Oh it was great fun. Nothing like a Luau party with only 2 people (epic party fail) so, to have some fun, we just sprayed everclear on the luau torches that people buy for their front lawns. The fireball was at least a good few feet long. So proud of myself!
I know that eklarb has some video of himself at Ventura to put up, and I just saw video of that Raging Amazon Warrior Princess, GoodGirlGonePlaid, as well.
What say we start a thread where any of us can slap up recent video of ourselves for general oooohing and aaaahing, and helpful critiquing, as well?
I'll start.
LWFD video from Ventura. I blocked myself off bigtime in the first turn, in the last one, but damn if that wasn't the biggest throw. This was a good sequence for me, if I remember right...46, 47 48...
Comments and suggestions welcome. Thanks to Aaron and Kim P. for the video.
Wow. I have never seen that actually done. I think I would have wacked someone in the face with the ball or it would have flown in some pedestrian direction...
Old video from this past summer, which I discovered on a thumb drive which I never use, today. i never could replicate that unbelievable spinning weight over bar, again.
I have a technique qestion. On sheaf, is your back/right elbow bent or straight on the release?
Mine's bent. Is it supposed to be?
Also, what tartan are ye wearin'?
My arms are probably bent a bit. Radius is important, so the straighter and longer, the better, though. The three key things, I THINK....I am not really all that great of a sheaf tosser....are.
1. BIG windup...get up on your toes, crank that thing back, WAY back
2. drive DOWN to a point about 8-12 inches ahead of your left foot (right foot if you're left-handed)
3. Come up HARD. This is not a subtle event. HARD...power clean HARD, drive your chest up HARD.
Th is is not a "rotation" movement. It's an up-and-down movement. It's different if you're spinning the sheaf throw, though. I'm clueless about that.
....and of course "stop" the left hand, well... the one that's down near the tines of the fork. However, I used to focus on really stopping that hand hard and trying not to let the fork "drift" up higher than my shoulder. After watching a bunch of guys and gals who throw sheaf a lot better than I do, I am less focused on that hard "stop". Yeah, you gotta "stop" the fork to some degree, bot that's not the POINT of the throw. If you drive down and then come UP, really hard, you're not going to be able to stop the fork at your shoulder. Backing off the power of the throw until you CAN stop the fork at your shoulder only results in a whimpy toss. That's no good.
so I say, RIP THE SNOT OUT OF IT, and if your hand winds up at a 60 deg. angle up in the air, but the bag flies off the fork, then hoooray for you!
GGGP, Tartan is the X Marks tartan, BTW.... I sold that kilt about 5 months ago. It was a nice kilt, though.
The back or right hand for a right-handed tosser is what I use to drive the implement downward to produce the flick when the left hand hand blocks.
Bending the back arm also allows you to get the implement more vertical in the backswing.
Here's a nice picture...
But some manage to keep both arms straight on the backswing. Depends on you wingspan and how wide a grip you take on the fork.
The forward arm stays straight pretty much through the throw...
Pretty good finish. Perhaps you recognize Steve Ullom in this picture from ScottishFest 2011.
If you bend the forward arm and try to "curl" the fork, it usually causes the bag to to travel more horizontally than vertically. You can also injure or tear the bicep so best to avoid that.
GGGP a good sheaf drill to do is to stab the bag, then put the bag on the ground about a foot in front of your left foot. Grip the fork in the usual places and then get into "power position"....the same position you're in when you do a power clean. The bag is still on the ground. Now explode UP, chest up, hips up...stop the left arm as best you can and see if you can PINNNNGGGGG the bag off the fork and straight up in the air and a bit behind you.
Here's my practice video from yesterday. I didn't get all of the throws on video, and the battery dies just as I was starting stones, but if anyone has any technique pointers, I'd appreciate it.
Also, I don't have any implements yet, so I'm practicing with a DIY hammer, and a traffic cone & some dumbbells for WFD :-)
Here's the breakdown:
Video starts with Hammer
1:40 - WFD with a traffic cone
4:13 - WFD with a 15-lb db
4:47 - WFD with a 25-lb db
5:45 - 16# Stone standing throws
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