Martin roy training log

[Martin Roy]

Practice makes permanent so practice with good form.

My everlasting mantra.

Daylight savings at last. Some people may hate it, but it means throwing after work is back on the schedule. To that end I headed to Shaffer straight from my office and had the place all to myself. Did some major work on hwfd and lwfd; the heavy is starting to feel good and my throws were consistently around pr territory. However, the light weight still feels a bit out of control. I've spent a lot of time working on a double spin delivery over the off season; and, although I nail one every so often, I'm not to the point where I don't have to think about every part of the movement each time I step into the trig.

Moved to light hammer-focusing on my release point, keeping my head up, and lifting at the end; not a baseball swing. That's been an ongoing problem for me because the baseball swing is second nature to me having played many years, from pee wee league through college. It's very easy to fall back into the old grooves.

Good focused session.

[o1d_dude]

Instead of thinking about baseball, think golf...another Scottish sport.

[RogerWS76]

Golf!!! Yes! Thats it!!!

[Martin Roy]

Life gets in the way sometimes.

Instead of training on Wednesday evening I was driving to San Francisco; continuing ed class all day Thursday, drive home in the evening, no training; today I took my dad to a doctor's appointment in the late afternoon.

I really don't remember the last time I've gone three days without doing any sort of training.

[Martin Roy]

Normally I throw on Sunday afternoons but tomorrow is booked, so today was the day. I worked hammer and wfd.

I started with hammer and was focused on the mechanics of the final pull and release; aiming for more of a golf-type swing, with strong lift at the end while looking up. It felt really good and after a series of easy throws I started hitting within 5-6 feet of PR territory. Then the handle broke. However, I was very encouraged by the form tweaks and the distances, even though I wasn't going for distance. I'm in good shape for Bakersfield next week.

Wfd - I began with my 44.5lb hwfd and worked on form with a single spin. Focus was on generating speed, controlling the weight, and keeping a good radius. I wasn't thinking about distance but I was happy with the half dozen or so I tossed.

Moved to lwfd and the 28 felt very light compared to the overweight heavy. First throw was the best double spin I've done in weeks and hit close to a PR distance. I threw about 6 more that were similar length and I ended it on that high note.

Waiter walks with the B stone to wrap things up.

This session confirms in my mind that I've made progress and longer distances are on the horizon. I looking forward to a competition reality check at Bakersfield.

[Martin Roy]

Last night I did about 5 sets of winds with the heavy hammer and, then, Garrett and I worked stones for a good while. For the past couple of months I put them aside in favor of other events, but I wanted to get a feel for them again before Bakersfield.

This evening I had planned to do some light lifting, cardio, and stretching at the gym. However, when I got to the gym I discovered that I'd left my gear at home. First time ever; lame. Unexpected night off.

[Alan H]

I've done that... I open the gym bag and ooops. Where are my shoes? Gawwwww.....drives me nuts.

I think you are likely to set a PR in LWFD, with the two-spin at Bakersfield or Woodland. Ditto for hammer. That'd be nice, huh?

[Martin Roy]

Last throwing before Bakersfield. Winds and about a half dozen tosses with the heavy hammer. Main focus on balance and delivery; I was happy with the distances. Switched to wfd - heavy first, cast and turn drills and about 5-6 tosses; felt good.
The light weight was a repeat of last session - 6 throws with a double spin delivery out around pr distance.

Overall, I think a breakthrough in hammers, both heavy and light, is close at hand. I've been doing some things a little differently that I see making a difference as I tighten it down. Both weights for distance are rounding into shape nicely, expecially lwfd. I'll be disappointed if I don't see some good numbers this weekend.

[Martin Roy]

Bakersfield was a good, small game. Weather was perfect and, in general, there was a nice overall vibe. I went into it as if it were a pre-season game, a check on where I stood after the off-season work. All things considered I'm okay with my starting point going into the rest of the season, but down the road I won't be happy if I don't improve from here. Also, because there were only two judges, we threw in two large groups: A,B,C in one and Masters, Women, and lightweights in the other. We dropped heavy hammer and Braemar due to time concerns. No big deal.

Drove down to Bakersfield on Friday afternoon and a couple of hours beforehand my brother called to tell me that he'd tweaked his back moving furniture the night before, hadn't been able to work out the kinks that morning, and, thus, was not going. C'est la vie.

Given that it was a "practice game" numbers weren't that important, except as checkpoints.

We started with hwfd and although my official distance was short, I gave up about 18" in the trig. On my last throw, I checked my front foot after release and it was way short of the trig. With that extra distance added in I would have been close to a pr. That's an easy adjustment to make. Lwfd, I was a little nervous because it was my first time out with a double spin and I mainly wanted to get through it cleanly without fouling. I shouldn't have worried. All three tosses went well and with further work on smoothing it out, I should see a significant jump in distance over the next few weeks. Even so, I wasn't too far off my best.

Open stone was okay, threw a little flat on the first two throws, and on the third went after it too much and fouled, going over the trig.

Wob, as I've mentioned a number of times, has been the bane of my throwing existence. Despite clearly understanding what I'm supposed to do to get my legs engaged in the toss, I have been unable to put all the parts together in any consistent, effective way. So, before my first toss, I asked Roger, the resident wob guru, to take a look. He made some pertinent suggestions and I got off one reasonable, successful toss. Frustration, thy name is wob. More work is on the horizon; clearly I need to break down the movements further, drill them all separately, and put them back together again.

Light hammer was within a foot of my pr, confirming that the recent work I've done should result in longer distances in the near future. I'm feeling like there's more in the tank.

Caber was a bit frustrating; we had the Lion - 17'5" and about 85lbs. The first two tosses I picked cleanly but was not happy with my pull. On the last attempt, I was focused on making adjustments to the pull and didn't get a clean pick - purely from lack of attention. When I adjusted my hand position, it slipped and I lost it. Eff.

Overall, there is no doubt that the work over the off-season, both lifting and throwing, has paid off. I think I have reason to be optimistic in every event after this weekend. Got more work to do, but it's headed in the right direction. Barring injury, this should be a good season.

And in other news, it was good to see the gang once again. Roger and Paul Saunders both had good games. And, Garrett the lightweight hit personal records in hwfd and open stone, matched his pr in lwfd, and came close to a pr in light hammer. He was pissed he missed 11' in wob and that he didn't turn the Lion. When he packs on another 20lbs of muscle he's going to light up the lightweights.

It's great to be back in season.
　

[Alan H]

Good job, particularly on hammer,a nd getting a good LWFD two-spin. You've debut'ed it in competition, now.

Congratulations to the G-man on those PR's.

Hey, did they do a kids caber throw at lunch?