G. Martin Bingisser » Anatoli Bondarchuk

Training Talk With Erik Cadee

Martin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:45:16 +0000

Twenty-seven year old adidas discus thrower Erik Cadée brought a fresh new idea into the discus ring last season. The Dutchman was already among the world's best, but he took a risk and began training with a new technical style. It paid off and Cadée threw a new personal best of 66.95 meters in the spring. That ranks him just barely behind former World Championship medalists Erik de Bruin and Rutger Smith on the Dutch all-time list.

For years the major difference in technical styles at the elite level could be boiled down to whether or not a thrower 'reversed' at the end of the throw. Cadée's style plays with the orbit and adds another quarter turn of rotation at the start of the throw. After seeing him train and throw in Turkey last year and talking with his coach about the technique, I figured it was time to ask him a few questions directly.

The style itself is so unique that it doesn't even have a name yet. Feel free to share your thoughts on the technique and a potential name in the comments after the article. My suggestions are either '540' (for the number of degrees you rotate to get to the power position) or 'Neu' (after a German who used a variation of the technique in the seventies; the word also has the relevant meaning of 'new' in German).

UK Hammer Workshop

Martin — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:16:01 +0000

This last weekend I was invited to present about training methods at the National Coach Development Programme Hammer Workshop in Loughborough, England. With the 2012 Olympics coming up in London, the country has been infused with cash and done a great job of using the resources wisely to develop coaching and facilities. Events like last weekend's are commonplace, and Loughborough is putting the finishing touches on a beautiful covered throwing facility that will complement the indoor throwing facility they already have.

I was very impressed with the direction the hammer throw is heading in the UK. Last year the men's discus became world class there, and the hammer throw is not far behind. The men's hammer is deeper than ever, with four throwers over 72.45m this year. America, with a population five times as great, had just seven throwers over that distance. It will be a few years before they become world class, but most of the throwers are young and will continue to develop. The women's hammer has an even younger and more accomplished group led by Sophie Hitchon (UK record holder at 69.59m, 2010 World Junior champion and 2011 European U23 bronze), Louisa James (58.10m as a 17 year old, 2011 World Youth champion), and Myra Perkins (61.94m as a junior in 2011).

Kamloops Training Camp 2011

Martin — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 07:18:29 +0000

Over the past ten days I have taken a trip back in time. I returned to my former home and training partners. I returned to working with my coach in person. I returned to the routine of a life 100% focused on training. In other words, I returned to Kamloops.

After nearly a year away from coach Bondarchuk, I needed to touch base with him. We talk or exchange emails every week, but that isn't the same as getting in person feedback from him. The feedback is something he also needs, since it is also difficult for him to determine my progress without observing me first hand.

Book Review: Periodization by Bondarchuk

Martin — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 06:07:17 +0000

Before Dr. Anatoliy Bondarchuk moved to North America six years ago, not much was written about his research in English. But since then, many of his ideas have finally been translated. His first two major works in English discussed the concept "transfer of training" (you can find reviews of those books here and here). In this respect, they focused on the finest details of training: the exercises performed each day. Some exercises transfer over to the competition exercise better than others, and he laid out data showing how different exercises correlate to different track and field events. Bondarchuk's new book takes a step back and looks at the bigger concept of periodization across all sports.

Periodization, in short, is how you organize training throughout the season to help reach the athlete's goals. In contrast to the first books, this volume does not mention one exercise and does not discuss how to build a training day or a training week. Instead it presents the methods in which training programs can be combined throughout the season for every sport.

Learning the Hammer Throw: Perfecting Technique

Martin — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 18:28:02 +0000

My old training partner Ryan Jensen and I published a short article in Track Coach last winter about coaching beginners. Ryan coaches the youth throwers at the Kamloops Track and Field Club, and we drew on our experience (mostly his) to lay out a method for getting a beginner to easily complete a three turn throw. This fall, we published a follow-up where we discuss what to work on next. Finishing a throw is step one; perfecting it is the next step.

The second article focuses on some common errors and ways to approach fixing them. I talk about technical issues on here from time to time, but I often stay on the theoretical level and have never attempted to put the different pieces together. This was an attempt to do so in a very quick and readable way. As always, we look forward to hearing your feedback.