Last night I looked through.....

[Alan H]

all of my old Games certificates, that report my results. It's amazing, or sobering, or something.

I started in 2008. I did three Games that year. Here are the average numbers:

Braemar Stone: 22-23
Open Stone: 26-27
Light weight for distance: 33-36
Heavy Weight for distance: hard to say because sometimes I threw the 56 and sometimes the 42, but probably 24 feet is about right with the 42.
Heavy Hammer: 59
Light hammer: 72
Caber: couldn't turn anything
WOB: 11

It took me a year, Woodland 2009 to knock on the door of 40 feet in the LWFD. I threw 39' 10". It was then a full year later that I broke 40 feet, again at Woodland in 2010.

It took me two and a half years to break 30 feet in Open Stone - Santa Cruz/Watsonville in 2011. I didn't mess around, though, and went 32' 4"

By the end of 2010 I had set my still-standing PR's in both hammers.... 87' 10" in the light and 70 feet in the heavy. I was clearing 12 in WOB

By 2012, I started getting 13 in WOB. 2012 was our first sheaf throws in Nor Cal as well. I cleared 18 at the first Games. Then I got 22 at the second Games we had it, in early 2013.

OK, so by mid 2013, I think I hit my peak.

I threw my Open Stone PR of 35+ at Ventura that year.
I'd thrown my Braemar Stone PR of 27' 10" as well
I'd thrown my HWFD PR at Pleasanton, in 2012.. 34+.. though I got a 33' 3" at Portland in 2013.
I'd gotten my PR's in sheaf. My AVERAGE sheaf throws have not changed in 3 years, but I popped out a couple of 24's and 25's.
I threw my LWFD PR of 53+ at Dixon in 2013, which is near the end of the season, but had gone 50+ twice before that, and got 50+ twice at Dixon. Now I'm throwing 44-45, though I got 50 twice last year.


For 2012, 2013 and until the end of 2014, 13 was the goal in WOB, which I got about half the time.

Hammers have not changed, literally since 2010.

This is what I discovered.

1. My 3-Game average throws in all events have not changed since 2012, despite HOURS and HOURS of work. This is seriously frustrating. On the other hand, I've gotten three years older and I'm still throwing like I was at 54. Hmmm. Not sure if this is a "win" or not.

2. Literally nothing that I do for hammers makes any difference. It took me about two years to go from 72 feet to 83-84 feet, and I haven't budged since then. I've thrown over 80ft, 4x in 12 throws so far this season (3 Games) but nothing over 82. Now, the jury is still out on that one, because I really have hit a new AHA! in terms of relaxation. Costa Mesa was not an honest test of that, because I was a bit worn out for hammers, because of having a bit too much active fun on Saturday. Still, I'm hoping for some 84's and 85's...not 90's.

3. The numbers that put me on the podium in 3rd place overall at the Pleasanton Championships in 2012, were WORSE than the numbers that put me dead last in 2014. Now, if I hadn't fouled all three LWFD throws AND no-heighted in WOB I wouldn't have been last. I would have beaten Ron McKee by a couple of points. So I would have been next-to-last. Still, point taken. To some degree, it's not me that's gotten worse, the competition in the age group has gotten a LOT tougher.

---------

I am reflecting on Costa Mesa as I write this. I threw with Richard Campbell, who is a great guy and ranked #3 in the age class in North America, right now. I like Richard a lot. The cold, hard, honest truth is that I am technically a better hammer thrower and a better weight thrower than Richard is. In stones, we're about even. However, I can't touch the guy. He's 8 - 10 feet past me in LWFD and 10 feet past me in light hammer. He's a 36-38 foot open stone thrower, I'm at 30-31 feet, but our overall technique is probably about equal. We good/bad in different ways in Stones. He clears 16 feet in WOB. I'm clearing 13/14. How is this happening?

Fast Twitch Muscle. He haz it. TONS of it. -- and I don't.

I certainly can improve my technique, but now, I'm thinking....

[Martin Roy]

A few years ago, during a casual conversation, a high school football coach made a comment that I'm reminded of on a regular basis, whether watching, competing, or training:

"You can't coach speed."

There is a genetic component to all of this that simply is or is not.

Each of us is endowed with our own unique supply of available materials to employ in the search for possible solutions.

[Martin Roy]

Okay, here goes my quick historical review:

First game was Woodland 2010. Thus, looking at my 3rd game, Monterey in August 2010, after a few months of practice to get a realistic start point:

Braemar was 17-10, now I'm 20-21 range
Open Stone was 23-8, now 26+
Lwfd was 22-2, I went 37+ at Woodland this year
Hwfd was 11-4, 22+ at Woodland this year
LH was 51-7, now 65+
HH was 39-2, now 51+
WOB was 9, now I'm knocking the bar off at 12 and expect to get it soon
Sheaf I've tended to ignore in general
Caber at Monterey I couldn't pick, much less turn, now I can smoothly pick anything and turns are increasingly frequent.

Looking at the end of last season, Sept/Oct 2014, and the first couple of games this year, I've hit personal records in both weights, both hammers, wob, sheaf, and caber. I'm 61 now and not getting any younger or faster, but I have gotten stronger and my technique has improved. Persistence pays off apparently and I still believe that I have more personal records ahead of me.

Most important, I still love the whole process of training, competing, and trying to figure out a way to get better.