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Figure
1: - planting with chest and hips square to the throw
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All
during this century, our sport of throwing has gone through
many changes in equipment, facilities, training and technique,
some good, some not. While all of our events have seen some
big changes over the years, none have been as dramatically
affected as the javelin. Runways went from grass to clay
to synthetic surfaces; the javelin itself went from wood
to metal to carbon fiber to new implement since the old
one flew to far. All of the athletes who throw have grown
larger and more powerful over the years; great shot putters
from the '30's look like today's decathletes. While American
athletes and coaches have been generally open to change
in the other throws (side hop to glide to spin in the shot,
for example), there is still a general opinion in the javelin
that any technique or throwing style that does not keep
the javelin in line with the direction of the throw is incorrect.
The very nature of the javelin as opposed to the other throws;
an open ended run-up rather than a concrete circle and the
greater variety of body types in successful throwers; leads
to the more "personal expression" aspect of the javelin.
A glide putter looks like most other gliders, hammer throwers
vary the number of turns more than anything from one thrower
to another, but javelin throwers all look different because
the nature of the event allows for more different ways to
reach the same goal- throwing far.
From the
time I started throwing in the late '60's, I had always been
taught to keep "everything lined up" to throw well; that is,
hips, chest and javelin all point where the javelin should land
(Fig. 1) - right down the middle of the sector. This was the
ONLY way to throw the javelin, and any deviation from
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FIGURE
2- "Loading up the right leg to"drive the hip".
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this straight
line technique was just plain WRONG! Another hard and fast rule
in throwing far was the need for "hip drive". The lower body
preceded the upper body in the throw- a very sound concept in
any throw, but how was it done in the javelin? Generations of
American javelin throwers grew up trying to push with their
leg to get the hips ahead, so they had to slow down to be able
to push the hips ahead of the chest, then caught hell for doing
what they were told to do! In an effort to "drive" the hips,
we developed a bunch of sore elbowed arm throwers who sat on
their back leg to feel the drive (Fig. 2) and lost all benefit
of the run-up. Guys who could throw 210' from a stand could
only throw 220' with a run-up, but the Finns and Russians and
Germans, etc. threw 180' from a stand and 270' from a run-up
- what's up with that!?!? After blowing up my elbow in college
I figured there was something we
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FIGURE
3- Boris Henry "wrapped up" before the plant.
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were missing
here in the States. The clue came in watching the 1976 Olympics
and seeing Miklos Nemeth
win with a new WR, and Hannu Siitonen take silver with a "new"
technique "wrapping". They literally
pulled the javelin out of line with the throw (Fig. 3). If throwing
at 12:00 (middle of sector), the javelin was pointed at 2:00
when they started the throw. These were normal sized guys (6'
tall, about 185 Ibs.) who were throwing 300' or more and they
sure weren't worried about where the spear was pointed when
they threw. Of course, this was not accepted by the U.S. "experts".
I still have a copy of an article by one of them who chastised
Nemeth for his poor alignment of hips and shoulders!
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Figure
4- Tom Pulstys shows how to drag the right because of
a good plant.
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What was
really important here was what these guys were doing with
their legs to throw so far. What most got my attention was
that they really didn't push or drive their hips. When I pushed
or drove the back leg into the throw, I wore out the big toe
side of my shoe, and films showed my back leg locked out from
the push, toe on the ground, pushing. Yet these guys were
DRAGGING their back leg into the throw (Fig. 4) - knee bent
and dragging the outside edge of their shoe on the ground.
This was where the big throws came from - not a push into
the plant, but active dropping of the back leg out of the
way so the hips flew into the plant and THAT jolt snapped
the body into a fast delivery! The more twisted or discus-like
position they threw from allowed more big muscle power early
in the throw as well as a longer path to pull on the javelin.
The throwers who didn't "wrap" also worked their legs in the
same way on their big throws, so a common link was established
- to throw far the body gets stretched by the jolt of a sudden
stop (plant) and reacts to that stretch. Javelin and shoulder
position with the direction of the throw was determined by
how well the athlete could work his legs and stay ahead of
them, the better it was done the further "back" they could
start the throw.
After working
on some new technical ideas that this information gave me I
threw better and more consistently than ever before and the
actual "throwing" of the javelin became secondary to getting
into the plant quickly. There were still many coaches and athletes,
all well intentioned, who told me how much farther I'd throw
if I'd "line up" my throw and not wrap - who I'd thank for the
help then go out and smoke them in the meet. When I started
coaching I made this the core of throwing the javelin - get
to the plant quick and let the jolt sling out the javelin. I
gave the athlete the freedom to wrap as much or little as they
wanted - I just told them to run away from the spear during
the cross-overs and start the
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Figure
5- Mark Fletcher shows how to keep the javelin and shoulders
in line.
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pull from
as far back as possible when they hit the plant. There is an
alignment point that is VERY important; keep the javelin and
shoulders in line with each other until the plant starts the
throw (Fig. 5), but don't worry if they don't point at the middle
of the sector during the crossover or start of the delivery.
There are throwers who show the extremes of style - Jan Zelezny
has a pretty good wrap while Steve Backley has none and both
are great throwers. There are many other throwers who fall in
between the range these two athletes display. Some turn the
hips more than the shoulders, others keep the hips more forward
but turn the shoulders more. There is no absolute right or wrong
here, only what is best for each individual thrower given his
or her physical attributes. With younger throwers, it's good
to stress that all effort should be directed where you want
the javelin to go - downfield - and to keep the leg action moving
forward and low. But don't get too caught up in where things
are pointing unless it's causing major problems with flight
or sector fouls. Spend time teaching or learning to "jolt and
sling" or "plant and react" to get the thrower to be quick and
elastic, not tight and forcing effort. Tom Pukstys says that
on good throws, you hit the plant and the jav just "spits" out,
like a cough. It's still important to throw "through the point",
apply force along the shaft of the jav, not across it, and being
quick and correct with the leg action helps this to happen.
Stopping or slowing down to "drive" the hip causes all kinds
of problems; arm too low and point too high, falling off to
the left at delivery, bending at the waist, all of which cost
you distance and cause elbow, shoulder and back injuries as
well as poor distance. Master the concept of "plant and react"
and apply the power along the shaft of the spear and you're
on the way to a long and injury free career in the javelin.
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