I CAN do it....

[Alan H]

Well, it's been a long weekend with a very sore back. Clearly I've compressed my L4 disk again, so I need to go easy and be generous with the Advil to keep from tensing up and making things worse..

However, on the way to work today I felt pretty good, so I did my sometimes-usual thing, and got out the 28'er for a few tosses on the grass before I walked in to my building. Hey, nobody said I had any common sense.

I tossed 3-4 @ 45 feet, my usual-to-good, but the thing was, I also dropped a couple at 47-48, and one that landed 17 paces away from the trig board. That's 51 feet. FIFTY ONE feet. I've done it before, this is not the first time. It's just the first time *this* year. I know what I did to make that happen. I just need to do it *Regularly*.

[Alan H]

...when my lower back normals out, that is. I think I need to go easy for a week or two.

[Tiny]

Pray tell, what was it that you figured out? what did you change that you need to do the same from now on? thinking it might be one of the many things I am doing wrong.

[cessna152towser]

Well done, Alan, but go easy on the disks, we want you fit to compete when you come to Scotland.

[Alan H]

Pray tell, what was it that you figured out? what did you change that you need to do the same from now on? thinking it might be one of the many things I am doing wrong.

My first turn is good. I drill the first turn a lot....more on that, later.

However, I tend to drift through the sprint phase into the second turn, rather than staying low and accelerating. "Drifting" means that my feet aren't in contact with the ground, and when you're in the air, you're not putting power into the throw.

What I did was..

A.) my usual first turn, hit the power position in the back (need to keep my shoulders back a bit more, but it wasn't bad)

B.) focused on getting my feet around and back down on the ground quicker in the sprint phase to second spin transition. THIS is key for me. I cannot "float" through the second spin, I MUST get my feet back down on the ground, because....

C.) that enables me to "catch" the weight earlier in the second spin. Then I can..

D.) Lead with my head and chest and sling the weight UP so that I don't throw line drives.

Result? 48-50 foot throws. I did it twice again this morning, dropped 2, 48 footers out there, and my back is still sore.

[Alan H]

First turn drill

THE POINT: you must, **MUST**

MUST

hit the power position at the end of the first spin or you are hosed for the rest of the throw. The goal of the first spin is to A.) get the weight moving and notice that I did NOT say "get the weight moving fast"....I just said "moving". and B.) catch the weight at the back of the turn with shoulders a bit back, perfectly balanced, with 60% of your weight on your back foot.

I'll make a video of the first turn drill and put it up on YouTube.

if there's one thing I consistently tell beginning throwers doing the LWFD, it's "slow down your first turn". You do NOT need to whiz through the first spin. Slow it down, and just HIT THE POWER POSITION.

[Alan H]

This was helpful. Francis Brebner, 1998

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMCP2...ature=relat ed

There are lots of things to see in that video. However, what you will notice if you stop the slow-mo at the end, and proceed second-by-seconc through the throw is that Francis gets his feet down *VERY* quickly at the front of the trig, he spends the minimal amount of time in the air. He also "catches" the weight WAY the bluidy (*&%$ behind him in the second turn, and so he has a LONG way to torque the thing before the release.

Here's Me at Woodland.

http://www.youtube.com/user/walkerk7.../0/FEqVrhBFyyI

Notice that I get my feet down quickly in the first spin, but much more slowly in the second one. Here are two videos of me in January 2007 at a clinic. They perfectly illustrate how NOT..NOT... to get through the sprint phase and into the second spin.

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga-bKcI6_LM

[Alan H]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga-bKcI6_LM

That one...stop it at 0:03. I actually hit the power position with my lower body reasonably well in that video. My weight is evenly distributed between front and back feet, my knees are bent and I'm balanced. Not bad. Yeah, I could move 15% of my body weight to the back foot, but the only real complaint I have with that is that my upper body is keeping up with my lower body. In fact, the legs and hips should be AHEAD of the upper body, in effect, I should be "looking backwards" a bit.

It's in the second phase of the throw that I SUCK. *(I'm better, now). There's this huge "hop" into a very slow second spin. My feet are off the ground for a long, long time, and when you're not on the ground, you're not putting power into the throw. I literally hop through my second spin to the point where it looks like I'm being lazy and hardly "going" for the throw at all. In fact I was going pretty hard, but there's no aggression to it.

I still do that....just not as badly. I have to A.) get my feet DOWN ON THE GROUND as quickly as possible, and B.) catch the weight 'way, way behind me in the second turn, so that I have a nice long way to torque it before the release.

If I do that, I can throw 50 feet.