Why? The Science of Athletics

ATHLETIC TESTS AND MEASUREMENTS OF ABILITY 155 indication of the potential coefficient and more or less enable one to say approximately how good a boy may become. Later on, no doubt, we shall devise other tests enabling us to decide what type of physical activity a boy is best fitted for, and then it is to be hoped we shall do away with the present system which obtains in England, if nowhere else, of making boys play certain specified games for which they have little or no natural aptitude andstillles-s liking. Athletic Ability Measurements In drawing up the various systems of measuring and testing athletic ability which are already in vogue, physical education– alists have had the advantage of knowing what mistakes have been made by those who in the past have been responsible for preparing the tests in the mental syllabus. So many boys who have done well in class work fail in examinations through sheer nervousness, and the same thing is seen in competitive athletics ; wherefore the tests for measuring athletic ability have been devised along lines well calculated to circumvent this particular difficulty. Present day measuring tests have all been designed for a specific purpose and not as tests of specified abilities. The first test on the list I have in mind is one which enables us to measure general physical, or motor, capacity. In this case capacity represents the natural ability of the subject to perform certain physical skills, the technique of which has not yet been taught to him. It is a test, shall we say, of natural physical cleverness, therefore it must be a test of a variety of abilities, all of which must involve fundamental principles of success in athletics. In dealing with this subject, Professor Classification McCloy pointed out that maturity and size Index are important factors which have to be considered, and the way inwhich he arrives at an assessment of their influential values upon the measure– ment tests is by building up a "Classification Index". Practical experience has shown us that, speaking generally,