Sunday, January 24, 2010

Contrarian Approach to Discus Throwing

I have been looking for this article for a very long time and I finally found the ebook today. I really enjoyed this article when I was learning how to throw in high school because it taught me that doing what everyone else is doing is going to get you the same results. Rather you have to be contrarian. This is a short excerpt that I enjoyed. The rest is located at  http://www.yellowdocuments.com/2969785-a-contrarian-approach-to-the-d

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Lesson One  
80 Percent of the Throw 
By: Dan John
The single hardest thing to teach young throwers is that they have, without doing a thing, the secret to success as discus thrower. Simply, tell them to stand tall, stick their chest out like they are on the beach, and raise the arms slightly to the sides…        That’s it. The key, of course, is having the footwork, balance, and confidence to hold this basic position throughout the throw.   If the athletes can learn to stay upright with their chests proud and lower back locked in, so the “body can be one piece,” the discus will go a long, long ways.
 Fine. How do we teach this?  Muscle Beach The very first drill, the very first day, I have all the young throwers stand in a line. I tell the boys, “You are on a beach. A cute girl walks by…” Immediately, all the boys inflate their chests, pull their shoulders back and lock in their lower backs. The funny thing is, the girls all laugh, then imitate the position perfectly.   Stretch!!! This “Muscle Beach” position is given the name “Stretch.” When teaching the shot, we “Stretch” with an imaginary bar held across the back, with the discus, we simply hold the arms “out” towards the sides. The key, the key, the key to throwing is to “HOLD THE STRETCH!!!” John Powell is demonstrating the finish of the throw, but note the “big chest,” tight lower back, and long stretch of the throwing arm.
The Lessons so far… 1. Stand up with a big chest…  A little disappointing. What’s the big deal?  Well, it is the single most important point for success in sports!!!  A little anatomy lesson…often misunderstood!

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think! or email me at 0a4w@virginia.edu

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

hey i couldnt email you for some reason but I am new to the site and i need some advice. Im a first time thrower and its my freshman year. I finished the seanon with 123'10". I need help on keeping my head in the game and not trying to worry about what to do. Im not sure if im being clear with that but I basically need to know how to keep my mind clear and my body relaxed when i throw. any advice would be appreciated