By Ben Bishop

At this point in the season, I’d like to discuss some common errors that we can still fix and achieve a positive response. Attempting to revamp major movements of a thrower’s technique at this point in the season risks a loss of rhythm, which, regardless of technical efficiency, will cause a decrease in performance. Do not underestimate the value of good rhythm. High school throwers frequently make great careers simply by having rhythm alone and substantially subpar technique. Pertaining to the technical errors listed here, video analysis is generally the best way to spot them but I’ve given some tips as to what to look for..

Error:

The thrower is anticipating the throw early, i.e., the athlete’s eyes/head are looking out towards the sector too soon starting in the middle of the ring and continuing through the finish. This error causes the thrower to finish high, upper body dominant, as well as seemingly short and lacking in power.

Cues:

-Find a focal point out the back of the ring and keep the eyes (and thus head and upper body) back while the lower body gets ahead. We want the lower body to “unload” the implement, not a stressed upper body.

-“Hang Back” over the right leg in the center of the ring and let the throw come from the ground up.

Error:

The thrower is “glancing-off” the finish. Similar to the first error, this mistake occurs when the thrower is rushed or tearing the head off to the left (assuming right-handed thrower). You will be able to notice that the throw is lacking in power and the throw will appear to have a splitting of forces- the athlete going to the left, the implement going to the right. To compare the delivery to boxing, we do not want a “glancing” blow delivered to the implement; we would like a long, powerful strike through the implement.

Cues:

-Finish out through the implement.

-Throw out over the left-side post, not off of it.

Error:

Hitting the finish is a common mistake among young athletes. The idea of instantaneously “hitting” the implement with maximal force lends itself to bad positions. The thrower will appear rushed and high after “popping up” in the finish. The delivery will be short and lacking in the long push/pull lever we’d like to achieve.

Cues:

-(Note that I have yet to use the word “don’t” for any of my cues…) DON’T POP UP IN THE FINISH!

-Let the lower body work through the finish. The finish should be long, smooth, powerful… this type of throw beats a fast, rushed, and thus a short finish.

Note that all three of these errors are somehow related to a rushed throw. In general, a rushed means a lack of rotation with the lower body thus the athlete erroneously attempts to create velocity with the upper body.

Next week’s post will be about competition psychology as we are approaching the finale of the outdoor season.