Hammer is my best event, so I thought that I'd write out some stuff about what works for me.

first up, I'm not a pro, I've just finished a year in the "C" class, but I won the 16 and 22 pound hammer even in the C class three times out of five Games last year. I'm currently throwing the 16 pound hammer right around 80 feet. I don't use blades, I just wear high-top soccer cleats. I also recognize that I'm tall, with long arms and that really helps.

this is going to focus on 16 pound hammer, with three turns and a release. Some guys prefer two turns. I use two turns on the 22 pound hammer because I can torque the 22 to the point that I can't hold on to it during the third turn..

I'm right-handed so my turns start with the hammer on the ground, off to my right, more or less even with my feet, or a little bit behind me and about 3 feet away. I'm in a semi-crouch with my knees bent and my feet about 2 1/2 feet apart. My feet are slightly vee'd. The initial motion is to lift and accelerate to the left, while I come up partway from the crouch and lean back a bit to balance the weight of the hammer

OK, first thing is that you have to put some energy into getting the hammer started. You have to get the hammer really going in the first turn, over your left shoulder so that as you come into the second half of the turn (over your right shoulder) you are fully extended. Your goal in the first turn is threefold.
1. get the hammer moving
2. finish the first turn with your arms straight out in front of you and your knees bent.
3. accelerate the hammer in the downswing (from over your right shoulder, downward)


You are going to build acceleration and extension...meaning your arms out straight in front of you, at the end of the first turn.

In the second turn you are going to build more acceleration. to do that you must extend your arms.

1. You must lean back and and bend your knees to be balanced so that your extend your arms as far as possible back over your head. LOOK UP into the sky at about a 45 degree angle. It will help with this, do not keep your head down.
2. use your hips to build acceleration in the last half of the turn, from over your right shoulder, to down almost directly in front of you.
3. your arms should be completely out straight in front of you when the hammer is in front. Your focus point....the point at which you focus all the accelertaion of the hammer is straight in front of you.

In the third turn you are going to go for maximum acceleration and extension. It's exactly the same as the second turn except...

1.. you'll have to lean back more and bend your knees to get maximum extension both behind you and in front of you.
2. build acceleration in the downstroke, from over your right shoulder and down, but this time, your focus point is about 15 degrees to the left of straight ahead.
3. you are going to release over your left shoulder. As the hammer moves past waist level, snap your hips and stance open somewhat to the left as a follow-through. It also adds a little last bit of OOMPH to the throw. This "snap" and rotation of the left foot will cause you to turn slightly and you will almost certainly have to move one foot to keep your balance.

Obviously then, it's not a good idea to throw with your heels pressed right up against the trig. Give yourself a few inches, maybe even a foot to step back immediately after the release to keep your balance.

The hammer should fly up and out at a 45 degree angle, or very slightly less. You want some "hang time" to this throw. You don't want to throw it too much parallel to the ground. HINT for all the Scottish distance throws...if the hammer/weight bounces a lot and goes another 5 - 10 or more past the point of impact, you're probably not throwing it high enough.

Hope that helps! Please add comments if you're interested!

Hammer videos on YouTube

Several throwers of different skill levels

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln9KeZNr7L4

Hammer Tutorial, with a lot of information I don't actually think about, like head placement. Still, it's a good slow-mo video of a good thrower.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFOtu...eature=related


Single throwers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKqxiDYPFkQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZW5Y...eature=related