aspects we are working on and why?

[slinger]

well further to sam wanting to know what things we are doing [check out questions, questions, questions] this is just a short post [hopefully!] explaining a few of the technical aspects we are trying to develop and why........

the athlete i coach [mike] is generally technically very, very good and consistant so the foundations are all there and so we are working on 'tweaking' one or two things to help fix a few problems that we are having.

......problem number 1 is that he pulls the spear to the left so essentially linear force is lost and is imparted across the implement, this only happens on a full approach. The reason why this is happening is because at run off the left arm is across the body, which is good, but it's very high and this means at delivery the arm then goes from high to low and pulls the left side of the body away, hence the javelin being pulled left. To fix this we are trying to lower the left arm and put it across the body more during X overs and have it across on run off - check out JZ on run off, this is what i'm aiming at.

......problem number 2 is the left leg block, this again has links with the first problem but now to be honest it's really improving and he's blocking very effectively now......he used to 'crumple' at delivery but we fixed this by focusing on continuing to drive over the left after the throw, to help his block we slowed the run up speed down for 4 weeks, then once he could perform the skill, we upped the speed again - the result is that he can now run up at full speed off a full approach and block.......to develop this even further for the next 2 weeks mike will only be doing fixed feet standing throws and for problem number 1, 5 stride throws but with a 'proper recovery' of continuing to drive over left, as opposed to fixed.

....as said earlier mike has the technical ability as i did when i was around 17, so we don't have any major overhauls to do!!!!!!!!!! ...... he may only 13 and not 14 till late june next year but he's been throwing 'things properly' for along time already and since he's my nephew i've been able to teach him 'the right way' since he could first pick things up and throw them, so i'm incredibly lucky that he has the desire and talent to become a great javelin thrower..."merry christmas mike, lets kick some serious ass next year!!!!!! "

[slinger]

.......it's funny, as with over 200 members people just aren't forth coming with details of what training they are doing!........ maybe it's because we are all being secretive and not wanting to tell our secrets!!!!!

......personally i have no secrets in what training we do as it's very straight forward, specific to what we want to do and geared towards our goals........but if everyone wants to keep it 'under their hats' then that's up to them.

[sam]

If this was a football website we would have 10,000 members and we would have a million posts..people would be giving advice on this and that and discussing all sorts of things..

truth is that this is Javelin... ask any javelin thrower what the exact distance of the men's Wr is and they will look at you like you are asking them the exact number for Pie..yet if this was a football site you could ask them who scored the winning goal in the 1991 FA cup final and they could tell you to the exact minute.

This site is trying to break that trend....

I have harped on way too much about what my athletes are doing... and so has phil.. so come on people get your training notes up


It's not a war....is it?

[slinger]

nope!

but some coaches are so single minded and blinkered that they aren't willing to listen to others and learn.......and it is their way or no way! it's sad but true......some on the other hand are willing to learn and listen some even will travel abroad to learn from other leading coaches from around the world, it's these people who should be members of the forum, as if they love the sport they would want to help people and then we can all learn from them........maybe if you could get some really high profile names in javelin throwing on here that would get people asking more Q's and helping us to learn.........you can read books forever but it can't beat first hand experience telling how it is! on the US forum they have tom pukstys who threw over 87m and tom petranoff who threw 99m with the old javelin........maybe we could get one or two of our all time greats on here it would benefit us all?

[sam]

The truth is...the best in the UK that have been seem to not be interested in this site. They are aware. we had Steve backley asking for help promoting his site yet when we ask him to get on here he is too busy... It's a shame. there is more to giving back to the event than just turning up at squad days for the "Select few". the Idea of this site and the main body of the club was to bring throwers and coaches of all levels onto a single line so that everyone felt welcome. In some parts it has worked in others it is still a long way off..
John Trower is a member on here yet he has never posted...Mike McNeil is a member yet he has only posted about 3 or 4 times ( i understand he took a back seat from the athletics scene to be with his family but it does not take 5mins to make a post)

Don't forget though..dave is a very active member on here and is the UK Number2...in fact i think we have a few of the top 10 posting on here.

We are still a young club although the origins are from back in the 60's when the very first Javelin club was initiated..and...unfortunately dispanded after a few years. The us forum..and that is all that it is..has been going for nearly 6 years so it has had more time to generate a popular following...
Our website has had about 100,000 hiys in 18months of operating...so i guess that is not too bad

another season of self promotion shouuld see us become more influential on the Uk and world scene for the promotion of the event and the development of those that are not at "National Squad" Level

Sam

[Administrator]

I think the reason that people don't post what they are doing is because they know they'll get jumped on. I've seen lots of posts where people have said what they are doing with regards to throwing, running or weights and they get "told off". Everyone seems to think "their way is right" and will focus on the negative things that they can draw from it, not the positives.

