Sound Psychology

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28362, 22 August 1957, Page 15

Sound Psychology

A doctor at the University of California claims to have a new theory on how athletes and swimmers can reduce their times by as much as a tenth of a second. Dr. Frank Henry says it is all a matter of psychology. He says that if competitors concentrated exclusively on the sound of the starter’s gun instead of under the present method of thinking what they were going to do, they would record faster times.

The sprinter should have thought out how he will get off the starting blocks before the starter raises his gun, then he can think exclusively about the starting signal, said Dr. Henry. Dr. Henry, who is a professor of physical education, and research associate in medical physics, said his theory was the opposite of what athletic and swimming coaches have been teaching. Today, most of the top sprinters concentrated on their impending body movement rather than the starter’s gun.