting has a like effect. Training, to a great extent, brings the nec.essary tone to the muscles (or improvement in the virtue of the elastic), and thereby makes them ready to obey the immediate command of the owner. If the tone or quality of the muscle is lowered, and me– chanical defects are present, it is easy to see that they will be overstretched or even torn, and when