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: