American football . is own againsta more finished opponent on account ofhis natural quickness, strength, and apti-tude ; so in football one sees here andthere a man who is able to do some fair 104 AMERICAN FOOTBALL. kicking without having devoted particu-lar attention to it. In boxing, however,when a teacher takes the natural hitterin hand, he begins by putting him atwork upon the rudiments of guarding,holding himself upon his feet, hittingstraight, and moving firmly. He neverundertakes to make a first-class man ofhim by merely encouraging him to goin harder, and increase his power with-out re
American football . is own againsta more finished opponent on account ofhis natural quickness, strength, and apti-tude ; so in football one sees here andthere a man who is able to do some fair 104 AMERICAN FOOTBALL. kicking without having devoted particu-lar attention to it. In boxing, however,when a teacher takes the natural hitterin hand, he begins by putting him atwork upon the rudiments of guarding,holding himself upon his feet, hittingstraight, and moving firmly. He neverundertakes to make a first-class man ofhim by merely encouraging him to goin harder, and increase his power with-out regard to the proper methods. Infootball, coaches rarely teach the kick-ers the first principles, but instead urgeupon them only the necessity of con-stant practice in their own way. Forthis reason our kickers show all mannerof styles, and the only wonder is thatthey kick so well in such wretchedlybad form. While it is neither advisable nor nec-essary that a kicker be prevented fromattempting to kick hard until he has. KNOWLTON L. THE HALF-BACK AND BACK. 105 mastered every detail of the swing andbrought it to the same point of perfec-tion that a finished oarsman does hisstroke, it certainly is best, in his prac-tice, to subordinate power to methoduntil he acquire good form. The coach should take his man inhand by watching him make a half-dozen kicks in his own way. Then heshould select the worst of his faults,and show him why it is a fault, andhow to correct it. He should keephim upon this one point for a few days,until he is convinced that there will beno backsliding, and then begin uponthe next. In this way a few weeks willserve to make a second-class man a goodone, and open the way for his becom-ing something out of the ordinary runin another season. In judging the faults of a kicker, thecoach should note just where he gets I06 AMERICAN FOOTBALL. his power on, what is the position ofhis leg and foot upon the swing, andwhat part of the foot strikes the
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