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Hammer throwers – an endangered species?

probstjoerg Administration, Blog, Competition format

The Weltklasse-Meeting in Zürich is a fantastic event. When I was a young lad Christmas was a far distant second favourite to my yearly trip to Zürich to watch the best athletes in the world. In fact, this meet is what got me hooked on athletics in the first place. The meet has always been a spectacular show. When I attended in 2009 I saw only one real difference, apart from a new stadium, and that was the extra-curricular show elements that make the meet even more of a spectacle now, without in the least detracting from the sport. The star athletes are presented to the crowd in the most extravagant ways, and the night ends with fireworks.

When I reflect back I notice that I never saw the hammer throw in the Letzigrund stadium, but when I recently read an article in the Swiss paper Basler Zeitung (BaZ, 6 July 2012) featuring the meet director, Patrick Magayar, I realised just what a neglected event the hammer throw has become, and why some of the more prominent throwers have to fight so hard for acceptance.

Below a few translated* extracts from this interview, which would have to be of concern to  hammer throwers:

BaZ: Sports continue to develop. How about new events for athletics?

Magayar: I would say if anything we have too many events and would have to cut away old ones. Not invent new ones.

BaZ: Which ones would you leave out?

Magayar: We have to distinguish between what we want to maintain as core events within athletics, and what can be accommodated for in one-day meets.. Events such as our meet are primarily for the entertainment of spectators. And in a large stadium the heavy throws – shot, discus, hammer – are not really suitable. But here too the entertainment value depends on who is competing. If Gregory Ott puts 21 metres in three years, then we will once again be a united nation of shot putters.**

BaZ: So much for which events are suitable for one day events. But if there are too many events – which ones would you get rid of?

Magayar: I would really think hard about where I still have how many registered hammer throwers. In the hammer throw we are approaching a category [of sport] like the bobsled. These are sensational athletes, but that’s not the point. A long time ago I tried for fun to beat Sergei Litwinow in a 30 metre sprint. I didn’t even see him, that’s how fast he reached the finish line. But there are fewer and fewer of them, so one has to ask whether it makes sense that stadia are equipped for such an event.

No further comment required.

———————–

* My own translation.

**Gregory Ott is a budding young Swiss shot putter, who is tipped to follow in the footsteps of the great Werner Günthör.

A new approach to athletics competition and training for children in Australia

probstjoerg Athlete development, Blog, Competition format

In my paper “A new approach to athletics competition and training for children in Australia” I argue for a complete overhaul of the athletics competition and training system for children in the interest of a more effective long term development of our athletes and improved retention.

Feel free to comment below or email me directly.

A new approach to athletics competition and training for children in Australia

Zoltan Kövago banned

probstjoerg Blog, Discus, Doping

Seasoned Hungarian discus thrower Zoltan Kövago has been found guilty of  a doping offence and will miss the Olympics.

The Hungarian association had exonerated Kövago after he failed to submit to a doping test on 11 August 2011, but the IAAF was successful in an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and the thrower has now been banned for two years, presumably backdated to the date of the offence.

This post will be updated once the Court publishes its reasons.

Talking about getting the basics right…

probstjoerg Blog, Discus

Last night, Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre, warm-up track.

As I step into the circle to begin my throwing session I notice chalk markings in the discus circle. That in itself is nothing unusual, but immediately I realize something is not quite right. I have another look, and I can’t help taking a photo:

Exhibit A

Here is an enhanced version:

Get it?

The foot positions are obviously the ones the (presumably) young athlete was supposed to arrive at during his or her discus throwing action. But the (no doubt well-meaning) coach, teacher, parent, got this one horribly wrong, if we assume for now that this was a right-handed athlete (no disrespect to the lefties out there).

Unfortunately, this is by no means an isolated incident.

I’ve been coaching children and teens of all ages for over a decade, and I had to show almost every single one who came to see me for the first time what the foot position is supposed to be at the ‘front’ of the circle for a standing throw, which is the same foot position that the athlete should arrive at with the turn.

How come such basic errors are taught at such a large scale? It has never been easier to obtain good coaching materials for anyone who is interested in coaching the discus throw, and yet, the same errors are perpetuated through generations of kids, and the foot position exemplified here is only one of many basic errors I encounter.

I don’t know what transpired, but the likely scenario is (and I’ve seen such scenes many times) that this unfortunate child was practising a standing throw using the foot positions at the ‘front’ of the circle as prescribed by the markings.

But this foot position is the most direct path to teaching an athlete how to throw with the arm, rather than the legs. Why? Because the athlete has no other option but to use the arm in order to make sure the discus lands legally, inside the sector. If a standing throw were  executed properly from this position (using the legs), the athlete’s hips would be facing the right sector line at the point of release, rather than facing the throwing direction, and it would be more likely that the discus would stray to the right – unless of course the arm is used to correct that, and this is exactly the reason why this foot position is such a problem. It contributes to turning kids into typical ‘arm throwers.’

So, the optimal foot position (and this is no more a matter of opinion than ‘2+2=4’) is this:

Optimal foot position

Stay tuned for an instructional video on the standing throw, hopefully in the near future.

In the meantime, here is a perfectly executed standing throw by Lars Riedel, which I filmed back in 1996 at a meet in Bellinzona, Switzerland. Distance: definitely over 60m, in perfect conditions:

http://youtu.be/BcaBI-bRT1Y

Are we wasting our talents?

probstjoerg Athlete development, Blog

The IAAF World Junior Championships are just around the corner, and we have a lot of young quality athletes representing Australia in Barcelona. Let’s hope they can gain from this experience and use it as a stepping stone towards a senior World Championships or Olympic Games in coming years.

But before long, the focus will again be on the IAAF World Youth Championships (WYC), with many young talented athletes wanting to qualify.

I thought it would be interesting to make a more detailed analysis of the first three generations of Australian WYC participants, ie. athletes who participated in 1999, 2001, and 2003. What happened to them? What did they achieve subsequently?

The statistics confirm that very few of these talented teenagers actually make a successful transition through to the senior ranks. The statistics are really quite sobering…

Are we wasting our talents? What do you think?

Analysis first three generations of Australian WYC participants