Shot Put, Discus Throw - - by Marco Steybe

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Shot Put and Discus Throw
This section contains the Shot Put and the Discus Throw. These are the trength events of Track & Field.

A Philosophy for the Throws
The Shot Put and Discus, commonly called the throws, are intricate and complex events requiring great power. Throwers must exhibit explosivness, strength, balance, coordination, timing, kinesthetic awareness, concentration and the ability to relax while exerting maximum effort. Training for the throwing events involves a great deal of technical work, weightlifting, running, and plyometrics.
The throws are significantly more demanding than most other events. As other athletes, you should be trained to be an athlete first. For the beginning thrower, the whole season will be a learning experience emphasizing general fitness and technical improvement. Strength, coordination, balance, and fundamental technique should be the focus of training. For the experienced thrower, focus on rhythm and explosiveness blended with refined technique.

The Mechanics of Throws
The aim of both the Shot Put and the Discus Throw is to propel the implement as far as possible. The distance achieved by the throw is a functioon of the implement's speed at release, the height of release, the angle of release and attack, and, in the discus, air resistance and the aerodynamic qualities of the implement.
Acceleration of the shot or discus results from the application of horizontal, vertical, and rotatioonal force of the body to the ground and the implement. In the Glide Shot Put style, a combinationn of horizontal and vertical force accelerates the body from the back to the front of the throwing circle. As the throwers lands in the middle position, the legs drive forward and up and the hips and torso rotate to the front of the circle. Simzultaneously, the throwing arm further accelerates the shot as it pushes away from the body. The Spin Shot Put style adds horizontal rotation at the beginning of the throw in order to create greater velocity at the point of release.
In the Discus Throw, the thrower attempts to perform a long acceleration of the implement by applying rotational and linear horizontal force at the rear of the throwing circle. When the thrower reaches the power position, vertical force is also applied to create an optimum angle of release. As the hips turn to the front, the free arm pulls in to shorten the axis of rotation and the front leg blocks. This transfer of momentum further accelerates the throwing arm. The final accelerationn of the discus results from the pull of the throwing arm through the point of release.
The optimum angle of release for the Shot Put is roughly 40 degrees, depending on the height of release. For the Discus Throw, the best angle of release varies between 34-40 degrees depending on wind and height of release. The angle of attack (the difference between the angle of release and the discus' horizontal axis) should be 5-10 degrees. Distance is also aided by the construction of the discus itself. A hollow discus with weight distributed away from the center will hold its spin better and increase the aerodynamic stability of the implement. A throw exactely straight forward is measured further as the same throw along the sideline.

Shot Put Technique
The two techniques of shot putting that will be discussed are the Glide and the Spin. It shouls be noted that the Glide (or O'Brien) technique is easier to learn, but the Spin technique may have advantages for certain athletes.
Smaller throwers may benefit from the Spin technique, which compensates for the lack of long levers with superior speed generated by the spinning motion. Throwers who are adept at pivoting or spinning may be candidates for the Spin technique.
The Glide technique is usually favored by larger throwers who have trouble spinning within the small shot circle. They also benefit from the longer pull ganed from the power position of the Glide technique. Long throws have been achieved with both styles.

Discus Throw Technique
The primary body movements of Discus technique are essentially the same as the rotational technique of the Shot Put. The ideal athlete for discus throwing is tall with long arms and legs and quick feet.
The complete discus throw should have a distict rhythm, building from slow to fast. The discus thrower should start in the back of the ring with a nice, relaxed wind of the discus to start the rhythm. The wind should not be too fast od dramatic. As the thrower "unwinds", the legs should bend and the center of mass should be shifted over the ball of the left foot (right-haded throwers). The shoulders should be kept parallel to the ground with the left arm extended straight out in front of the body.
As the center of mass moves over the left foot, the thrower should drive off that foot immediately. This mevement is referred to as drop and go. As the left foot pushes, the right foot sweeps around underneath the left armpit and the thrower rotates out of the back of the ring. The combination of the left leg drive and the right leg sweep gives the thrower good linear impulse across the ring. Hip-shoulder seperation is also established at this point, as the right leg sweeps underneath the armpit to get ahead of the upper body. The head should look straight away from the chest as the discus is wound and then turned to look at the left arm as the thrower comes out of the back of the ring.
Once linear drive has been established across the ring, the thrower should actually be airborne. At this point, the right leg will be tucked in, beneath the upper body, and the knees brought together to increase the speed of the left foot coming back to the ground. After the initial drive out of the back, the right leg will be the first to contact the ground at the centter of the ring. The left leg should touch down as soon after the right as possible to crate the longest pull possible on the discus.
As the thrower reaches the stand-throw position, the shoulders should remainn parallel to the ground with no dipping whatsoever. The right foot should also keep pivoting, and should continue to do so until the discus is released.
When the athlete is pulling the discus around to the release point, the right foot must keep pivoting in order to maintain the hip-shoulder seperatioonn attained at the initial turn. If seperation is not maintained an arm throw will result - and much power is lost. The discus throw is actually a sling, aided by a stretch-reflex reaction prior to release. The left side of the body should remain firm, with the left leg (the block leg) blocking as the right side rotates through release. At release, the head should be thrown back allowing the chest and hip to rise and give lift to the discus. After the discus is released, a reverse can be added to avoid fouling.


Discus Throw Lars Riedel	Shot Put John Godina	Javelin Throw Jan Zelezny	Hammer Throw Lance Deal