Success in Athletics and how to obtain it

198 SUCCESS IN ATHLETICS and the strength of the arm increased by the judicious use of exercises ' with a dumb-bell of not more than 1 pound in weight (if a heavier dumb-bell is used, the arm movement will be made slow) and by massage. Before doing any throwing the athlete should rub his arm gently with a flesh-glove to get it thoroughly warm or a very painful strain will inevitably result; in addition to the rubbing, it is as well to keep the sweater on for the first two or three throws. Before a competition the athlete should make two or three throws, not too strong, with the sweater on in order to "limber" himself up before com– peting. The pain from such a strain as that just referred to usually starts Cl! in the shoulder and travels right down c::.o the arm even to the fingers ; it should r....l ~ be carefully guarded against, as it is tiresome and exceedingly hard to get rid of. Diagram 3 s. One last word. In placing the feet down for the throw, try not to get the back foot parallel to the throwing-board, or power will be lost and- if the muscles are not particularly strong-the knee may go. The feet should be as shown in diagram 38. In the final effqrt of the delivery of the javelin a great strain is placed upon the inner portion of the knee-joint of the hinde.r (right) limb, for many · throwers plant the inner side of the foot in a flattened manner upon the turf. This causes the obtuse angle formed by the leg and the thigh to be made less obtuse, and consequently a stretching on the inner side of the knee occurs which may amount to an overstrain and even derangement