CHART OF RELATIVE CONDITIONS IN TRAINING.
Line A E represents the new school, which aims at the highest physical condition at point E. Line A B represents the old school, which aims at good physical condition at the end of the second or third week of training, and to take the team to E in the same condition.
Take two elevens: No. 1 will use the old system, No. 2 the new system. Let the two teams play a match. At the point marked October 1 the physical condition will be decidedly in favor of No. 1, and, besides, No. 1 will know more football, having played more. The difference in physical condition will be the line C G. Let them play November 11: the difference in physical condition will be D F. Suppose that No. 2 wins at point E, November 21, which is extremely unlikely: No. 1 will have two victories to No. 2's one. If the object be to win only the final match, it seems that the old system will be far better, as the No. 1 eleven must know more football, having played more, and will be in just as good condition. It has been urged against the old system that it is impossible to carry eleven men from A to E in good condition; that the team, as a whole, will come to the final game overtrained. The individual may go below the line occasionally, but the team as a whole must be better, because the weaker individuals who are unfitted for the game will be eliminated early, before the team is made up. The team training on line A E, the new system, is just as likely to be undertrained, and lose half of its best men before an important match is finished.
A team trained under the new system will play with considerable life and dash while it lasts, but the team trained under the old system stays, and comes in the winner. Let us notice some fallacies of the new system. As an argument for less work, the case of athletic teams is often cited, where men train very little, and still play very good games. Any reasoning by analogy from such cases is absolutely misleading. Men who play on athletic teams are for the most part matured men, many of whom have played on college teams for years. They would naturally have a strength and endurance and knowledge of the game which the youngsters in the schools must acquire by hard work and faithful, conscientious training. The boys must acquire what the men already have; therefore a different and more rigorous system of training is necessary.
The new system believes that an ignorant undertrained man is better than an experienced overtrained one. Comparisons are often made with the training of crews, prize-fighters, etc. But in such cases the training is for only a single contest, while in football the training must be for several important matches. Not every practice is a trial, as is urged, but only the lesser matches once or twice a week are properly trials; and surely in but few sports can any strong objection exist to such trials.
Another objection to the old style urged by the new style is the likelihood of injuries when men are played so much. That is true and not true. In the long-run there must be fewer injuries. The amount and kind of work a team should do will perhaps be best considered under mental training. The problem in training is really how to do the work necessary to learn the game without impairing the physical condition.
By mental training is simply meant the process of learning this game. One broad rule may be laid down for learning the game, and that is to play it. There may be different methods of teaching men how to play; hardly any two coaches or captains will begin the season in just the same way. But each captain should have some plan, schedule, or method of teaching. The football season covers a period of about eight weeks. The game must be taught within that time. Now football is divided, as has been said in a preceding paper, into the Individual and the Team. The first half of the season, the first four weeks, should be devoted primarily to the individual, teaching him the fundamentals, and how to play his own position. Assuming that the season begins about the middle of September, this work would carry the team until the second week in October; the balance of the season would be devoted primarily to the team, although it is often impossible to pick the team before the end of the third week in October. After this point in the season the individual coaching should be done during the intervals or let-ups in the practice, or before or after practice. During the period that should be given to the team the graduates come around, and the tendency is to neglect the team for the individual. The bulk of individual coaching should be done in that part of the season in which it should naturally come. So much in general. Now a few suggestions to the captain, in settling his work for the season, may not be altogether out of place.
First day out, the squad upon going upon the field should form a circle, and pass the ball around. The captain and coach should notice each man, and see that he can make the simple straight-arm pass correctly, and catch the ball properly. Next, let the men line up in pairs, forwards with forwards and backs with backs, and try a half-dozen mutual scratch starts. The purpose of this exercise is to make the men quick on their feet, and to secure quickness and agility. That done, line the men up, and have them fall upon the ball. Having them in line instead of in a circle, the captain and coach can see that each man is taught how to do it correctly. Take a moving ball first—a ball moving from the player. Next try a ball moving towards the player from the front. The practice on the first day should be short, lasting not more than half an hour, and ending with a good brisk run of a distance of a mile and a half.
The second day's practice should last about three-quarters of an hour, consisting of catching and passing, falling on the ball, scratch starts, two-mile run for the forwards, ten minutes' kicking for the full-back, and catching for the half-backs, with the centre man to snap the ball and quarter to pass to the man kicking.
On the third day practise one hour—falling on the ball, passing and catching, sprinting starts, two-and-a-half-mile run for forwards, kicking and catching for backs, centre men snapping the ball and quarter passing, two-mile run for the backs.