Olympic Women’s Shot Put Analysis

Christopher Hickey, the executive director of the Institute for Sport Coaching, has been coaching track & field since 1989 at all levels of the sport.  Hickey has a Masters in Sport Science from the US Sports Academy and specializes in coaching the throwing events.  He last coached at MIT where his throwers achieved numerous All-Conference, All-New England, All-East and All-American honors including a DIII national champion and record holder in the throws.

This event gives us an opportunity to further explore the glide or slide technique.  Of note, all of the finalists in the women’s shot were gliders and right handed throwers.

Basically the glide is a backwards sprint step to set the thrower up for the throw phase.  The thrower starts in the back of the circle 180 degrees away from the ultimate direction of the throw.  Using a series of two foot movements, each one turning the right foot/leg 90 degrees towards the front of the circle, the thrower accelerates her body while setting up the throw phase.

In the images below of U.S. thrower Michelle Carter, look for the following:

• Did they turn their right foot 90 degrees in the glide phase and another 90 during the throw phase?  Some did not and threw with their right foot an estimated 125-130 degrees from the front of the circle (0 degrees).  That is an amazing fact that these elite throwers have not mastered this part of the glide technique, but yet are some of the top 12 female shotputters in the world! They must be incredibly strong and quick to overcome that poor execution of the glide.

• What did they do with their left arms?  The left arm is a powerful part of the throw phase as it set ups incredible stretching across the chest will help propel the shot when the body undoes that stretching.  The left arm also sets up the left side block to ensure all the energy they have created gets pushed behind the shot.  Thinks of the throwers’ left side as a hinge for a very large door which is rapidly slamming shut.

• Last but not least how did the throwers maintain their balance and stay in the circle and not commit a foot foul?  Several could not and fell out of the circle over the toeboard.  Too much speed and energy for them to deal with.  Of note, watch for the throwers who after watching their throws land, decide they did not like it and then foot foul on purpose.  This is a habit throwers in high school and college should not develop.  I always state to my throwers, “how can you determine how far it went?”  The potential is there to foul a very good throw.  Plus you need the distance as part of the feedback for post meet analysis.

One last thing—how you do define winning in the throwing events.  If you watch the entire women’s shot finals, you will notice the excitement coming from the throwers from Brazil and Chile. While they finished out of contention for medals (8^th and 10^th), they threw a personal best and a national record, respectively.  To represent their countries at the Olympics and post that level of performance, they are certainly winners.

 

2012 Olympics Discus throw technique

Much like the hammer throw, the discus is an event that demands great speed, balance and of course, strength.  It reminds me of ballet but the stage is much smaller with the ring being 8ft in diameter.  Keys things to watch for in a discus throw are:

• The thrower’s tempo through their turn and throw as it should be slow to fast to maximize acceleration of the disc at release.  If the thrower moves too quickly from the back of the circle it can very easily upset their balance and ability to get themselves into a good throwing position.

• The sprint turn out of the back of the circle where the thrower accelerates their body with a sprint step to the center of the circle.  To the untrained eye, it may look like they are jumping—they are not—just a powerful sprint step.  Of note, I often tell throwers they are sprinters too but smart ones whose races are only 8ft long!

• The path of the discus—it should be level in the back of the circle and brought up to a high point during the sprint turn—this is in order to have gravity help accelerate it during the throw phase.  And watch the discus fly—it is a miniature airplane wing.

• How do the throwers recover after the throw and stay in the ring?  Imagine creating all that force which is propelling you after the disc but you need to stay in the circle.

Croatia’s Sandra Perkovic won her country’s first-ever Olympic track and field gold medal in the women’s discus with a national record of 69.11m/226ft+. Perkovic had two throws longer than any other competitor and her winning throw was the longest in this event since the 1996 Olympics. Below is a look at Perkovic’s beginning motion:

Darya Pishchalnikova from Russia, the world leader in this event coming into the Olympics, won the silver with a best throw of 67.56m/221ft+ on her fifth throw.  That throw allowed her to pass China’s 2011 World Champion Yanfeng Li whose 67.22m/220ft+ had held second position since the second round of throws.  See below for a side-by-side comparison on Perkovic and Pishchalnikova:

     

 

The defending Olympic Champion, American Stephanie Brown-Trafton, struggled in her first two throws during the qualification round with a best of only 61.09/200ft+. which left her short of qualification until with a mighty final effort she drew out a 64.89m/212ft+ automatic qualification.  She managed only to throw 63.01m/206ft+ in her six final throws for 8^th place.

 

2012 Olympic Hammer Throw Technique Analysis

Christopher Hickey, the executive director of the Institute for Sport Coaching, has been coaching track & field since 1989 at all levels of the sport.  Hickey has a Masters in Sport Science from the US Sports Academy and specializes in coaching the throwing events.  He last coached at MIT where his throwers achieved numerous All-Conference, All-New England, All-East and All-American honors including a DIII national champion and record holder in the throws.

One of my favorite events is the hammer throw—one of the reasons I coach the throwing events.  I love the simplicity of it—run in a circle and throw the hammer over your shoulder after three or four turns.  When you watch good hammer throwers, it seems almost effortless with their balancing the force of the hammer with their body.

