Roger Saunders 2012 In-Season Log

[RogerWS76]

A very nice day at the Highland Games in Modesto today. One of the nicest venues to play!!! Mark Robinson and the folks at the St. Andrews Society of Modesto did a fantastic job! A very tough field in the 50+ division that included long time standouts Kel Mulrey and Carlos Borges as well as up and coming Dennis Schultz who has the strength that could leave us all in the dust. I had an OK day with one PR in the Braemar Stone. Because of the size of the field, we only threw six events and I missed two of my own favorites, Open Stone and Sheaf ... AND ... while I didn't feel on top of everything today I was not unhappy at all to come in 5th by one point among some great throwers!

[o1d_dude]

About time you showed up here.

I PM'd you over at NASGA about getting together to do some practices. You do still practice, don't you? Paul, too?

There haven't been any real good turnouts at San Juan Park with Justin this year so I'm looking for a new throwing group to inflict myself upon.

Now get busy and post your workouts and throwing practices here.

[Alan H]

EXCELLENT! I'm really delighted to have you posting here.

The athletes forum continues to grow!

I knew Carlos was joining our more mature bunch, now we're all vying for one place lower on the totem pole! LOL.

I've never been to the Modesto Games, it's always at a rotten time of year for me. someday -----

[Alan H]

Your sheaf throws are MONSTERS....My lord you've got to be up around 27, 28!!

[RogerWS76]

BUT ... they only count if they go OVER the bar! Ended up with 23 yesterday in SAnta Cruz!

All in all in was a blah day but when I looked at it, while I had no PRs, I did stay within 95% of my PRS on the average:

Braemar 26' 10"
Open 30' 7"
HWD 31" 7.5"
LWD 44' 9.25"
LHam 79' 7"
HHam 61' 1.5"
WoB 13' (Pulling too soon I think!)
Sheaf 23'
Caber 11:45 (The green and white one ... haven't thrown it before I don't think)

3rd Place overall (not bad against Kel Mulrey and Carlos Borges and edged out Carlos in Sheaf from prior misses!)

[Alan H]

That green and white stick is pretty heavy...

[o1d_dude]

Ya done good, laddie!

A little bit of technique polish on the events and you'll be moving up through the ranks right smartly.

[RogerWS76]

Well, it was a lot of driving this weekend but my brother Paul and I made the trek to Vista, CA from Sacramento for the San Diego Scottish Highland Games. We left Saturday morning and got there in time to see the last of the throws for that day about 2:30 and visit our MacAlister clan tent. That evening we went out with the kilted gang to see Brave!

A good nights rest got us ready for the Masters action on Sunday!

It turned out to be a pretty nice day for weather AND for the throws!

My Braemar throw was about average at 27'1" (2nd place)

In the Open Stone I started trying a new approach that Kit showed us in practice which is kind of a Javelin theme. The first one I hurried a bit but each throw got progressively better and I ended up at 33'5" which is my 3rd best throw of the year but I really feel that this will help me get more torque out of my shoulders and hips. Now I still just have to figure out how to keep the rock tucked in tighter until it's time to release. (2nd Place)

Light weight for distance was next. The Weight for Distance events have not been my strong suit but I have been making some steady improvement. Sunday I made a big leap with the Lightweight and got my first throw over 50, barely, 50'3". I am very excited about this PR and hope I can make it a trend! (1st Place)

HWD was two inches off a PR at 31'10" (2nd Place)

The Hammers are also an event I am struggling with, mostly due to lack of a big enough practice area but I have been trying to concentrate on winding a lighter weight hammer to work on technique. Things did not start out well in the Heavy Hammer but on my third attempt I cranked out a 67'1" PR which I was stoked about. (2nd Place)

Then in the Light Hammer I repeated the performance with a poor throw in the low 70's and a bit of a better one when the second when about 77. I have been working on trying to keep my arms long, keeping my low point on the right and turning my hips (WITH long arms) on the final wind. Then on the third throw, I told myself just to quit thinking about it and throw it and I dropped one in at 86' 6"; a more than 6 foot improvement on my previous PR!!! I looked at Beth (our judge) and said, "Are you sure they marked that right" and she assureed me that they did! I was REALLY pumped! (2nd Place)

In weight over the bar I decided to try to continue to keep it light so I went in at 12 and threw lefthanded. I got it on the first attempt and felt emboldened to try 13 left handed as well. I should NOT have been so cocky. I missed it. It "had the height" but it was a few inches to far out. I switched to Right for my second attempt and made it. (Whew!) Then I got 14 on my first attempt which was enough to win that event (I missed three tries at 15). (1st Place)

I was dissapointed in the sheaf. I could not find a fork that felt quite right but I just didn't have it. I came in 2nd at 22 ft and missed all three attempts at 24. Just couldn't get the bag to explode off the tines just right. (2nd Place)


Caber was our last event and it was hard to get the timing of the pull right with those peeler cores they use for cabers in Southern CA. The weight is very evenly distributed which means you have to time it just right and I lack the experience, yet, to be able to know just when that is. I did get a 10:30 which was enough for 3rd in that event. (3rd Place)

Overall it was enough to capture 2nd Place for the Day in the Masters 50+. Look out for Dennis Schultz who is just massively strong and improving his Highland use of that strength. He got first place in all but two events and turned the Caber for the first time with a perfect 12! That alone will move him up solidly into the top ten on the NASGA list of Highland athletes in the Masters 50-59 divison!

It was also fun to see Vern Alaxander, a fellow Clan MacAlister thrower, break another Masters 70+ World Record in the Heavy Weight for Distance event!

All around it was a very fine day for thowing (which any day throwing is) but the long drive home last night made me feel like flying might have been a better option!

[o1d_dude]

A couple of things here but first a "WELL DONE!"

1. Time to get YOUR fork ready for the games. That way, when you toss the bag at the games it will be with the one you practice with on a regular basis. No more searching through the pack trying to find a live one.

2. Peeler core cabers suck. No two ways about it. They're cheap wood and the lack of taper puts the the center of gravity almost dead center in the middle of the stick which makes it "dead" (no flex at all).

The Russ Murphy formula for calculating the difficulty of a caber goes like this...

Weight x Length x (length from top to balance point / length from bottom to balance point) x 0.55 = caber points rating.

As an example, a peeler caber that weighs 80 lbs, is 17 feet long, and has a balance point at 8.5 feet (dead center), gets a caber point rating of 748.
A standard tapered caber of the same weight and dimensions but tapered so that the balance point is 7.5 feet from the top is only 590 points.

The 160 points difference in the ratings makes the tapered caber a hard masters or B stick and the peeler caber an average A stick.

BTW, I talked to Frankie Boy last night and there may be a caber hunt in near future.

[Alan H]

50 feet! HUGE!!!! Great improvement there, and your 86+ in Light Hammer is just as HUGE.

Great Games for you! NICE JOB!!!!