Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-02-14
BY J. W. Heisman.
\ PROFESSIONAL baseball teams

begin to get under way about
March 1. AS their league
seasons do not start until well into
April, and then continue straight
through to September and October,
this is early enough. With school
and college players the case is
somewhat different Not only do
their match games start in March,
but they are as important as those
that will be played later on; in
other words, their league season
may be said to start in that month.
And then it is remembered that
the collegian's season is over in
May so he must get all he can out
Of himself and his time in short
order For this season it is advis-
able in his case to begin work early
in February.
A LII the young players realize
\ that they need to get their
throwing arms tuned up and their
batting vision cleared; so they start
in with rush along these two lines
of work. And that about let's
good many of them out.
It's good as far as it goes, al
though often enough it's also bad
as far as it goes; for, uncontrolled,
youngsters are apt to work alto
gether too long and vigorously right
at the outset. They start in on the
first day and throw young cannon
balls, and just because they feel no
pain in their arms they are apt to
keep 1t up for an hour, more or less.
This is all wrong.
In the first place they should
start with some general exercise
like gymnasium work, with plenty
of outdoor running. The muscles of
the whole body should be put in
some kind of condition before a
hard call is made upon any one set.
Particularly is it advisable to get
the legs and lungs in some sort of
shape first of all. Care should also
be taken that this is not overdone
at first.
w HEN you do start throwing let
it be indoors, if possible, for
awhile. for your arm and shoulder
muscles will certainly not be Injured
to work in the raw, open weather of
February, and in their condition of
softness the slightest winds go into
the wide-open pores as easily as
would a needle Even indoors one
should. at this stage of the work,
never think of warming up for more
than ten or twelve minutes at a
stretch And in all that time he
should not have thrown one single
hard ball Beginning very gently,
he should rainbow" them all until
the arm and back muscles have be-
gun to loosen up; then he can be-
gin. ever so slightly, to put on a
little more and more steam, but al
ways stopping we'll this side of
two thirds top speed.
After ten days or two weeks of
this sort of throwing he can begin
TO put one over with a little force.
provided his arm is feeling entirely
sound and strong and provided it is
a fairly pleasant day or is a warm
hall in which he is practicing. But
the amount of his throwing should
still not exceed fifteen minutes a
day. and then in a very leisurely
fashion. indeed. Beware of trying
to toss them back and forth in a
quick and attempted brilliant fash
ion. for this is the way and the
time of year in which more glass
arms are manufactured than in all
the rest OF the season.
M OST youngsters are unwilling
to hold their arms and speed
down in this fashion simply because
their arm feels all right. My dear
man. if you are going to wait till
you feel pain in your arm before
putting on brakes you will see that
1t will then be too late Locking
the stable door afterward won't ar-