Why? The Science of Athletics

CONSIDERATIONS IN CONDITIONING ATHLETES 23 in the footsteps of his sire ; I do not deny that I have known more than one champion who, so far as could be ascertained, had no ancestors who were in · the least degree interested in any form of sport at all. Conversely, I have known the sons of great athletes, with long histories in athletics on both sides of the family, who have shown no aptitude and less liking for the game. What I have in mind is rather this : if you know that a boy's family has a tubercular history, to take the most obvious case, you would certainly keep a pretty close eye on that youngster, with a view to building him up to resist any hereditary weakness, and you certainly would not take the risks with him that you might be willing to run with other youngsters. But you must have know– ledge of the medical history of that boy and of his people, before you can use athletic training to rnak~ him into a fine man. That, however, you may regard as just common-sense precaution, rather than anything to do with the seience of athletics. In which case let us look at another side of the picture. Suppose a tall, likely-looking lad comes along and wants to take up athletics, but has not the faintest idea as to which particular event he would like to concentrate upon when he gets through his play-period and also the subsequent stage, in which he will still go on prac– tising a number of events for the sake of his balance and general development. The probability is that he will want to take up running; most of them do, because it looks easier than the field events and, apparently, requires less concentration and does not involve the taking of so much trouble to master the mysteries of technique. But if the boy is tall for his age and shows signs of developing into a big man of heavy build, the probability is that he will never make a first-rate runner; none the less, running, and particularly sprinting, is an excellent adjunct to field events training. You may decide that the boy in question has some of the makings of an excellent shot putter, in which cas~.