Purposeful Practice for Throwers

Anders Ericsson, the world’s leading expert on expert performance, defines purposeful practice as having well-defined and specific goals (Ericsson & Pool, 2016).  Simply stated, it means to have a well thought out idea or action plan for your upcoming practice or training session.  On the flip side, Ericsson and Pool (2016) define naïve practice as essentially just doing something repeatedly, and expecting that the repetition alone will improve one’s own performance. 
 
I begin today’s post with these two definitions because with the onset of the COVID-19 virus putting a halt to professional, collegiate, and high school athletics, many people are taking to practice on their own without a coach (and likely without a plan as well).  It is definitely a strange and difficult time right now for everyone around the world.  I’ve had some conversations with many of my collegiate track & field coaching friends about the effect this will have athlete preparation in the near future, and they have had interesting perspectives on the idea of letting their athletes go train on their own until the 2020-21 indoor season begins.  Making positive gains and improvements without the watchful eye of a coach may seem daunting or difficult, but positive progress can be made over the course of the next few months.  
 
Let’s take a look at an imaginary conversation between a throwing coach and on of their athletes.
 
Coach:  Your training plan says that you have completed 4 throwing sessions a week for the past three months.  Your form looks exactly the same today as it did in March.  Can you explain this?
 
Athlete:  I’m not sure what happened.  They looked good to me.
 
Coach:  How many throws did you take a week?
 
Athlete:  I’ve taken about 150 throws a week!
 
Coach:  How many times did your throws look technically sound?
 
Athlete:  About 20-30.
 
Coach:  How were you practicing?
 
Athlete:  I don’t know.  I was just throwing.
 
This sums up naïve practice.  Doing something for the sake of doing it, while expecting one’s performance to increase over an extended period of time due to getting reps in.
 
I’m not sure if any coaches out there have actually had a conversation like this with one of their athletes, but I don’t think it sounds as far off as it comes off as.  Just getting out into a circle or on a javelin runway without having a plan is planning to fail.  Completing mindless reps just to get them in because you feel like you have too is probably doing more harm than good.  
 
Having a plan or detailed outline of the purpose of your training session(s) takes some thought and effort.  For 99.9% of throwers in the United States the 2020 outdoor season is pretty much over.  Unfortunately, over before it even got started.  I fall in the 99.9% of the population of throwers, with an understanding that the meets I was going to compete in during the summer are more than likely going to be canceled.  Now is the time to build a technically sound foundation of your throws as well as a great opportunity to get stronger in the weight room.
 
Here is a sample daily throwing plan you can begin putting in place to help develop a facet or many facets of your throwing technique.
 
Daily Throwing Session
 
Today’s Date__________                   Week_____                             Day_____       
 
Session Goal:
 
In this section you can write in detail the specific training goal you have for this throwing session.  It may be something like:

• Keep my arms long through all my turns in the hammer
• Be patient with my 4-turn hammer throw
• Finish my weight throw will my hips and feet open to the sector
• Maintain a flat entry with the weight/hammer with my toe turn
• Complete 3 or 4 turns with the weight without falling over/crashing on my finish

 
The session goals here are going to vary depending on the experience of the thrower.  If you are a new hammer/weight thrower, your session will probably look different compared to someone who is a 20m weight thrower or a 75m hammer thrower.  The purpose is to write something down that you as the thrower are working on and would like to master.  The goal of each session is not to throw as far as you can with every throw.  If your coach encourages you to do this with every throw you take, I suggest you to have a conversation with them about that because that is not a technically sound model for peak performance over the course of the indoor/outdoor season.  It can lead to burnout, risk of injury, and poor technique.
 
 
 
Throwing Session
      Implement             Weight                 # of Throws           Best Distance                 Range
 
Hammer                        6k                          10                           55m x 2                       50m-55m
Hammer                       16#                         10                           50m x 3                       46m-50m
 
The table can be used as a guide to track the number of throws you take during a throwing session.  You don’t have to use this table, you can create your own that may make more sense to you.  In the implement section you would write down what implement you are throwing.  In the example above we are throwing the hammer.  In the weight section you would include the weight of the implement.  In this particular training session we are taking 20 throws total.  We are taking 10 throws with the 6k hammer and 10 throws with the 16 (competition ball).  In the # of throws section you would write in how many throws you took with each implement.  When possible, I like keeping track of the best distance for each session.  It gives me as the coach an idea of where we are in our current training block and the relationship the weight room is having with our throws.  The range is the range of distances between our shortest throw and longest throw.  Range throwing allows athletes to focus on technique while becoming more aware of how throws in a certain range feel.  If the pre-determined range for the session is 45m-50m for each throw, we may allot our throwers 2-4 range buster throws outside the pre-determined range for the session.  Jud Logan has written about range throwing in the past, and has suggested a range of about 85%-92.5% of one’s best throw with a particular weighted implement.  For example, if the thrower’s personal best is 50m with a 16# hammer, their range should be 42.50m to 46.25m.  In the example I gave above, the athlete was throwing at the top-end of their 16# range for the duration of the session, with a couple of throws over the range at 50m.  I hope this makes sense.
 
 
Lessons Learned:
 
This is my favorite section.  I always have encouraged my athletes to list a couple of lessons they learned from each throwing session.  Athletes are free to write what they would like, with the intention of writing something positive they learned from the session and maybe something they think they need to focus on more for the following session.  I’ve had athletes write things like; I need to sleep more between each session, today really hurt and I wasn’t prepared; I need to eat lunch before throwing because I was hungry; When I focus on coming in flat with my weight entry I feel like I have more balance transitioning into my second turn.
 
Wins for the Day:
 
I believe you can find the silver lining in every training session.  Even if you thought it was the worst session of your life, you are able to find some bright spots if you look close enough.  Similar to the section above, athletes are able to write their wins for the day.
 
As I previously mentioned before, you don’t have to follow this template as is.  It is to act more like a guide as you continue on your throwing journey this year and into the future.  I’m a stats person by training, therefore I like keeping track of lots of training information on my athletes.  Especially at the Division III level where most of my athletes throw the shot-put, discus, hammer, and javelin at almost every meet.  It is important to track and gauge the number of throws you take per implement each week.  It gives the coach an idea of what may or may not be working with training, and it gives the athlete an opportunity to track their volume over the course of the indoor or outdoor season.
 
If you decide to use this training template, please let me know.  Tag @forzathletics in your Twitter or Instagram post.  I’ll email you a copy of Thrower: Propelling Towards Greatness 2nd edition as a token of gratitude for taking the time to use and implement this training tool.
 
Best wishes and happy throwing as we try to find some type of sanctuary in throwing for the rest of the 2020 season!
 
Daily Throwing Session
 
Today’s Date__________                   Week_____                             Day_____       
 
Session Goal:
 
Throwing Session
      Implement             Weight                 # of Throws           Best Distance                 Range
 


 
Lessons Learned:
 
 
Wins for the Day:
 
 
References
 
Ericsson, A., & Pool, R. (2016).  Peak: Secrets From The New Science of Expertise.  Houghton Mifflin, New York.