No 53: Throwing - An Introduction for New Athletes and Coaches
Instagram clip on making your own throwing circle
One of my passions outside of medicine is for throwing. Shot Putt and Discus, as an athlete and recently as a trainee coach.
I've recently started to help coach athletes in Halesowen, West Midlands and in Wales. I've also been lucky enough to be taken onto the Welsh Athletics Athlete to Coach programme this year.
Working with these athletes has made me think about a few FAQs.
I want to use this blog to reflect on how to become a better thrower and to put together some tips and resources that might be helpful for other throwers and coaches.
Why is throwing the best sport?
Throwing is the ultimate test of athletic ability.
To perform a PB throw (personal best) takes = balance, coordination, proprioception, strength, speed, power, flexibility, control, dedication, discipline, poise, relation, mind control, focus and ultimately achieving a "flow state" within a competition.
This is why I love throwing, because it is so difficult to get all of these things right on a consistent basis and even harder to get it right in a competition under pressure.
What is the point of being strong in the gym if you never get to use that strength in real life?
Again, this is where being a thrower gives your training purpose and helps you to focus on becoming a good "athlete" with functional, real world abilities and not just a "gym monkey".
Another unintended benefit of training to be a thrower is the time spent "in the flow". For some people this is fleeting or never attained but for others the hours spent doing drills, practice throws and weights will allow you to clear your mind and forget about everything else, except for the one thing you are focussing on right there and then. This is essentially meditation. Not only is this good for your mental and physical health, but being able to go into this state improves your performance in almost every area of your life. It is worth practicing.
In the rest of this post, I will list a few questions and then some of my top tips or thoughts at the present. As a relatively junior coach please feel free to disagree with my thoughts or correct me if you wish, but hopefully some of this will be useful or thought provoking.
Also, just to make it clear, I can not claim to be a "good thrower". Previously, I have thrown for a number of clubs, Uni, counties, regions and for Wales but I was never really good enough to be an international level thrower. Currently, I am a "decent" club thrower but I am following that old cliche that "those who can't do, teach".
If you live in Wales and want to get better at throwing, what should you do?
Firstly, contact your local athletics club and see if they have a throws group. If they don't then:
Ryan Spencer-Jones is the Welsh Athletics National Throws Coach and will be able to point you in the right direction.
If you live near Cardiff then Paul Jensen is an incredibly experienced coach who has helped train some of Britain's best throwers in the last couple of decades.
If you live near Swansea then Matthew Rosser is someone to speak to.
The coaches listed above are also running the Welsh Athletics Discus School on a regular basis:
Nov 6th Swansea 12 -2PM
Nov 27th NIAC 12 -2PM
Dec 11th Swansea 10-12
Jan 8th NIAC 12 -2 PM
If you live near the West Midlands, then please feel free to come down to Halesowen ACC on a Thursday night at 6pm and join our throws group.
If you want to get better at throwing, what do you need to do?
Improve your technique
Improve your strength
Get heavier
Get faster
Become more flexible
Learn how to focus and use the Jedi mind tricks of sports psychology to improve your competition performance
(These strategies are listed from “easiest” to “hardest”, and not everyone will want to get heavier)
My Top 10 Tips for new throwers:
Build consistency and discipline into your life, this is easiest with a routine,
I start my day every day with stretches. I now probably spent more time stretching every week than I spend in the gym. It has taken me years to realise the importance of stretching, and I have been injured many many times before I really appreciated how important this is. Learn from my mistakes and do you stretching!
The 10% rule - this is the safest way to avoid injuries and tendonitis. Only increase the intensity of your work out by 10% a month. So that means your number of reps, number of sprints, number of jumps, maximum lifts, only increases by 10% every month. Set yourself a goal for the month and DO NOT push past that target. This will make your training feel slow, but it will make it much safer.
Balance, control and consistency are the key to a good throw. Practice your technique and drills until you can hold each of the positions within the throw with ease.
Throwing is an art not a science. There is not a "perfect" technique. Everyone will be slightly different based on your build, style, strength etc and you do not need to develop exactly the same technique as someone else. As long as it is roughly right and consistent, that is what matters.
The undeniable secret of the world class throwers is that they get into the power position consistently and then explode out of that position with a huge force. You can not be a world class thrower unless you are very strong and powerful. No matter how good your technique is, it is your power that will determine how far you throw.
Counterpoint - Doesn't matter if you are the world's strongest man, if you have poor technique, you will not throw that far!
The difference between a good club thrower and an international thrower is power, consistency and your ability to perform in competition (The Elite Triad). And I believe the major difference is the last one. Working on your mind set and relaxation techniques and rituals is time well spent.
In the long run an athlete who is prepared to show up and work consistently, is more likely to achieve success than someone who is naturally gifted.
To become world class at anything takes 10,000 hours of meaningful practice. That is roughly 10 years of regular practice. There is no short cut. Even if you are genetically gifted, you still need to put in the work.
Who should I follow for advice on strength, power and flexibility?
Who should I follow for throws technique?
Who should I followed on Instagram or Youtube for throwing inspiration?
The following list includes some of the top throwers in the world:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjiEoGFDi6u/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
The following #HashTags are good ones to follow and use:
#throws #thrower #throwing #throwsnation #throwsuniversity
#shotputter #shotputt #shot
#shotanddiscus #discus #discusandshot
#athlete #athletics #trackandfield
#plyo #plyometrics #jumps #power
#powerathlete #weights #weightlifting #weighttraining #lifter #strength #strong
If you have found this useful, then please share it. If you would like to suggest any additions then please comment below. Thanks for reading!