Personally I'm still spending lots of time in the gym trying to make my legs stronger post operation and trying to use that and the track work I am doing to make me more athletic and in the end better at throwing.

[slinger]

there are no definative right or wrong ways to train, different methods affect others in different ways........we all should not be doing the same training anyway!!! - as we all have different needs and requirements - Bone Buwembo might be specifically tailoring his training to getting stronger and technically working on his run off, whilst James Campbell might be working on his core work and technically trying to get his right hip to work earlier........therefore their training would be totally different - no-one is going to jump on anyone, the idea of letting everyone see what training you are doing is that if for example you are also working on your right hip then you could chat about how and what methods you are using to help this!

on another note.......in the day and age were probably most people have PC's and internet access what measures are being taken to promote the site further? what i'm getting at i suppose is that there are quite alot of good javelin throwers in the UK and by this i mean throwers in around 60m+ for men and around 40m for women this indicates they obviously have some knowledge and also a level of technical ability, now surely they take their sport seriously and want to improve so why don't they all join the site and interact with one another to try and learn new things? as i said earlier i'm very sure they all have computers!!!!!

[Mack]

A couple of my new resolutions are to train smarter, do more posts on here and throw further.

So on the second day of the year, I've started doing the first and now I can start doing the second of the above.

One question I remember someone asking is, what should we work on, things we are not too good at or make those strengths we have even stronger.

Some people like weights, some people like running (not sure why though) ;D and some just like to throw (don't we all).

Over the last 4ish months I have come a long way with my training. Doing things smarter and what will help me throw further. And this is what I'm trying to do.

I do weights in the gym, I throw etc. etc.... some want specifics, well for those who might like to know, this is the smarter training I have added in for me..... for those who don't.. well there you go.

"now remember this is for me and may not suit others, but I need to do this if I want 75m+"

Agility work... foot work drills, 3 laps of the track side steps, crossovers, outside/inside ankle steps, high knees, heel flicks, backwards running, 2-3mins pause, 3 more laps of above, 2-3mins pause again and then another 3 laps again.

In the same session, I would do hurdle bounds, double foot and single foot (hop over the hurdle)

Another session which I do is...... hurdles. trail leg drills, lead leg drills, normal drills that hurdlers would do. Then med ball drills. Ranging from 2kg - 8.3kg. I would say about 120 throws in all.

I did the laps and medball work this morning. I am still doing the weights and so on as before, but as I've learnt..... some of us need to be more athletic.... this, I think will help me throw further.

Anyway, I'd better leave it there...... I don't want to bore too much......

Happy new year everyone.... all the best and long throws to all.

[sam]

ok ok ...here it is..

Monday..Gym session for Me, Jim eves and Emma Christmas
Tuesday..track Session for my group..
2 laps warm up jog with some basic drills included..side steps..line touching..bunnies..
Stertech..10-15mins (try and keep them all from chatting)
Javelin drills..the length of the runway is used for this... Normal run with javelin held above head/shoulder..2 lengths
normal cross steps 2 lengths
high knee cross steps..2 lengths
fast cross steps...2 lenghts
that set started out in october as 2lots of above...this has now reached 5 sets of above
Med ball throws..various sorts..about 100 in total

Wednesdays..rest for group apart from Emma christmas who does sprinting sessions, James and myself go to the driving range

Thursdays..Stand Sessions (plyometric session) the stand is made up of about 20 small steps and 10 double steps
Various sets of footwork drills are conducted here lasting 1hour from small jumps to cross steps up the steps..both sides. pleanty of core work is also done courtesy of louise mathews (my coaching partner in crime)

Friday is a rest day for the group

Saturday..Gym session..Jim eves, Me, emma christmas and Bonne..various olympic weights and core stability work is done here

Sunday AM... throwing session lasting about 2hrs max...followed by short sprints..
Sunday PM...Gym session for me and Jim eves..then driving range...

that's everything on the lead up to the new year

sam

[slinger]

good to see neil you are doing some good stuff!!! have you thought about doing some other sports to become more athletic - ones that require lots of fast foot contacts??? badminton springs to mind plus it'll get you really fit and maybe lose a few pounds!!!! bonus! but then again it's not exactly specific, but i'm sure it would have benefit.

[slinger]

........what technical throwing skills is everyone working on??? i'm sure we are all working on improving something inparticular!!!!!

[sam]

phill if you want footwork drills...how about squash or rackett ball

[slinger]

exactly the point mentioning badminton!!!!! never really could get to grips with squash though! preferred badminton, maybe i'm just a big girls blouse!!!!

.....for most now though presumably they are upping the amount of throwing they are doing. What things technically are your group working on sam?

[sam]

good control of the throwing arm and a decent base.. some of the group are working on some things and others on other bits... for instance..brad is working on holding his body up and not sitting too low and bonne is working on keeping his chest up...

[slinger]

what drills/ specific exercises are they doing to help this?