Why? The Science of Athletics

ATHLETIC PSYCHOLOGY 345 When a man is excited, or otherwise affected by strong emotion, his heart-rate goes rushing up and the suprarenal glands, deep seated near the kidneys, · release adrenalin into the blood-stream with astounding results, for the heart beat is both quickened and strengthened and the man is thereby prepared for the coming struggle. It is, in fact, probable that the presence in the blood-stream of this adrenalin is intimately connected with the condition already referred to as "wind up"-of the right type. The man who first demonstrated the effects of emotion upon human health and human physical activity was the famous physiologist, Professor Ivan Petrovich Pavlov. It is the researches of Pavlov, Cannon, Carlson and Crile which have made plain the fact, and its converse, that efficient circulation and digestion make for happiness, because pleasant sensations influence the secretion of our digestive juices satisfactorily and also stimulate the rhythmic action of the food-canal. On the other hand, fear, over-anxiety and, indeed, any form of mental dis– turbance provide a distinct hindrance to proper digestion. In the fore-going connection it may be pointed out, therefore, that freedom from worry has a definite nutritive value, because the well-being of a person is at its highest when his mental and physical harmonies are in tune. As already pointed out, the influence of mind on body is illustrated in the release of adrenalin when strong emotion is felt. The constriction of the smaller blood vessels follows, so that blood passes from the peripheral to the deeper parts, the muscles are excited and stimulated and the sugar content of the blood becomes reinforced, an important item, as we have seen in earlier chapters. Another surprising thing in connection with what may be termed the psychical side of athletics is the subtle effect upon the athlete of good news. Not so long ago I had a young athlete on my hands who, I knew only too well, was worrying his heart out about the result of an examination ; and not unnaturally, since the whole course of his future career was depending