The Olympic gold medal was secured with the third round throw of 80.56m/264ft+ by Krisztian Pars. Pars, the fourth Hungarian to win this event since 1952, won the gold by over a meter from his nearest opponent, the defending Olympic Champion Primož Kozmus of Slovenia (79.36m/260ft+), with Japan’s 2011 World Champion Koji Murofushi  in third with 78.71m/258ft+. Both these throwers produced season’s bests but neither man was in the Hungarian’s league, as another two of his throws 79.70m (5th) and 78.88m (8th) would also have medaled the event.

Notice the straight arm and bent knees that Pars’ has when spinning

Let’s compare the technique’s of Kozmus and Murofushi:

 

Things to watch for in a hammer thrower are:

1. Balance especially with each progressive turn
2. Increase speed with each turn
3. Tight footwork as they turn—ideally they should be moving in a straight line down the middle of the circle

Also watch how they lean back more and more with each turn to counter the force being created—they feel the hammer wanting to rip out of their hands and fly away.  That is the force they are harnessing to throw it far!

USA’s Kibwe Johnson (77.17m/253ft+) made the final as the fifth best overall in the qualifying round but was unable to make the final eight as he only mustered a 74.95m/245ft+ on his second throw in the finals. Traditionally the hammer throw is not widely accepted in the US unlike many of the European nations especially in eastern Europe.

Take a look at the image below as Johnson’s feet start and finish in nearly a straight line.

Johnson’s starting swing

 

USA Volleyball and USA Gymnastics using video analysis apps

USA Volleyball and USA Gymnastics Video Analysis

Ubersense is proud to be supporting several of Team USA‘s Olympic sports as they trained before and during the 2012 London Olympics using our mobile video analysis apps for the iPhone and iPad. Several highly successful teams have identified the apps in their training programs.

Gold medal winning Team USA Gymnastics and Head Coach John Geddert have been using Ubersense screen share in their training. The coach uses the app to record routines and play back in slow motion. Geddert is also the personal coach of U.S. Gymnast Jordyn Wieber.

“You can see form and execution errors, legs apart or knees bent,” explained Geddert, adding that the apps helped him diagnose why a gymnast at the Olympics was not being credited for an element in a routine and make immediate adjustments.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Women’s Volleyball team has been using ubersense to review practices and games and provide instant feedback. The U.S. Women’s Volleyball won the silver medal in London during the 2012 Olympics.

We’ve seen many teams around the world utilizing technology in these Olympic Games. The beauty is that a significant amount of these tools, including both the SwingReader and ubersense apps, are available to the masses for next to nothing. This means that you too can train like an Olympian!

2012 Olympic shot put technical analysis

This post was contributed by Christopher Hickey, the executive director of the Institute for Sport Coaching, has been coaching track & field since 1989 at all levels of the sport.  Hickey has a Masters in Sport Science and specializes in coaching the throwing events.  He last coached at MIT where his throwers achieved numerous All-Conference, All-New England, All-East and All-American honors including a DIII national champion and record holder in the throws.

The men’s 2012 Olympic shot put competition opened competition Friday August 3^rd.  The qualification rounds were held in the morning at 10am London time with the finals following for the top 12 throwers at 6:30pm London time.  For the throwers in the finals, that means they had to have the endurance to throw nine intense throws (three in the qualifying round and six more in the finals) of the shot put that weighs 16 pounds.

Poland’s Tomasz Majewski  won the gold medal and by doing so became only the third man in history to win two Olympic shot put titles, and the first man since the USA’s Parry O’Brien to successfully defend his title.  Parry O’Brien was the gold medal winner in 1952 and 1956 and also won the bronze medal in 1960, and is the thrower responsible for the development of the modern glide/slide technique, which Majewski uses.

 

Majewski’s victory overcame Germany’s World Champion David  Storl, the youngest of the 12 finalists at 22 (Storl should be a thrower at the international elite level for another 6-8 years.).  Storl missed the gold by just three centimeters and was in first place through the first five rounds until Majewski uncorked his best throw on his final throw! Storl and Majewski employ similar gliding styles.

  

Many elite shot putters, such as the USA’s Reese Hoffa, Christian Cantwell, and Ryan Whiting, pictured below, use the spin style (discus technique) as demonstrated in the video link as well.  But the glide technique is not obsolete—Friday’s gold and silver medalists, Majewksi and Storl are gliders.  Classic case of athletes adopting the technique they feel more comfortable with and that matches their athletic skills.

    

How do throwers decide what style to use?  It is all about the throwing position and maximizing acceleration during the throw phase.  Most shot putters start out learning the glide technique and convert to the spin style if they so choose.  In my experience, shot putters with good speed and foot agility but maybe not as big or strong as other throwers should try the spin style to maximize their acceleration at the point of release.  Another common thought is that the glide technique has fewer “moving parts” or is less complicated than the spin style.  You have to be patient with the spin style as it is less consistent than the glide due to the more complicated technique.

 

Historical Summer Olympic Medal Count Motion Graphic

Check out this cool visual graphic of the medal counts by country from the 1896 Olympics through the 2012 Games. You can see the movement of countries and the rise and fall of some of the major olympic powers such as East Germany and the Soviet Union.

Historical Summer Olympic Medal Count