Why? The Science of Athletics

LESSONS FROM FACIAL EXPRESSION 53 ·an intelligent coach would have been ]ikely to say to each man after the contest was over. To be a good coach, a man must be able to analyse facial expression, because by such means he may appre– ciate what each man is undergoing physiologically. If · he sees from a man's expression that he is not sparing himself although he is losing a race, he should have nothing but a pat on the back for that lad when he comes back to the dressing-room. On the other hand, the spectacle of a smiling shot-putter, or a hammer– thrower, who is grinning as he lets the missile fly, should be enough to enrage any coach who has taken the trouble to train a man into anything like prize-winning form. There are, perhaps, two exceptions to this rule, since, generally speaking, hurdlers when taking the flights, but not during the sprint for the tape, and pole vaulters during the actual clearance action, seldom show any expression save one of extreme concentration, which is due to their very earnest endeavours to preserve balance, timing and correct form under the pressure of speed and at extreme heights respectively. In this connection the reader should study Plates ro, 13, r8 and rg. Apart from that, the facial expression of an athlete in action is a pretty good guide as to whether he is trying or not. There is just one other point before closing this chapter, which will, I feel sure, have set quite a number of people looking askance at athletics and a number of others wondering if the game is really worth the candle, and if it does not involve risks that ought not to be taken. All I can say is that although Dr. Tait McKenzie's masks and the pictures in Plate r portray actual expres– sions of athletes, without a single note being forced, and although athletes do, at times, produce the most alarming and even distressing impressions upon the spectator, it yet remains true that athletics constitute no serious menace to health, that circulatory disease is not increased by athletic training or competition, that the effects of