h, a
part of the foot, and your second line. To compute the areas of these
two triangles and the rectangle, and to add them, is a matter of simple
mathematics. And then you have the area of your sail.

Between now and the time of the opening of the football season I want to
say something each week about the game, more especially about the early
training for it, and the elementary principles of play which so many
enthusiasts overlook at first, and consequently go in and fail. Nobody
was ever born a football player. To become proficient in the game you
must devote many months to practice, and several years to actual study
of the game. Football is a science, just as chess is a science--and
there are very few great chess-players. There are very few great
football players. My advice to the young man who wants to excel on the
gridiron is first to find out, if he can, what position he is best
suited for (not what position he likes best), and then to study and play
that position steadily and for all he is worth. Go to as many big games
as possible, and watch the men who play your chosen position. See
wherein they excel, and note your own short-comings. In addition, read
everything you can get hold of about the science and strategy of the
game. There are a number of books on the subject. And after you have
read pretty thoroughly, think. No man can be a good football player
unless he can think out football problems for himself.

But more of that later. The important question now is that of
preliminary training, and by far the most important thing about
preliminary training is to do not too much at first. It is not only
unwise to work hard at first, but it is dangerous. Most of the men have
been away on long vacations, and very few, if any, of them have been
taking any regular or systematic exercise. Consequently their muscles
are not prepared to endure the sudden strains and wrenches to which they
are being subjected. It is a matter of record that more sprains and
bruises occur during the first few weeks of practice than at any other
time of the season.

For the first week or so the careful Captain will see that his men
perform only very light work. He will put them through easy exercises,
he will have them pass and kick the ball and practise falling on it.
Then he will have his men take short runs across country, and do such
general light work for wind and muscle as will enable them to take up
hard practice without danger. Ev