STANFORD UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF HYGIENE AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Divisions of:
Physical Education Activities (Including Athletics) Division of Informational Hygiene
Professional Education in Hygiene and Physical Education Men Students’ Health Service

University Health Service

STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA

February 5, 1938

Mr. Forrest C. Allen
University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas

Dear Docs

Thank you very much for your letter of Jamary 25, I quite agree
with you that it seems a little difficult to get fellows to visualize the
possibilities in the research field, particularly with respect to our problems
in basketball. I think the point you were working on and which you mentioned
to Val Lentz will be quite interesting to report. My particular. work here has
consisted of an investigation of the fatigue effects of basketball on players
as compared with other athletic activities. There is, of course, no end to
this sort of activity but I may have just a little bit of information that may
show the general trend. I am afraid it won't be too scientific.

I do not think you should take everything you read in the papers and
the magazines too seriously. I thought the article in Time was very compli-
mentary to my boy Hank. I sincerely think he is one of the best basketball
players I have ever seen. In addition, he is a joy to work with.

Now with respect to your inquiry concerning the strenuousness of
cross-country trips. There is no doubt, of course, that traveling is rather
strenuous. Since I have been here at Stanford, I have had a good opportunity
to study the effects of barnstorming trips upon the results of my conference
seasons. From a careful study of the weights of the boys, their mental atti-
tude toward the game, etc. I think I can safely say that a barnstorming trip
mey or may not affect the results of a conference season adversely. It will
depend entirely upon the type of trip, the number of games played, and the
opportunity to get reorganized upon return home and before the conference
season opens. In my opinion, barnstorming is no good for a green team because
it does not give an opportunity to practice and iron out mistakes after each
contest that is played. I believe we have profited least when we have taken
a sophomore team on the road. If I were to take a sophomore team on the road
again, I would see to it that they played just as many games as possible.

This added competition would off-set the lack of opportunity for practice
when traveling and the experience the players would get under game conditions,
would in part make up for the lack of practice.

Now when I organize a trip, I do not take any games that require
jumps off the main line between the east and the west. Neither do I like to
be continually jumping from oné place to another under strenuous travel con-
ditions. This jumping back and forth on branch lines and getting into a place
just in time to play a game is not conducive to best results and the wear and
tear on the players is usually felt for mme time afterward. The trip which I
made this last year and the one the year before, I consider to be quite ideal.