Sport As Exercise For Girls

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 52, 24 November 1937, Page 14

Sport As Exercise For Girls

Javelin-th'rowing as an exercise for -girls was recommended by Dr. Fritz Duras, Director of Physical Education at Melbourne University, in a lecture to teachers at Sydney University. In Melbourne some school principals were against it, as being dangerous, said Dr. Duras. "Javelin-throwing can 'be dangerous," he remarked, "but what cannot be dangerous if we do it the wrong way? It is a question of right handling of the class by the physical education teacher. There is -then no danger, and the exercise is splendid." Dr. Duras recommended the medicine ball as one of the best means of strengthening the trunk muscles in particular. It gave pleasure as well as fitness, and this was important. The iron ball was of remarkable value in body training, said Dr. Duras. The ball (for 'boys, weighing 6, 8, 10 or 121bs.) was thrown from one hand to the other, passing up and behind the body in various ways. This required exact adaptation of the body movements to the heavy ball, and was an excellent means of developing muscular strength and elasticity. "There should not be too much formal exercising— not more, perhaps than five minutes in a lesson of 20-30 minutes.

Javelin Throwing Recommended

Otherwise the work ■ became boring (which removed the psychological distinction between exercise and work). Other disadvantages were that it ofteft created muscular tensions, instead of easy movements, and unequally developed parts of the 'body. Large, swinging movements improved the 'tonus' of -dhe blood vessels of the brain, and of the upper part of the body. " Rhythm was essential— mere timekeeping was mechanical; rhythm should characterise the living body.' It was good and stimulating to finish the gymnastics lesson witlj a marching song. "Development of muscular strength in girls has been much neglected, and this is a mistake," said Dr. Duras. "Lack of muscle power is often the reason for poor body posture in girls." Sports for Girls. Dr. Duras outlined various exercises suitable«to girls of 12 to 17 years. Running was more difficult for women than for men, he said, since the legs were shorter in proportion to the trunk, middle distances for women had been excluded from the Olympic Games, as

tending to bad "•body mechanics." Row-. ing, discus-throwing, riding, foil fencing, jumping and skating were beneficial in various ways to girls. _Skating was at the opposite end of the scale to swimming in expenditure of energy; it encouraged harmonious mov*ment (through the ideal of "nice" mov«ment). "The nation's health is based on the fitnes of its girls more directly than on that of its boys," said Dr. Duras. "Clean the Brain." Moderate bodily exercises, ifter strenuous school lessons, could "clean the brain," by stimulating the blood in its function of carrying away waste products. Research *n fatigue in school work showed that a greater number oi short lessons was better than fewer and longer lessons. Children (adults, too) found it difficult to concentrate attention for more than. an hour. For children, between 8 and 10 years, the lesson time should be 40-45 minutes, followed by a 10-minute rest. For younger children, the lesson 'time should be shorter. The first two hours of the school day were th# best for power of attention, and the more difficult subjects, such as mathematics, should be taken then. The more strenuous exercises should be given on aftemoons free from other school work.