dency toward overtraining, for
overtraining is much easier to prevent than to remedy. As soon as a
player gets into this condition he should take absolute rest for several
days, and thereafter he should only play for a short time each day. A
change of diet is a good thing, too. Remove all restrictions from the
diet of the overtrained man, and let him eat what he chooses for a few
days. Overtraining shows itself in various ways, but the most common is
for a player to feel worn and tired and disinclined to work hard on the
field. This is simply an evidence that his muscles have been worked too
hard, and have become so fatigued that they cannot recuperate their full
vitality between one day's practice and the next.

While speaking of diet I omitted saying that ice-water should be shunned
almost as if it were an alcoholic beverage. Never have ice water on the
training-table. Drink cold water, but do not have it iced. It is a bad
thing, too, to allow players to drink anything during practice or until
an hour after practice has been stopped. This will prove a hardship at
first, as the mouth gets dry and parched. Have a pail of water near the
field and a tin cup, and let the men rinse their mouths, but do not
permit them to drink. After a week or so they will become accustomed to
the abstinence, and their saliva glands will act more freely.
Gum-chewing is a bad practice, too. Constant mastication stimulates the
glands; but it is injurious in the end, just as all artificial methods
are in whatever sphere they may be practised.

The football team should work on the field every day, rain or shine.
Practice on a wet and muddy ground is necessary, because it frequently
happens that the most important game of the year (usually played at the
end of the season) has to be contested on a rainy day. Thus practising
in the rain will accustom the players to running and dodging in the mud,
and to holding a wet and slippery ball. If the storm is such, however,
that work in the open air is out of the question, the team should
practise in-doors. Rehearsing signals is good occupation for such
occasions, and practice in passing the ball and in tackling can also be
had. But unless in-door work is unavoidable it should never be indulged
in during the active season. The work on the field demands all the
energy of the players.

THE GRADUATE.

[Illustration: STAMPS]

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