Technique advice

[javdad]

Below is a link to a short video of my son throwing in Training, My son is a 1st year under 15 with a pb of 43 metres,
However he set this at the beginning of the season and is getting frustrated that he has not improved on it since,
If anyone can give any advice about how best to improve this technique and hopefully help him get a new pb this year (2 chances left) We would love to hear from you.

media.putfile.com/Jav-throw

Cheers

[Administrator]

Hi JavDad,

Hope you don't mind, I moved your post to this section so its with other threads of the same kind. Also, is the shot from Basildon? - I was member there for around 10 years.

I took a look at the video and overall there seems to be a lot of positive aspects about the throw. His approach speed is very good and he maintains that speed through the cross steps and you can see this by the way he leaves his left leg after throwing.



One thing I did notice during the cross steps is that your son make a lot of ground from the right footed steps and very little from the left footed steps. If you look at picture 1, your soon is making good ground from the right foot. If you then look at the distance covered from picture 2 to picture 3 it is very small. This left stride is the most important as it is the "run-off" stride into the impulse and block.

I think that the position your son gets into in picture 4 is a result of the lack of run off he gets from pictures 2 and 3 and in turn his upper body seems to be ahead of his lower body and the left leg is collapsing.

I think that he needs to work on this "run off" so coming up and over the left leg in the crossover you can see in pictures 2 and 3 to give the legs time to get into position and also to allow the upper body to stay back ready to strike.

This is something I have tried to work on myself this year and it really does make a difference to the feeling and the distances.

[wez]

In addition to what Jim has said i might add that if his runup speed is good the probelm could be caused by him breaking slightly into the throw- whereas he would be better off starting a little slower and accelerating into the end- that way his upper body won't get ahead.

Also in pic4 that is a good pullover but he has slightly lost control of the point of the jav- hence the flight and ultimatley distance will suffer. In addition that left leg need to come down straight in order to deliver full force from the runup.

Have a look at the cartoon in Sadie video clip thread- it shows the basics of how the forces are generated

[javdad]

Thanks for the response guys I'll go over it with Ryan tonight,

James yes that is Basildon, I'm wondering if you are the James who was with Sam and Bonne at an open in Thurrock a couple of weeks ago, If so I was the guy sticking the pin in the ground for the throws to be measured, Ryan was throwing that night but was poor again only getting a 40 metre throw in, He always seems to throw better in training!.

Thanks again

[Administrator]

Yes, that was me there. I thought I recognised Ryan from the pictures. I wouldn't worry too much about Ryan's throwing that night, as you know he was throwing into a really strong headwind and as I remember he was using a track javelin that didn't seem to be much use. One thing I do remember is that he has a seriously quick arm and definitely bags of potential beyond what he has done already.

[javdad]

Thanks for that James, Ryan will be very happy with that response,
I'll say hello next time I see you as well.

Cheers

Jon

[slinger]

hi javdad,

i think your son's alignment and point control is fairly good.

however, most of any athletes problem technically stem from what they do on the ground with their feet.

.....to get his speed he leans into it and lets his upper body dictate what he's doing, this in turn means it's very difficult to work the legs during the X overs and especially during "run off" being this far forward with the upper body also means he will collapse at block.......by slowing it down and actively being aggressive with his feet during X overs will keep him "back" and allow the feet to be effective - they will be effective as you are giving them actual time to work as they are ahead - it's impossible to work them effectively if your center of mass has passed your feet, try it now, stand up in a javelin withdrawn position with your body side ways on and put your right foot ahead of you and then reach with left....before the left has contacted with the ground turn the right heel out and the right hip - this should be fairly easy [you have put your feet "ahead" of yourself doing this] now try and do exactly the same with your right foot behind your center line - you can't properly and it's become rushed now also notice how your upper body is very forward - working your feet ahead gives you time.

drill and exercises to help.......

running drills using a javelin.

- normal X overs with a javelin in withdrawn pos. focus on width and equality of strides with the feet working towards the ground, looking for fast contacts off the ground.......both right and left handed [bear with the left handed stuff!]

- X overs with a javelin in withdrawn pos. over very low hurdles, so that the right foot is "swept" over and the left worked hard to the ground

- normal running with javelin held high above the head in normal carry pos. but focus on staying tall with good pos. - this'll aid the body pos during X overs.

- after your son has become proficient at those he can try sledge drags whilst performing running and X overs, this really works the athlete, as it's natural tendency is for you to try and lean so you really have to force the legs to take over and do their job.

- something i'm going to be doing this winter is X overs up a slight hill, as again to do them correctly you have really work hard on staying back and getting your legs ahead.

.......of course all these drills will aid him becoming very aware of where the javelin is and actually further improve his javelin control, they will also importantly make him become at ease and very comfortable with running with a javelin in hand - this is actually very important.

this is initially is what i'd do if i was coaching your son as i feel it would offer "best value for money" it's easy to get carried away and rattle off a hundred and one things to do but i'm trying not to confuse you!

however once the winter has started consider investing some time doing some medi ball throws.........ones particularly focusing on being in a strong position at plant ie tall and be strong with the left side and not "soggy" if you know what i mean? this will ensure that your son's weight and run up speed transfer are efficient.