Using and Effective Left Side: Glide or Rotational Throwing
by: Todd Wojchik - see bio below
When completing a full throw, glide or spin, shot put or discus, it is important to remember that our goal is to reach a strong power position with greater torque and inertia than can be generated from a basic stand throw. It is also important that an athlete strive to achieve the same power position that they use when completing that basic stand throw. I see too many throwers that use one style of power position as a progressional warm up drill and then achieve some varying position in the front of the circle when completing a full throw.
The Left Leg
The most common mistake I see throwers make is the desire to lead with the right side of the body and drag the left around. (FIGURE 1)
What this leads to is a series of potential problems including: rocking from the right leg to the left in the front, prolonging time spent on the right leg/single support, as well as in the power position, and/or timing out or stopping any inertia created out of the back of the circle. A thrower has two options at this point, continue rotating and drastically diminishing the amount of separation and torque that can be generated in the power position; The other alternative is to simply wait as the left leg comes around, negating inertia being carried by the implement and the athlete.
Regardless of start style (Static, Dynamic, etc) a strong entry into the throw starts with an opening of the left arm and pre-turning of the left foot and knee to 90°(FIGURE 2).
The athlete’s right foot should not leave the ground until the left foot has turned at least 90°. This creates a stretch response through the chest and arms, as well as through the hips which helps to generate force with minimal effort, and draws the right side around.
Once the left foot has pre-turned, the right foot picks up off the ground and whips around in the longest possible orbit around the left side. The left side should act like a fence post to which, like as a gate, the rest of the body rotates around it. It is important to note at this point that the athlete’s left side, as with an effective fence post, does not become off balance or lean away from the rotation.
Many coaches teach that athletes need a strong left leg push out of the back of the circle. The problem with this is they reach the middle and front of the circle in incorrect positions because they are dragging the left leg (FIGURE 3) and, in turn, are inefficient in the power position. If an athlete effectively uses the pre-turning of the left foot and arm, and uses a long and strong right leg sweep, this will generate more than enough force to carry their body to the front of the circle.
I tell my throwers not to let the left leg extend to greater than 90°. What this means is out of the back of the circle they will, first off, be nice and low because the left leg is at 90°. More importantly, keeping the left leg at 90° will shorten the duration of the single support phase and will set up for a tighter, faster wheel into the front of the circle.
There are several ways you can communicate to your athlete the need to keep the left leg tight. Some common approaches are to tell them to tuck the left foot behind the right knee, to kick the right heel with the left foot as it passes by, or think of the left foot travel in a straight line across the circle instead of going out and around. Otherwise, simple mental cues such as, “squeeze the knees” or “big circle, little circle” (referencing the orbits of the right and left foot) can be used.
The Left Arm
In the back of the circle the left arm should be used to control balance, speed, direction and rhythm. A left arm that is too close into the side, too high, or too low can create balance issues. For example, if the athlete’s left arm is too low, it will cause them to dive into the front of the circle. A left arm that stays relatively parallel to the ground will keep the rest of the throw level.
Whether your athletes use a dynamic or static start the left arm also determines speed and rhythm by creating the same stretch response that the left leg creates in the first double support phase. Use of this upper body stretch response minimizes, once again, the amount of effort required to reach the front of the circle.
The left arm should continue turning until it has reached 180° (Figure 4), meaning it is facing the front of the circle.
Once it has reached the left arm works as a compass guiding the body down the middle of the circle. The left arm then continues to get pulled around as the lower body moves ahead of the upper body into a strong separated power position in the front of the circle. (Figure 5)
Lastly the left arm becomes active again “whipping” itself in a large sweeping orbit from the start of the power position up through the point of release and then into a strong left side block. This long left arm sweep will help to create a second stretch response through the chest and drastically increase the potential of the right arm delivery.
Glide or Spin
When landing in the front of the circle the athlete wants to land with both feet at the same time. The athlete also should land with their left foot and knee as far open as possible. If we think of the circle as a clock with the front being twelve and the back being six, the athletes left foot should be facing as close to 12 o’clock and their left arm, head AND shoulder to 6 o’clock. (FIGURE 6) You will see many athletes leave their left arm back, but continue to draw their head and shoulders around, thus minimizing separation.
Good separation of the hips and shoulder in the front of the circle drastically increases the velocity the implement will have through the finish. Consider for a moment an athlete who lands with no separation of hips and shoulder and they are facing 90°, counter clockwise from the direction of the throw. (FIGURE 7)
In the time it takes for the right foot and hips to turn this last 90° the shoulders will also turn 90°. Now take that same athlete who lands with their right foot 90° from the direction of the throw, but this time they land with their shoulders 180° from the direction of the throw. (FIGURE 6) Now with the use of good turning of the feet, hips and a dynamic left arm whip, in the time it takes for the right foot to travel 90°, the upper body will travel 180°, thus doubling the velocity of the implement at release. A similar take on this is a glide shot putter who lands with their feet at 180° and their shoulders at 180° will not generate the same strike speed as an athlete who lands at 90° and 180°, respectively.
There are many ways to increase efficiency of a throw. As a coach I often find that focusing on the left side is a good way to correct many problems throwers are having and increase performance. Just as in coaching the javelin, one of the best ways to keep the front tip from getting too high is to ask the athlete to keep the back tip up; One great way to fix the problems the right side is having is to focus on the left. From a coaching stand point this is s simple tool to avoid athletes over thinking the problem, and it makes practice a lot less stressful for me and my athletes.
Todd's Wojchik's Bio - wojchik@hotmail.com
Current: Throws coach at the Colorado School of Mine's - NCAA DIV II
Previous: Women's throws coach for the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul MN.
Todd started his collegeiate career at the University of Wisconsin and graduated from Luther College in Decorah, IA. Todd has coached numerous accomplished athletes, school record holders, national qualifiers, and the #1 ranked freshman female discus thrower in NCAA DIV II in 2007. Todd has been a long time student of the throws, he has led and attended camps and coaching clinics, including being a demonstrator for a presentation by former Olympian and American Record Holder, Brian Oldfield.
Throwing Highlights: Five times NCAA national meet qualifier and multiple collegiate school record holder. As a prep athlete, Todd was a 1995 Wisconsin State Champion in the discus.
