JANUARY, 1929 SPORT [CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27] January Diet for the Athlete [CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27] thorough mastication of the food eaten at meal times is of the utmost importance. One basket- ball coach at a college where the players eat at a training-table compels his men to remain at the table three-quarters of an hour. I asked him the reason. ‘Merely because,” he replied, ‘‘it prevents the men from overeating, which is most harmful. At first they think it fine. But, as the average boy eats a meal in fifteen to twenty minutes, they soon tire of sitting around doing nothing. The result within a week is astonishing. After that period of time has elapsed every player eats very slowly, thoroughly chewing each bit of food. He figures that he’s going to be able to eat the full three-quarters of an hour by doing this. But to his surprise this thorough mastication of food quickly appeases his hunger, and he is satisfied with less food than when he bolts his meal. There is no question but that this benefits him. Most of us eat too much.”’ Coach Forrest C. Allen is a great believer in : oranges. His players eat one each a half-hour before breakfast, immediately after practice, and just before retiring. “‘It is my conviction,”’ he writes, ‘‘that the mineral salts in the oranges will do more to ward off staleness than any other single thing.”’ What should one eat before a basketball game? Here’s the meal that is prepared for the Kansas Varsity and served two and one-half hours before a home game: Sliced oranges, sprinkled with sugar; two slices of hot dry toast and butter; half a baked potato; one cup of weak tea with sugar and no cream; sliced peaches, no cream. f the game is away from home and a hard trip to be taken, a small piece of T-bone steak (two inches square) is added to the above for each man. CALIFORNIAS PASSING ANDO WIND DEVELOPMENT PRACTICE YY = tteigs Passing and Wind Exercises N exercise common to most well-trained and well-coached basketball squads is the one shown in the accompanying illustration. A group of six or more players form in a circle and keep jogging about at a fair rate of speed, pass- ing a ball back and forth from one to another. Coach ‘‘Nibs’’ Price, of the California five that has reigned supreme on the Pacific Coast for the past several years, uses this exercise through- out the season. As none of the players know which is to re- ceive a pass from the one last catching the ball, all must be on the alert for it. The coach also compels the players to pass as rapidly as possible during this exercise. As a result every player gets valuable practice in receiving and passing rapidly—a most valuable point in fast play— and is also trained in the art of handling a pass that comes to him unexpectedly. Naturally, such drill develops a team’s wind. It is highly important in passing to feed the ball belt-high to a receiver. Balls thrown face-high often interfere with the vision of the player passed to, and a fumble results. Also, though one-hand passes are common in the game, it is better to use two hands when one is able to do so, as greater accuracy is insured. S. =f Helis — ° The Climax of All By ketball | Attack NY time you happen to watch a college basketball team practice you will hear the coach continually yelling at the top of his lungs to his players: ‘Follow in, follow in!’ Regard- less of the attack used, no team can be a high- scoring one if it fails to follow up each shot. In the accompanying illustration this point is cleared for you. No. 1 in the diagram, which represents the figure just shooting in the drawing, must not be the last word in the attack. Most of his at- tempts at a basket will fail to register. For that reason some of his team-mates drive in for the basket as he shoots, the purpose being for one of them to regain the ball, in case of a miss, and take another shot from closer up. There has to be some sort 2 system to such aplan. There is with all well-drilled fives. Usu- ally, if the shot is from in front, two other players drive in, one to the right of the basket, | the other to its left. As the shooter lets go of the ball he also drives straight for the basket. In this way, the basket is covered from all three points—front and two sides—in case of a miss, and a team-mate is ready to take the rebound and try to convert it into a basket. No part of basketball attack is more im- portant than this. Even if the men following in fail to get a chance for the basket, in case ofa miss, they can strive to regain the ball and relay it back to a team-mate to their rear, so that the attack may function all over again. The five that shoots from the floor and does not follow in is bound to have hard going, as the oppo- nents will regain the ball and soon have it under their basket. S. M.