help a terrible shot putter

[meconfused]

I'm a junior in high school. This is my third year throwing but season doesn't start until March but I'm so sick of being terrible in the shot put. I'm an OK discus thrower, but my best shot is only ~42 feet ( 12.8 m). I know it's my form, it's horrendous. If someone could give some drills that could help me? And if I can throw 42 like this, what kind of distance would I have potential for with decent form?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qnljXVffPw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOx2O_f9WME

[sowilson]

The Complete Book of Throws covers shot put technique very well. Your best bet though is to train this winter with a throws coach in your area. Check out your local USATF web site for a list of track clubs in your area and you should find one or two geared towards throwers and who are running training sessions over the winter. My son will be spending every Sunday from now until spring track season working on throws with a group of 12-15 others in addition to throws specific lifting work and some throws drills during the week.

To answer your question, improving your bench press will usually add distance to your shot (even with bad form). Good form can add 5-10'.

[amar654]

Looks like your feet land way to far apart to get proper hip swing after the glide, work on gliding into the power position correctly. 2, your glide is next to useless seeing how you are catching yourself and rebalancing before throwing, most of the momentum is gone. Once again, by practicing gliding you can cover these two issues. There are a few more but idk how to fix those porblems without actually being there. I agree with sowilson, find a coach.

[meconfused]

i spoke to a D2 thrower, he said there isnt much in the area because throwing isnt popular in minnesota, im goin to practice my glide and power foot rotation seperataley for a few weeks then begin to bring them togethr - along with quick foot work drills and one legged plyos.. itd be cool if i could show you guys a new video say around christmas?

[amar654]

i spoke to a D2 thrower, he said there isnt much in the area because throwing isnt popular in minnesota, im goin to practice my glide and power foot rotation seperataley for a few weeks then begin to bring them togethr - along with quick foot work drills and one legged plyos.. itd be cool if i could show you guys a new video say around christmas?

Throw up as many vidoes as you want buddy, we will be sure to help you

[sowilson]

i spoke to a D2 thrower, he said there isnt much in the area because throwing isnt popular in minnesota, im goin to practice my glide and power foot rotation seperataley for a few weeks then begin to bring them togethr - along with quick foot work drills and one legged plyos.. itd be cool if i could show you guys a new video say around christmas?

One of the best throws coaches in the country is Tom Thorkelson at Gustavus Adolphus College, he's trained many of the coaches in Minnesota. If you want a great winter training program check out this http://mnthrowcoach.org/ . Come and join us every Sunday at the UofM Field House. The Complete Book of Throws has drills for working through the Glide or Spin progression. Another person to look up is Lynne Anderson, she was the throws coach for the Gopher's Women. Some of her drills are here http://mnthrowcoach.org/lynne-anders...ot-put-drills/ (still on the web site but not reachable from the home page)

[meconfused]

awesome man - what times do yall meet out there? im just looking for throws advice as my actual lifting and stuff is alreadu taken care of by a powerlifting coach( im competing @264 in the 16-17 class at the USAPL mn state meet )

[meconfused]

slick man

[sowilson]

The mnthrows camp has two sessions each Sunday (12-1:30 and 1:30-3pm IIRC) . The Falcon Heights Track Coach heads it up and set it up to teach coaches how to coach the throws. So, coaches attend free, athletes it costs $110 for 3 Sundays (so $35/lesson). All of the registration information is on the web site. There's usually 4-6 coaches there and around a dozen athletes. Sign up for a session (3 Sundays) or 5. You will learn shot and discus - also Javelin if you want.

[meconfused]

The mnthrows camp has two sessions each Sunday (12-1:30 and 1:30-3pm IIRC) . The Falcon Heights Track Coach heads it up and set it up to teach coaches how to coach the throws. So, coaches attend free, athletes it costs $110 for 3 Sundays (so $35/lesson). All of the registration information is on the web site. There's usually 4-6 coaches there and around a dozen athletes. Sign up for a session (3 Sundays) or 5. You will learn shot and discus - also Javelin if you want.

sweet, im going to rearrange my work schedule and try to get in there. do coaches go 1 on 1 with throwers? and do I need to do the actual workouts and not just practice? like I said I have a program set up already by a guy that knows how to get people bigger, stronger, faster and more powerful.

[sowilson]

sweet, im going to rearrange my work schedule and try to get in there. do coaches go 1 on 1 with throwers? and do I need to do the actual workouts and not just practice? like I said I have a program set up already by a guy that knows how to get people bigger, stronger, faster and more powerful.

There's some 1 on 1 work, there's video analysis work, there's group work. There is no weight lifting or weekly program stuff - that's up to you. BTW throws lifting isn't exactly football lifting, there's more explosive stuff brought into the mix towards the start of your season. They will teach you how to throw and there are drills that you should do at least every other day if you want to be good: footwork, balance, things you aren't good at and don't know yet. Don't try, just do.

[meconfused]

There's some 1 on 1 work, there's video analysis work, there's group work. There is no weight lifting or weekly program stuff - that's up to you. BTW throws lifting isn't exactly football lifting, there's more explosive stuff brought into the mix towards the start of your season. They will teach you how to throw and there are drills that you should do at least every other day if you want to be good: footwork, balance, things you aren't good at and don't know yet. Don't try, just do.

on it. and in case your wondering, my lifting has one main squat day, a main DL day, a main bench day, and 2-3x a week I do powercleans and plyos

[sowilson]

Lifting for throws (covered in the book I recommended you to get) usually includes Olympic lifts. Powercleans are good, you can also do hang cleans, cleans, overhead squat, medicine ball work, and explosive pressing either with a landmine or Jammer. Incline and Super-Incline bench presses are also good to mix in (i.e. start with a heavy flat bench and then do an incline for accessory work).

