Why? The Science of Athletics

238 WHY?-THE SCIENCE OF ATHLETICS about his spike marks. Conversely, it may be that a side– ways turn of the spikes and the imprint of the soles will t.ell the coach that it is the track that is loose and out of condition. Written on the Cinders Many fine coaches maintain that you can really tell more of the quality of an athlete's running in a trial or a race by subsequently examining his tracks than you can by actually watching him run, and also that the pace of a man they have never seen in action at all can be fairly accurately divined. It is certain, in any case, that the effects of wobbling, deviation from that straight line which is the nearest path between two points, and of shortening the stride by looking round, or throwing the head back and the arms up, are as clearly shown by the tracks a man leaves upon the cinders as if one had been watching and had seen him actually commit these faults. Good coaches, of course, are careful to measure and compare the strides by taking the prints of each foot separately, as this method provides a better means of checking the swing of the limbs than is afforded by measuring the shorter lengths of right to left foot striding. Added to which, most runners stride a slightly different length with either leg and, if well educated athletically, toe-in a little more with the f0ot which is upon the stronger side of the body. The hurdler, by observing,. the imprint of his take-off foot, can tell clearly whether he is driving straight at the hurdle, while his landing mark will tell him if he is chopping the leading leg down close enough to the fence to ensure a good knee pick-up action in the next stride, after landing. He can .also work out accurately the proper proportioning of his three-stride action between landing and take-off. Another important point is that he will see if he is turning his foot out on landing from hurdle clear– ance, a fatal fault which will cause him to deviate badly from his true course.