Why? The Science of Athletics

Eyes-the Investigators and Guides HUMAN MECHANISM 59 Not long ago a famous Finnish athletic official and former champion told me that he knew most there was to know about athletics and felt himself competent to lecture upon any branch or phase of the game, "but," he added, "I never venture to try to coach field events athletes, simply because· I have not got the 'coaching eye'." Now what did that sportsman mean by the "coaching– eye" ? Everyone who is neither- blind nor woefully short-sighted. can see things that are happening ; some people see things more quickly than do others, some people are able to take in a far greater prop0rtion of the details of the things they see ; but it is only a very, very few who completely comprehend the whole significance of a series of actions which are performed rapidly. I think what my friend meant, when he said that he had not the "coaching eye", was that he lacked the ability to translate into terms of thought the impressions of action recorded on the retina of his eyeballs. From this it follows that it is absolutely essential that there should be the closest co-operation between eye and brain. In training boys myself, I often give them tests in visual training which I think will tend to sharpen their alertness. Apart from the fact that it is undoubtedly a very great asset when one is competing against a champion in the field events, and so has the chance of watching him closely, it is also of inestimable value to be able to observe his every action and to sum up exactly what each action means and its utility as applied to one's own technique. It is even more valuable to train one's mentality by constant practice, so that one can tell almost to the fraction of a second the pace at which one is travelling and at which a race is being run. It is equally important to train one's eyes and brain, acting in concert, to assess both speeds, heights and distances. The low-hurdler, for example, seldom finds it possible