Page:Association Football and How to Play It (1908) by John Cameron.djvu/44

42 a regular life, should be quite sufficient to enable him to turn up on that day as fit as possible. Still, if he has a little time to spare a few short sprints once or twice a week will do him a great deal of good. He may probably add two or three yards in a hundred, and speed is a great asset in modern football. Probably one yard in twenty is of infinitely more advantage than say five in a hundred, and for that reason alone I have always encouraged a player, if he can possibly do so, to go in for short sprints from twenty-five yards to fifty. Should he not be able to run on an open piece of ground there would be no harm in putting on a pair of canvas shoes at home and sprinting for fifty yards on the pavement opposite his house or on the road if the district is fairly quiet. Nobody will take any notice, especially after the first once or twice, and on coming indoors take a hot bath; if going out again never forget to have a cold plunge afterwards. I am a great believer in hot baths for taking away any nasty knock or soreness, but they must be taken with the greatest possible care so as to avoid catching cold. There is no finer sensation after having a hot bath than to jump into a stone cold one or to stand under a shower. It makes you tingle all over, and after having a rub down you feel like a giant refreshed. "Am I a believer in Turkish baths?" is a question often asked me, and I must admit that I generally qualify my reply. Once now and again does no harm; to indulge in them regularly to me seems a great mistake, as they are certainly most lowering. Another point