San Francisco Call, Volume 114, Number 144, 30 October 1913 — MASON GIVES LINE ON HOW TO FOLLOW SPHERE DOWN FIELD [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MASON GIVES LINE ON HOW TO FOLLOW SPHERE DOWN FIELD

sellers has just tapped the ball over to Douglas, who is about to advance it farther with another little kick, while his partner stands ready to take his turn, showing the splendid team work combination.

George Sellers (left) and Jimmy Douglas, two of the New Zealand stars going down the field and giving a scientific exhibition of how to dribble, an art which they have perfected and which they will endeavor to teach our college kickers

GEORGE H. MASON

Manager New Zealand All-Blacks.

There is a wrong impression with your local teams about "running a man on side." The local idea seems to be that the man kicking the ball has to run to the spot where he has kicked it. But this is wrong. The teams know, of course, that if a man is in front of the ball when it is kicked that the kicker can run up and put his men "on side." Take, for example, a play that happened at Palo Alto last week that was typical of all games played by local teams against us. A wing three-quarter was in position about 15 yards from the touch line. The ball was kicked to him and his forwards were on the opposite touch line, about 20 yards ahead of him. lie realized that all these men were off side. He kicked over to thMO and then started to run over to the crowd of player, to put his men

on side SHOULD HELP REFEREE The Idea of putting the men on ■Ide was correct, but hie idea Of the direction he should run w»i all wrong. That man wasted valuable time and energy by trying to run at least 40 yards on a diagonal line, when a straight run of 20 yards would have accomplished the same object. When you send a kick d"wn to » bunch of off side players it is not necessary to follow the course of me ball. Run in a line parallel with the touch lines, and when you have h»aded oft your men—that is, to get ahead of the imaginary line —then yelL "Ball on side." The method of running after the »,all Is very likely to confuse the refleree A referee only has one pair of eyes and he is likely to lose signt of the man who actually kicked the ball once he gets up with the 16 forwards, two halfbacks and others. On the other hand, however, if your meh run in a direct Una down the field from the spot where the kick was made, you will not only be helping the referee, but you will be conserving your own energies, getting to the spot to "onside" your men quicker and playing the game as it should be played in this particular case. In short, the theme is: Let the ball go its own way, you go yours in the most direct path—which is parallel to the touch lines, not at an angle to them. TOO MUCH PASSING The work of the forwards in this state on the line out can not be called expert. Spasmodically the work is good, but there Is a lack of consistency that is deploraJale. The forwards do not seem to grasp the idea of the line out The Ideas local forwards have of this feature of the play ax it looks to us is that the main object Is to get the ball on the jump and pass it back to the fives or whatever back is nearest up to receive the sphere. There is too much passing to the hacks and not enough mixing of other methods when the ball Is gained. It is only on very rare occasions that we have seen local forwards put the hall to their feet and attempt to dribble. Once they get possession of the ball, if it is not thrown back, the man in possession grips It into his Stomach and with sheer bull strength tries to buck his way through past the line of opposition. On such occasions a man would gain far more ground by attempting to dribble the ball instead of trying to push his way through a stone wall. | MISTAKE I.N TACKLING A glaring fault on the line out is the Lac kilns of the opposition men.

the minute the ball is thrown in from the line. It does not make any difference where the ball lights, the local players always use the same illegal methods of tackling a man whether in possession or not. When the ball is thrown in from the line a man with Rugby sense runs direct to the spot where the ball is falling. Here, however, we are not allowed to, as your men deliberately tackle our men and hold them from getting to the point where the play will take place. Such methods should be rigidly dealt with by the referees and penalty kicks awarded for Interference. It makes no difference to your players whether a man has the ball or not. ust as long as It is a line out you men imagine that they have the right to tackle a player simply because It is a line out and looks an admirable opportunity to down the man he is marking. DRIBBLING II AN ART Dribbling is an art that requires considerable practice and head work. Local players have a hazy Idea that dribbling is simply kicking the ball along at their tc«es. and when you come to an opponent, let out an extra hard kick and send It by. There does not seem to be any idea that to dribble one has to use considerable judgment. There Is a lack of Ideas in dribbling all round. Players when they have the ball at their toes on local fields go down the field with short, sharp kicks, but when an opponent is reached the man with the ball at his toes never attempts to get the ball past the opposing player by a gentle tap. which twists the ball to one side. Just out of reach of the opponent's boot.

When local players do get On what they term a dribbling rush, the men usually give the ball such a tremendous kick that it files past an opponent right Into the arms of an expectant player and he is away before the kicker can get up with him.

The photograph shows them carrying the ball down the field.