Well hello there!

To start off with I’ll state the basics. What is throwing and what are the rules? What is throwing?

-         On a track and field team there are specific event groups, ex. Jumpers, Runners and Throwers. Throwing is a classification of events where the object is to throw the implement as far as an athlete possibly can. Now the throwers on an outdoor team consist of Shot Put, Discus, Hammer, and Javelin. On an indoor team, which I will be talking about, there are only two indoor throwing events they are Weight Throw and Shot Put.

What is weight throw?

-         Now the majority of you probably have no idea what Weight Throw is, well to begin it is an indoor event that takes place out of the same circle as Shot Put. Let’s talk briefly about the circle, it is generally made of cement, however there are many wood circles which competitions take place out of. It is generally up to the throwers own personal opinion which circles they prefer to throw out of. For instance cement circles are generally faster, to turn in, where as wood circles tend to be slower for turning and more effort is needed to go through the motions.

-         Now back to Weight Throw. The women’s weight is 20lbs and then men’s is 35lbs. They are a large ball with a bag around it attached to a handle. There are many parameters around the length diameter and so forth, but I will discuss that at another time.

-         When competing in Weight throw you generally to 2-4 turns within the circle before releasing the weight. However, some athletes prefer to just do a 1 turn and a release. The amount of turns is a preference of the athlete and their coach. It ultimately comes down to what feels the most comfortable and what works the best, meaning furthest distance.

What is Shot Put?

-         I’m sure the majority of you probably think of Shot Put as a sport for women and men of “big” stature. That is not generally the case. Over the years the body type of “shot putters” has changed drastically.

-          Shot Put is thrown out of the same circle indoors as Weight Throw. There are about 3 kinds of ways to throw a shot. Number one- a glide, which you will see about 50% of throwers using. Number two- a spin about the other half uses this technique. Finally the shuffle, generally this is used for athletes just beginning to throw, however there are many athletes who continue to use this far more in their career. The same as Weight Throw the technique used by the athlete is dependent on their own personal feelings and that of their coach.

-         I will be explaining in more detail later what exactly each technique is and how you can go about understanding them more clearly.

What are the rules?

-        Once your name is called you have 1 minute to complete your throw. You can enter the circle from any where you’d like BUT and I must stress this you MUST exit the circle from the back half once the implement has hit the ground. A side note to this is that with Shot Put there is a toe board, this is located at the front of the circle to help stop the athlete from falling out of the circle. This toe board cannot be touched on the top at all while the thrower is completing their throw. If this occurs or stepping out the front of the circle, leaving the circle before the implement has touched the ground and if any part of you touches the ground or toe board while in the circle that is considered a “foul” or “fault” and the officials will watch for this while the athlete competes.

-         Another way to fault is called a “sector line” fault. This is when an athlete throws an implement and it hits outside of the specified area to land in. In weight throw there is generally a cage surrounding the circle (for safety reasons) now an implement is allowed to rebound off of the cage and if it lands in sector and the athlete decided to keep the throw it is legal to measure it. However most times this rebound off of the cage decreases the distance of the throw.

Next time I plan to include topics such as how does an individual get into throwing, who are the Windsor Lancer Throwers and what they’re trying to accomplish this CIS season. 

---throwergirl :)