Why? The Science of Athletics

' ll 6o WHY?-THE SCIENCE OF ATHLETICS to maintain the same number of strides between flights when he is approaching the end of a gruelling 440 yards race run over 3 ft. fences ; nor will blind courage and determination carry him cleanly over the last three flights. It is for this reason that men who have become first-class in this event have trained themselves to hold the IS-stride gait between flights as long as possible, and, to take care of the rest of the race, have worked and worked, running at one_hurdle from varying distances, until they have built up the ability by mental and visual training to estimate the take-off correctly. That estimate must be made several strides before there arises the necessity to chop the stride to fit in the take-off step. In the same way I always think it is begging the question for a pole vaulter or a long jumper to use check marks. A man with good eyesight and a good brain ought to train himself to estimate his take-off, without having to rely upon the very doubtful "aid" of glancing at check-marks placed on the track as he tears down the runway. The "visual-height training" of pole vaulters and high jumpers is much more intricate, because a man aiming to raise his body over extreme heights, no matter whether he relies upon spring alone, or has the pull of his arms upon a qamboo pole to help him, has got to learn to assess the height of something that is non-existent. The whole object of both types of athlete should be to arrange the spring, or swing up, so that the foot, or feet, will reach maximum elevation at a point beyond and higher than the bar over which they wish to raise the centre of gravity of the body. Some men, I admit, do this purely instinctively, but for nine hundred and ninety– nine athletes out of a thousand the sort of judgment that is needed can be acquired only by long practice and the closest training in visual appreciation. Howard Baker, who holds the British Hi.gh Jump record of 6 ft . 5 ins., was a born athlete, and every– thing he attempted in sport not only prospered but was