Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-11-13
TEACH
THEORY and
ACTUALPLAY
wen Combination of
Both Is Sought In
Football Mater ],
Fielding Yost.S Says
BY FIELDING II. YOST
tDireetor Athletics, U. Of Michigan.l


ANN ARBOR, Mich. Nov. l3.-(H9
.~Teaching the technique OF football
is not a hard task. Teaching the the
DRY OF football is a pleasure. Teach
ing the combination Of technique
ana theory so it becomes a part of
the youth himself is the act that
makes the teaching position OF the
coach the hardest in the realm Of in
struction.
In games the boys do not have
tlme TO think-how TO run-how to
hlck-how 10 pass and block and
tackle. All OF these actions must
become so much a part of his ability
tnat ne does them instinctively. Ad-
yea 10 this there Is a quality ] am
pieased to call competitive instinct
that decides whether the boy reach
6 the heights of the game or is the
User player who gains pleasure and
idysical profit from his sport expe-
riencc.
From instruction of his coaches. a
player might easily pass a written
test on how to play end that any
FOOTBALL expert would grade as per-
lect. In actual contest the same
player might be unable to DO any
thing az the job Of playing end IN
the right way, while the player with
the rare frame of competitive in
stinct might fail in the QUESTIONABLE
but be the Sam White. the Halo
well. the oosterbaan or the chalk
marked field.
The instruction in engineering
teaches a boy who may take hours
aud H. A. I-ef- ~ .A. -
curve of a beam for bridge and build
Ing. The teacher of football must
train the boy to decide on the in
slant and in addition must train
eleven men SO all decisions fit into
the actions Of the team. all making
an independent decision in the same
instant.
This element called competitive
instinct in the field of sport because
Il must be present at an instant's no.
tice, can be called original capacity
and interest in other fields Of en-
deayor. | believe il is a commonly
accepted fact in the fields Of art and
music that Schuberts and kreislers
and Michael Angeles are the devel-
cpment of education and practice
plus original capacity. Some will go
an added step and declare the orig
inal flame of genius was necessary
before training commenced, as il
seems to have been in the case of
Schubert.
Like the field OF art and music.
only a few Of the football players Of
the country have ability to use their
football knowledge 10 greatest adj
vantage. Limits Of their competitive
capacity are less than their ability
TO acquire ~factual information. There
fore we have a thousand good golf
crs and n Bobby Jones; a thou
sand good baseball players and one
sTy Cobb; a thousand even tennis
players and one Bill Tiiden; a thou
sand good paSsers in football and
one Benny Friedman, and so on
through the lists of sport that name
as its leading lights the players with
the rare flame Of competitive in
stinct.
While the world honors these men
who reach the top there remains a
place for the boy who works slowly
and patiently upward and by the
absorption Of instruction and the
routine of practice reaches the peak
CT his competitive capacity. Most Of
the players seen in the different
competitive fields give as much Of
their capacity as those who reach
the dizzy heights and this is worth
while.
It is in the finding OF tho men az
the rare flame. the development Of
ones of lesser instincts and the com
bination Of both into team capabili-
ties Of instant action that makes the
position Of the football coach the
hardest in the realm Of teaching.
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