April Training Update

According to Dr. Bondarhcuk, hammer throwers can be divided into three groups.  The first type of thrower has slow winds, but accelerates sharply in each turn.  An example of this type of athlete would be Lance Deal. The second type begins with fast winds, but accelerates insignificantly during the turns.  A good example of this type of athlete is Sergey Litvinov.  The third type of athlete winds at an average speed and accelerates moderately during each turn.  According to Bondarchuk, one type is not better than any other type.  As he notes:

Membership in one or another group depends first of all on this athlete’s individual peculiarities, as well as on the number of turns used.  It is very important that the observed difference in the structure of the rhythm of throwing not only does not prevent the athlete from showing a high level of athletic achievement, but also, on the contrary, in all cases facilitates this.

Rather than forcing an athlete to throw one way, a coach should find out what way is best for the athlete and build upon it.

I definitely belong to the second group.  I start fast and accelerate very little during each turn.  In fact, often times I do not accelerate at all in the final two turns of the throw.  Over the years, I have had many coaches tell me to slow down my entry so that I can accelerate the hammer on the last two turns.  But after working with Bondarchuk, I have found that it is not my speed that prevents me from accelerating in the final turns.  Instead, it is a combination of other factors that leave me in a position where it is nearly impossible to accelerate.  I’ve been able to fix some of those problems lately, and as a result I have had several throws with a great rhythm.  I first found this rhythm in February, and have been working every since then to try and replicate it in as many throws as possible.  Below is some video from this afternoon’s training session.  As you can see, I am making some progress, but still have some work to do.

Training has been going very well since I returned from my season opener in Europe two weeks ago.  In my first week back I was just six inches off of my personal best with the 10-kilogram hammer.  I was careful not to get too excited though, since I also threw the 10-kilogram hammer very well last year but still struggled in competitions and with lighter implements.  But the next day I also threw a new personal best with the light 5-kilogram hammer.  Now that I am throwing both the lightest and heaviest hammers well, it is only a matter of time before I also throw the competition (7.26-kilogram) hammer to new bests.

My marks with both implements indicate that I’m in shape to throw a personal best and I am eager to compete again even though I’ve been slowed this past week by a small back injury.  I was originally planning on using April to focus on training before heading to Europe again in May, but now I am looking for a meet and might head down to the Mt. SAC Relays in a few weeks.  In the meantime, I am trying to squeeze in some time with Coach Bondarchuk, who will only be in town one week this month due to a hectic schedule.  With the heart of the season near, I need to spend every second I can with him to continue to improve my technique.  My technique continues to get better and the results will soon follow.