Right Leg Collapsing

[Jim]

I've been having a few problems with my technique lately and it's causing some minor pain in my elbow and bicep. Thought maybe it was because i was throwing more than usual but while competing at Cheltenham yesterday one of the guys i was throwing against said my right leg (i'm right handed) was collapsing in the delivery stride

Any good ideas on the best way to work on this.

I've been very consistent this year at 51 - 52m but i need a few extra metres to get back into pb territory! If i can sort this out hopefully that will get me up toward 55m!

[Patience]

I do this all the time, I call it quaint!

2 reasons for me. Firstly, I'm leaning too far back over my right leg and I don't have the strength to get out of this position. Secondly, I have very dodgy Achilles and on the very odd occasion I get my COG in the correct place my right leg collapses because my Achilles is too weak to keep the heel from collapsing onto the ground and subsequently everything else along with it. I guess the same thing would happen if there was a niggle in your right calf.

[Mack]

There are a couple of things you could look at.

The pain in the elbow would be throwing around the corner and not over the top.

This could be the drop in the right leg.

Look at your base. If it is too inline (left/right leg inline) and the drive of the right leg would push the COG to the right and push you off balance.

Or it could be just the strength of the leg.

All in all. try and work the arm higher over the top. This could help.

[JB]

This is always a little bit of a grey area of understanding for me. I say that becuase there is a huge collective of throwers out there who advocate throwing with a soft step. This means you actually collapse the right leg forward and down in the last stride. This may sound a little wierd but its integral to 90% of coaching ive seen on the net. essentially the idea is you accelerate into the final strides then you basically want to get over and of that last right asap so you slam into the block as hard as possible.

personally when i try this my arm drops but im told this is due to a lack of speed, if you get your butt moving your COG will continue straight over into the block and you wont drop. the idea is then that this huge jolt starts the uper body coming over and you learn to throw properly i.e. with the shoulder not the arm. Now i may be reading your problem entirely wrong as ive not seen you throw enough and im not a coach.

maybe beepee could shed some light here... you about bri ?

[beepee]

Yep Im here, righteo then,

Firstly you have to ask yourself what the preliminary run up is for?. It is to gain momentum for the approaching throw and then to transfer that momentum into the javelin at release by means of a plant, ie, sudden stop of the body which then causes an accelerated motion of the opposite side of the body or “hinge moment effect” so anything that impedes or slows it down is not good until this plant has been achieved.

On the penultimate stride landing heavy on the right leg is akin to putting the brakes on plus it tends to have a “dropping” effect on the throwing arm too which then influences a round arm action (elbow pain).

Getting over the right foot as quickly as possible is essential for getting the hips into the plant and this is what creates the “C” position which is basically the stretch of the chest, so no hip, no stretch and all that remains is an arm throw.

Some athletes land heel first and then roll over the side of their foot and others land on the ball of the foot and roll over the toe but whichever way you prefer the hip drive is the object of the exercise so get the knee forwards and down quick and the plant will do the rest for you. Look at Lashers throw on the Quintic site and you will see what I mean (sorry to single you out Dave but you really must sort out that right leg of yours).
To see the throws go to the member’s area (www.quintic.com) fill in the details and the password is UKA 321 oops don’t know whether I should have done that but so what? Good vids.

[Jim]

Cheers all, i'll have a look at the videos and maybe try and get some photo's of myself which i can post and have scrutinised by the forums many experts!!

Thanks again for your help