[meconfused]

Lifting for throws (covered in the book I recommended you to get) usually includes Olympic lifts. Powercleans are good, you can also do hang cleans, cleans, overhead squat, medicine ball work, and explosive pressing either with a landmine or Jammer. Incline and Super-Incline bench presses are also good to mix in (i.e. start with a heavy flat bench and then do an incline for accessory work).

I see, I seee

[amar654]

http://startingstrength.com/articles...wers_starr.pdf

WIsh I knew about this when I was in highschool. Most of the kids I help I put on this program. Good results, simple and leaves enough energy to devote to throwing.

[meconfused]

when i land in my glide, how turnt should my " power foot " be? is it ok to have my foot still be facing out the back of the ring?

[sowilson]

when i land in my glide, how turnt should my " power foot " be? is it ok to have my foot still be facing out the back of the ring?

It will be a bit different for everyone. You want to land (i.e. left foot very close to toe-board) with your right foot facing mostly back and your left foot about 45 degree in, the weight will be predominately on your right leg with the head, shot/shoulder, hip, foot in a line. Your free hand (left hand in this case) should be closed (still wrapped around the body somewhat). If all is well then your hips will just be starting to open but your shoulders still back. You will then plant your left foot hard, pull the free hand out towards the sky and start exploding off your back foot. As your shoulder comes around your throwing hand is now trying to catch your left had but your left gets pulled back in with a fierce block, exploding your right shoulder and arm up and out.

It's just plain easier to watch Lynn's tapes I gave the link to. The process of the shot throw is very similar to swinging a baseball bat for power. You want to connect your upper body to the power generated by your lower body. You do this by making your torso a torsion bar and wind it up. Good things happen when the torsion bar (your trunk) unwinds and whips your shoulder around. You learn this by breaking up the throw into it's component parts, practicing each, and then put them together a piece at a time. The main mistake people make is trying to throw a shot (or discus) with their upper body and have the lower body follow. You won't get much over 40' doing this. The trick is to get the lower body lead and the upper body follow - this will get you distance. Same with hitting a baseball or throwing a pitch

[meconfused]

It will be a bit different for everyone. You want to land (i.e. left foot very close to toe-board) with your right foot facing mostly back and your left foot about 45 degree in, the weight will be predominately on your right leg with the head, shot/shoulder, hip, foot in a line. Your free hand (left hand in this case) should be closed (still wrapped around the body somewhat). If all is well then your hips will just be starting to open but your shoulders still back. You will then plant your left foot hard, pull the free hand out towards the sky and start exploding off your back foot. As your shoulder comes around your throwing hand is now trying to catch your left had but your left gets pulled back in with a fierce block, exploding your right shoulder and arm up and out.

It's just plain easier to watch Lynn's tapes I gave the link to. The process of the shot throw is very similar to swinging a baseball bat for power. You want to connect your upper body to the power generated by your lower body. You do this by making your torso a torsion bar and wind it up. Good things happen when the torsion bar (your trunk) unwinds and whips your shoulder around. You learn this by breaking up the throw into it's component parts, practicing each, and then put them together a piece at a time. The main mistake people make is trying to throw a shot (or discus) with their upper body and have the lower body follow. You won't get much over 40' doing this. The trick is to get the lower body lead and the upper body follow - this will get you distance. Same with hitting a baseball or throwing a pitch

sweet man, I'm getting better! - still doing the camp though

[meconfused]

I've signed up for the camp ( session 6)
After my powerlifting meet, I will have 12 weeks until true team state, so in order for me to peak for that, how does this lifting look? ( I understand ill have to manipulate my throws, jumps, and sprints as well.)
Squat/Dl ( assuming a 510 max) Bench ( assuming 350 max)
2x10@ 360 3x10@ 235
2x10@370 3x10@ 245
2x10@ 380 3x10@250
2x8@390 3x8@260
2x8@400 3x8@265
2x8@410 3x8@275
2x5@420 3x5@280
2x5@430 3x5@285
2x5@440 3x5@295
2x3@460 3x3@300
2x3@470 3x3@315
meet week meet week

power clean ( assuming a 300 max)

245 6x4
250 5x4
255 4x4
260 6x3
265 5x3
270 4x3
275 6x2
280 5x2
285 4x2
290 6x1
295 5x1
meet week

With my strength/power level, along with all the form work ive been doing id like to hit upper 40s/50 in the shot and upper 140s/150 in the disc.
Is this a good plan or should I lift heavier the whole season? Sorry for the long post

[sowilson]

You're leaving throws coaching to the end, right before spring track. Once that starts you'll be under your schools throws coach - I have no idea if that's a good thing or a bad thing, most likely not so good. I would add in session 3 or session 4 as well as the session 6 you're signed up for so that you can get a start on correcting form. It's very hard to correct form by yourself, even if you use video.

As for lifts, I would work on max strength training through January and then add in more explosive work. Take a look at the lifting schedule in the book I recommended to you.

[meconfused]

You're leaving throws coaching to the end, right before spring track. Once that starts you'll be under your schools throws coach - I have no idea if that's a good thing or a bad thing, most likely not so good. I would add in session 3 or session 4 as well as the session 6 you're signed up for so that you can get a start on correcting form. It's very hard to correct form by yourself, even if you use video.

As for lifts, I would work on max strength training through January and then add in more explosive work. Take a look at the lifting schedule in the book I recommended to you.

alright, cool