Why? The Science of Athletics

226 WHY?-THE SCIENCE OF ATHLETICS hammer throwing, and there is the same correlation between javelin throwing and shot putting. Study carefully in this connection the work of Valste in Figs. 29 and 30, Plate 7, for perfect directional work. To sum up the position, one may say that when the runner or the hurdler disposes his head incorrectly he destroys the rhythm and minimizes the power of his traction ; that the jumper who does not ·hold his head correctly is bound to upset his balance to the detriment of his perfo.r.:mance; and that the throwing man who bends his head away from the direction in which he is throwing must, in the preliminary evolutions, steer his feet out of their proper path, and in making the delivery will create a broken angle which always results in loss of distance. To take the simplest case of all in ·proofof my proposition one has only to watch a baby learning to walk. The tiny tot starts cautiously with its eyes fixed · upon its mother's outstretched arms. This setting of the eyes upon a fixed point arranges ·the poise of the head, which, in its turn, decides the balance angle of the body, and that is the factor which makes possible the production of co-ordinated physical effort.