Jeff Gorski - the biggest technical mistake most
throwers make - Sat Aug 4 12:49:37 2001<br><br>In looking
thru the latest issue of the "Long & Strong Throwers
Journal" a pair of pictures showed, again, the biggest
technical mistake most throwers make. I don't know if the
photos shown were of their longest throws, but the pics
of John Steigler and Kim Kreiner both show no right
foot rotation prior to plant: both are an instant from
left foot contact (same position as Jan on the Forum
picture) and they both are dragging the inside (big toe)
side of their foot and have a locked right knee. Jan
is rolling onto the top of his foot with his right
knee bent (soft-stepping) and turning into the
direction of the throw. John and Kim are basically throwing
from the waist up- very little power has been
transfered into their upper bodies. There is no torque
between the hips and shoulders. The coaches who traveled
to Finland with me, Jason Twedt and Bob Sing, saw
that the soft step was the biggest action that got the
athlete to the plant with good speed and then the plant
contorted the body into that explosive "bow" that launched
the javelin from total body power. The Finns drilled
that action and the resulting plant of the entire left
side continually- this is where big throws come from.
Perfecting this action could easily add 5 or more meters to
what they throw and reduce the injury risk to the
back, elbow and shoulder. <br>Lots of easy throws (50%)
effort off steps and STRESSING the rt knee drop and turn
(or right heel turning out- same end result) is the
best way to learn this skill. I don't think you can
get the full effect by doing standing drills w/ rope
or bungee cords- you have to have some momentum to
experience that feeling. It saved me and my elbow and it's
the foundation to good throws and injury prevention.
You can lift 1,000 kilos, run a 8.3 100m, have a 2.7m
vertical jump but if you don't clear the right knee to let
the hips lead the chest/shoulders into a solid left
brace you might as well go play baseball or lacrosse- 2
excellent ways to waste oxygen and a good throwing field.
<br><br>JG - Active right foot=softstep - Wed Aug 1 16:28:00
2001<br><br>The softstep is not to be confused with non-action:
when I started doing this it was a VERY active action
partly because it was so new but also because you're
moving forward and you HAVE to get the right hip a path
to the plant to load the trunk/chest/shoulder. Good
old Issac Newton taught us that each action has an
equal re-action, so the big right leg action in the
throwing crossover sets you up for a quick leg rotation to
put the hips into the plant early. You can't turn
your right foot without it acting on the hip: this is
just different ways of getting the athlete to do the
same thing. That sequence of Uwe in my weightroom
shows this- a fast, early right foot action after that
long jump crossover. No where in the movement from
right touchdown to left plant does his right knee lock
or "push" but you can certainly "push" the hip as a
result of the right foot activity.<br>By the
way....Manuel's idea of pointing the right foot while in the air
is nice......w/ my old wrapping style I tried to do
the same. Being a lefty, it's reversed, but with the
javelin pointing at almost 9 o'clock at landing (throwing
at 12 o'clock) I usually had my left foot at about
11 on good throws. Required great ankle ROM and I
had to get thru it fast or the whole throw was
screwed, but it was a good way for me to throw with a wrap
and still work on fast lower body action. <br><br>JG
- The sooner your rt foot..... Tue Jul 31 21:03:48
2001<br><br>is pointing in the direction of the throw, before
the plant hits, the better. Sounds like you're on the
right path.