Why? The Science of Athletics

276 WHY?-THE SCIENCE OF ATHLETICS them to take advantage of the fullest range of swing that the arm or arms can compass. The javelin thrower does not fall quite within the same category, while the shot putter is more restricted in this respect than any type of field events exponent. If you will look again at Figs. 98 and 99 of Plate 22 you will see clearly the extent of the arm swing from Noel's position to that of Askildt in the delivery, but if you will then turn to the two pictures of F. R. Webster in Plate 2I, and those of Armas Valste in Plate 7, you will see how short is the range of delivery to which the shot putter is restricted. This can be still further empha– sized by quoti~g the fact that the world's record for putting a I6 lbs. shot, in the manner shown by Valste and Webster, is _57 ft. I ins . (J. Torrance, U .S.A., I934) ; whereas in I9I3 Pat Ryan, U.S.A., who holds also the world's I6lbs. hammer throwing record of I89 ft. 6 I/2 ins., threw a 35 lbs. weight 57 ft. o 7/8 ins. In -the consideration of the throwing events we get, perhaps, the most striking and interesting examples of how the theory of dynamics enters i:qto the scientific study of athletics. Hammer throwing, for instance, is probably the most strenuous event that an athlete can adopt. Brute force unallied to technical skill is of little help, nor does the personal weight ?f the thrower, within reasonable limits, come into the question to a prohibitive extent. The questions of initial impulse and progressi~e accelera– tion, however, are all important ; for whereas all the momentum has to be generated within the restricted area of a 7 ft. circle, two turns are insufficient to build up maximum rotary velocity for conversion into the pro– pulsion of delivery, five turns are practically impossible, and, although four turns seem to be mathematically the right number, most men find difficulty ~n mastering three with the ability to remain in the circle after the hammer has been released. The strain imposed upon the human body by the feat of hammer throwing is very great. Assuming that a man,