The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-05-17
TRICKS SOME ATHLETES
 RELY ON TO WIN.

Personally, I am not in the ha bit Of using tricks to win races. There are many instances, however, of | where tricks have been used. Certain athletes go to every extreme to win Like ball players. many have the su- perstition against competing in a clean uniform, claiming that it is hard luck A friend, a newspaper | man, who has studied athletes close ly, recently gave me a list of pecu- liar tricks that he had jotted down as they came to his notice at the differ ent meets. I also have noted these old customs, but they are best told oy the reporter. To wit:
 Athletes always develop a lot of theories about little tricks that may help them to win. About as odd a system as any was that of a college broad jumper whose name is ,on the list of Intercollegiate champions This man was not a smoker, so that an oc- casional puff of cigarette made him nervous. In order to induce this feeling of agitation. he was accus- toned to light cigarette a moment or so before he went on the field for his jumping. a
 He contended that a man had to be on edge to be either good sprint CT or a good jumper, and that even if his feelings of slight agitation were induced by smoking, it was, notwith . standing, a good thing. He said, in fact, that he rarely could get any sort of gingery feeling before the compe- tition if he didn't get himself worked up artificially that way.
 Another man, who was a more or less successful quarter-miler, both as collegian and club athlete, nerved himself up for the start of his races by swearing profusely at himself. He had the idea that if he got thorough ly angry at himself and swore a lot it would take his mind off the race that was about to start.
 "Consequently. the men who were on the marks next to him on each side were likely to hear some half muttered curses and profane words that they might think were meant for them. In fact, this athlete had to explain on more than one occasion after a race that he wasn't saying anything about any one,/ but just to himself.
 Tt is very often the man who hasn't true courage who adopts these devices for heartrending himself up artfficially. However, there have been men whose nerve was unQues- toned who resorted to devices to work off what they called hoodoos and to stimulate themselves artificial ly for their competitions. 4
 Such, for instance. was one great high jumper who used deliberately to practice before the competition ac- tually began by knocking the bar of all sorts of minor heights. He had an idea that by doing this before hand he got 1t all out of his system, so to speak, and he entered his com petition with the assured feeling that he wasn't going to slip up on any poor performances
 'sThe blind reliance. of the novice on externals as the causes for good performances by the crackajacks oc- casionally has some odd sequences. There was a quarter-mile runner who was accustomed to hold his index and second fingers pointed dowhward as he strode along, and immediately after this was observed by several new men at the game, they all be- gan holding their fingers in similar fashion as they ran.
 There was another man, a dis leg. AS a result, he favored it slight ly during the period he ran while SC handicapped. There sprang up a host of limpers who thought that was the way to attain prominence in dis tance running.
 "Then, again, British runner who came over here about ten years ago had a fashion of working his arms like a sprinter, although he ran long distances. Almost immediately after his first public appearance, a great crowd of young athletes adopted that method. They were surprised to find that it didn't make them run as fast as the Britisher." r."-Melvin W Sheppard in the June Columbia