ATHLETICS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 13 April 1928, Page 7

ATHLETICS

NOTES AND COMMENTS iM'/i'Mlii';; l\>p THE iiJJP.ftlß'i I'M 0: ) Ti;:v ", i .!,• :;:..,-' ]'ic«|uciitlv seen hurdle ; .!.'■' tii,-.e days i.- the 120yds. hur.lles. This i.n e. which i- nvi'i the "high" hurdle, is essentially a sprint I'tistance, nearly ail .rack performers in tin- event hem;!, h.m.l sprinters as well. To .ever 120 vards al.d deal ten I.indies properly i'tdiiii'cs the greatest activity, attention hi 'lui in, and ability tu iun last on tin' • hi'.. Hence sprinting should form a \ vt-\ impoi til ni pari uf the training. It •he' hurdlei dues not sprint regulat ly. lie , :iuii,il h"pe i" attain his highest speed ovei the clicks. Starling, as ill ill*' , : -v i i a sprint ei is ail impoi l aid I o i,,ui ; ini.M hurdleif aie, in lad. grod iiiii-iv, a- the very muscle, brought lulu plav in stinting are si i engt honed !,v hurdli juiiiping. Not only must lie ;,',. |' ;lst |,nt he must. In lie a sin ressflll hurdlei. have good form ovi i ilie .'ticks.

The hurdlei should go over the hurdle! with his shoulder .ljreclod straight foi the tape. Man\ beginners lake iheir jump obliquely, which, ol ...uise, ! ijiiile wrung. If the athlete make lids' mistake he will light on the H ie el his j,„,i and lluis not he able ill

~iii i lo gel into his stride between the hurdles. ilogei Lander illustrated last Saturday the toned method of taking the juiiip lie. in i ..liiiiii n with pra< Lu-aliv i-il athlete; these, diivs. adopts the familial straight leg style. .As> the lot-ward leg is thrown over ihe hurdle, the body should he thrown forward. Ihe aini of the huidler is lo bring the hmviud looi to the groiuid as speedily

as possible. lie should avoid 'hanglug'' in the aii. ami should in t fry lo -.mm extra distance . n the far side ol the hurdle. The rear leg must be brought up qui. kly »o that it will be in ihe natural position for sprinting when ihe forward leg touches the earth. The athlete, therefore. reaches the ground with his legs in the same position they

would have been in had there been no hurdle. There is a tendency to drag the ~.;,,■ |, ■ in the execution of tin- movement. as considerable exertion ol leg, hodv and arms is necessary to raise the u-ar leg fast enough for it lo lie in the n.rrecr'yusilum for the take-off on the ~t1,,-r side of the hard!., at the light

Three strides onlv shonUl be inkfii ber.vo.'ii tin- hurdles, and the hurdles themselves skimmed as closely as |'osI'rniiiic is necessary to enable tne •Ullll'te Id "Vl til*' eXact'distilllee between ' ; | M . 1,,,,.ih's "in his sti-itU". s<> that I"' [ilwiivs takes-uIT ni ili'' same diftance hum' ill.' hlll'dle. Considerable attention should hi 1 giv- ,.,, 1,, i|„. starting, especially to tin' inn up i.i iliu firsi hurdle. Tins must be ~r a ,tised until tin' tak.' off for tin' lirsl Jump is ;:l lli.i coned distance from this hurdle. 1„ hurdling. Hi.! body in"! anus »'»» 1 |„. (i( mi,] strong, as should nlso be the 1,.,,-k iu.rl abdominal muscles. Hurdling will of course, strengthen tin' above musics, hut other exeYcises tending to ■ his end should be taken. Hovpi-nl ol sneh exercisvs were published in tins column earlier in the season. In general, the athlete sliou.d a<lw. ilih course of training aiveii in this ~hmm ;. few weeks ago. l.a- the 00 v ,,,i, replacing the full ICO yard dashes bv 120 vards over the hurdles. I Ins training" is rathei' hard on the leg iiiii-'cles wi that it is not advisable to, s,„v hurdler to cover the full distance very often (once or twice a week will he 'found Kidiicieni).

LOCAL NOTES Tin. attendance :il tl«» Kasler Sports Meeting al tin' Pai* U ' :IS perhaps as i;,,„ t . ;,s could have been expected a Kastor limo. U has boo" suggested ~,.,, ,} K . |,i g ntliloLip meetings lor the season should in rutin* 1"' held on Kebrt.arv. onlv a comparatively small ■rntherim,' being held at Easter. On Hip whole, however, (ho season lias been a verv successful one ami tin' N.A.A. ntK | C.C. will probably not be on I of pockel when all the accounts are The local competitors slioweil up quite well againsl their more experienced opponents from other centres. 01 the local men. C. I'-yc. 11. Doulgo. [j p.oy.e. J. Packer, M. 0 Connor, t . Bachelor. A. Pierson. ami E. Scott were nmongsl the best performers, while Miss Scully ran well in the ladies events. ... The slvle shown bv most of the Nelson cut rants in the hurdle races left muc l, trr l)P desired, but this is due to no fault of theirs, as it is onlv within ,he last wools or so that hurdles have been available lor training purposes. A .neat improvement will doubtless be shown next season in this interesting department of athletics. Of tin- visitor:,. Jenkins, Lander. Ogg. Mett. and Carswell. Were olltstandiu" amongst the men. while Misses Swinburne. Miller, and Sharp were the more notable performers amongst the ladies. No particularly good times were put up bv anv of Mil- competitor-. Tins was due! in a large measure, to the ,I,'v hard nature of the track. All ,),;. visitors appeared to 1 ...joying themselves and expressed themselves as b'eing impressed with the very able and efficient manner in which the procccd„,as wen. conducted. Although they were nnlmkv in respect to the weather at Motueka'. it is to be hoped that m a„y of them will return heie next ve.tl

• " GENERAL One often hears of the occurrence of heated arguments over the different World's Records in the various branches of athletics, so a few of the more important ones, taken Iroin the D:ul\ Mail Year Book" for 1928." are given below : Hisrli jump: 6il o l-lm. 11. Osborne. at Chicago. 1924. Long Jump: 25ft 10 f-Bm. D. 11. Hubbard, at Chicago. 1925. ICO vards: 9 3-Ssecs, J. Donaldson (Australia) at Johannosbura. 1910. 220 vards: 20 /|-ssees. C. W. Paddock. California. 1921. ■•i iO vards: 47secs. M. Kong. Out tenl,urg. New Jersey, 1900. One mile : •liiiiu 10 2-ssec. !'. Nnrmi (Finland), at Stockholm, 1925. 19Q vards hurdles: Id 2-ssocs. E. Thom-. '.n (Canada), at Philadelphia. 1920.

One mile walk : 6min 22sees, ( .'. Cum mini'-., at Manchester. 1913. Weight putting (161 b): 51ft. R. W Rose. San iM-aneisco. 1909.