Why? The Science of Athletics

DIAGRAM AND DEDUCTIONAL CALCULATION 231 From the diagrams he sent me I was Calculations able to tell with absolute accuracy what had and Deductions been his body action in crossing the bar, from Diagrams and consequently could correct his faults by lett€r. Fig. s6, Plate I 5, shows the first phase of building up the full pivotal action and the extraordinary hip-lift he was able to get by the full, stiff-leg sweep of his left leg, while Fig. 57, Plate IS, shows the turning action nearing perfection towards the end of the correspondence training, . which enabled him to gain a place in the team, as the youngest athlete who has ever represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games. The height he cleared in I928 at Amsterdam, where he tied for seventh place, was just a shade under 6 ft. · 2 in., and only a subsequent accident to his knee, I feel sure, has kept him from reaching world's record heights. Good as Simmons was, however, he had not that perfect style which Shetliffe has acquired so quickly. For example, compare Fig. 56, Plate I5, with Figs. 6o and 6I, Plate I6, and it will be seen that Simmons did not get the flat lay out of the arms, the superb inwards and upwards curving of the left foot, nor the direct drop of the right foot, which constitute such noteworthy points of perfection in Shetliffe's action. Since I928, however, athletic science has progressed rapidly and the aid of cinematography has made the task of the athletic coach a great deal easier. Next we will take a case of direct personal coaching, in which deductions were drawn from motion pictures. At the beginning of I933 my son, F. R. Webster, who possesses plenty of natural spring and speed, seemed to have reached the permanent limit of his high jumping ability at exactly 5 ft. 2 ins. He could clear that height with consummate ease, but not a fraction of an inch higher could I get him. . Then we purchased a Pathe Cine camera and projector and got down seriously to the business of finding out what