Why? The Science of Athletics

go WHY?-THE SCIENCE OF ATHLETICS thigh-bone of a new-born infant, that number increasing subsequently to one hundred and fifty millions. It is by the activity of these tiny cells that our bones are made solid at first, later on changing the interior into a light, strong texture. But coaches who are handling the athletic instruction of young children should remember that full development and final stabilization of the bones does not take place until a good many years after birth. As we shall see later on, when we come to consider the build of the athlete, certain structures of the skeleton, such as length of limb, give definite indications to the eye of the knowledgeable coach that some men have been better adapted by Nature than their fellows to attain success in some particular type of athletic event. No useful purpose would be served, I feel, by entering into an exhaustive anatomical discussion in a volume of this kind ; the main thing to be remembered is that the skeleton must be "kept in true" if it is to serve us to the best purpose in our athletic endeavours. In the foregoing connection it seems fair to suggest that all too few people, be they coaches charged with the care of athletes, or the athletes themselves, pay sufficient attention to the maintenance of the bones of the foot in their proper positions. One of the most valuable assets an athlete can have is well-formed and well-cared-for feet, and for that reason it seems to me surprising that so few British coaches prescribe, and so few of our athletes practise, exercises for the development of the muscles which control the arches of the foot. That athletes of other nations look deeper than do we into matters of athletic science is borne out by a conversation I had recently with Chehui Nambu, the Japanese jumper, who told me that for three years prior to th~ time when he made his two world's records of 26 ft. 2! ins. Long Jump and SI ft. 7 ins. Hop, Step and Jump he spent one hour daily hopping on his take– off leg to strengthen the muscles which give the spring to the sole of the jumper's foot .