Establishing Correct

Habits in Discus &

Rotational
otat o a Shot
S ot

David Dumble
Arizona State University
Habits
y How do yyou change g a habit?
y How do you create a habit?
y How do you know the habit is
permanent?
y How do you make a new habit work in a
pressure situation?
y Are
A theth habits
h bit andd solutions
l ti the
th same for
f
an athlete that throws both discus and
shot?
h t?
Addressing the Issue
y What is the best wayy to change
g your
y
athlete’s habits?
◦ Time line
◦ How big is the issue?
◦ g
How engrained is the bad habit?
◦ How motivated is the athlete?
◦ How coordinated is the athlete?
 Which approach?
Whole Motion Changes Part to Whole

y Short amount of time y Long term project

y Smaller changes y Larger change
y Athlete can keep- y More reps to make change
◦ Rhythm permanent
◦ Tempo y The task is broken down
◦ Timing into smaller parts and the
◦ Confidence
C fid athlete may be able to
y Used more effectively by understand and complete
the older athlete the task more accurately.
Part to Whole
y Changes
g are more encompassing
p g
y May affect all parts of the throw
y Establish more concrete habits and a
deeper understanding of the movement
for the athlete
y The new habit can be more entrenched
and becomes more automatic in a
pressure situation
Part to Whole At The Beginning
Of The Season
y Stand throw is the first building block

y Add additional movements that lead the

athlete into the correct Power Position

y The athlete will learn the correct rhythm,

rhythm
tempo, and timing with the new changes
Stand Throw
y Teach a deliveryy that mimics the deliveryy
with a full motion
y Distance
sta ce iss usually
usua y compromised
co p o se
y Athlete
learns only
one delivery
Stand Throw
y Rotation of hips
p
y Center of Mass on Right foot through
delivery
e ve y
y Hips creating rotational force horizontally
y Separation-
Separation hips are dragging
implement/shoulders through to the
delivery
y Timing- delivering the implement from
th separated
the t d position
iti
Non--Reverse vs.
Non vs Reverse
y Non
Non-Reverse
Reverse y Reverse
y Better feel and y The athlete may be
understanding of able to mask a lot of
delivery problems with a
y Athlete feels the reverse
ground, balance, and y A correct reverse
length of delivery will mimic the same
with non-reverse feel and rhythm of a
correct non reverse
Building on to the Stand
y Athlete must find the correct Power
Position from each drill
◦ Alignment
g
◦ Size of base
◦ g side
Balance over right
◦ Height of hips
◦ Separation
Building on to the Stand
y Drills and throws include-
◦ Wheels, half turns, step ins
◦ South Africans
◦ Float, Float, Sting
◦ Modified Fulls
◦ Full throw
 Building on to the Stand
y As the athlete learns to find a more correct
Power Position from these drills they adjust
their balance,
balance positions
positions, tempo
tempo, rhythm
rhythm, and
timing.
y Improvements are all encompassing and may
take hundreds of repetitions.
y The
Th task
t k iis bbroken
k d down into
i t smaller
ll parts
t
and the athlete may understand the task
more precisely.
i l
Ryan Whiting: Part to Whole
y High
g School Habits

y Lean in out of the back

y Lead with Left shoulder
y Late off his Left foot
y Landing opened up in Power Position
y Short delivery
Ryan Whiting: Part to Whole
y Created a longerg pull
p in stand throw
y Step ins- He learned how to tuck his left
aand land
a more o e separated,
sepa ate , etc.
y South Africans- He learned how to get off
his left quicker
quicker, etc
etc.
y Fulls- He learned how to create
rotational energy without falling off
balance and leading with his left shoulder,
etc.
etc
Shot put and Discus Throwers
y Manyy of the motions are the same and
the development can improve both events
y So
Somee athletes
at etes feel
ee and
a learn
ea motions
ot o s
better with one event and then can apply
this skill to the other event
y There are two main differences
◦ Size of the ring
◦ The carrying of the implement
Carrying of the Implement
y The shot is carried in the neck with the
elbow up and back.
back The implement doesn
doesn’tt
move much within the throw.
y The discus is carried away from the body with
arm back. Since the discus can move around it
is much harder to control and there are many
more variables.
◦ Athlete must feel the discus throughout the throw
◦ They must control the orbit of the discus
◦ It takes more repetitions to time the delivery of
the discus
Size of the Ring
y To accommodate the size of the ring, the
athlete must adjust the entry of the
throw.
y The entry of the discus will have a longer
right leg into the middle of the ring with a
littl more lean
little l off the
th body.
b d
y The entry of the shot must have a more
balanced axis on the Left and the sweep
of the Right leg is shortened into the
middle
Teaching The Differences to
Collegiate Throwers
y The coach may be able to emphasize the
differences in the two throws with an
athlete but there may be other technical
athlete,
issues to address first.
y Taken on a athlete by athlete basis
y Jessica Pressley was a better shot putter
th discus
than di thrower.
th She
Sh threw
th 61’7” iin
the shot and 184’2” in the discus, but only
usedd 7’ off th
the circle.
i l
 Executing
y After a successful implementation of part to
whole development, the athlete should have
a better understandingg of the correct
movement through a specific part of the
throw.
y They now have a cue that triggers the
correct feel of rhythm, tempo, and timing.
y This new cue can be implemented in the
coaching of the athlete at practice and
competitions.
ii
Whole Motion Changes
y Short term solution
y Changes are usually smaller in nature and
onlyy affect
o a ect part
pa t of
o the
t e whole
w o e motion
ot o
y It is easier for the athlete to keep their
rhythm tempo,
rhythm, tempo and timing of the full
throw
y The athlete may have more confidence
about adding the new motion and still
throwing far
Domino Effect
y Throwingg is a domino effect- An earlier
motion has an effect on the later motions
y Sta
Starting
t g fromo the
t e entry
e t y of
o the
t e throw,
t ow, one
o e
mistake causes the next mistake
y Most bad throws end up with a bad
delivery, yet the delivery is almost the last
thing to fix.
fix
y The solution? Fix the first mistake!
Prioritizing the Solutions
y The athlete must land in a ggood Power
Position.
y If tthey
ey aaree not,
ot, what
w at iss the
t e main
a cause?
y If the athlete lands in a good Power
Position but is still missing the delivery,
Position, delivery
◦ Is the athlete aware of their Power Position?
◦ Does the athlete have a good stand throw?
The Throw Is Always Changing
y Small, almost unnoticeable movements
can become large problems over time.
y Itt iss important
po ta t to pay attention
atte t o to details
eta s
y Know your thrower and their habits
y Know their comfortable
comfortable, go
go-to
to
movements
Ryan Whiting: Whole Motion
y One area that Ryan y will alwaysy have to
monitor is his wind up and entry.
y Seve
Severala times
t es tthrough
oug hiss collegiate
co eg ate career
ca ee
we put a big emphasis on learning and re-
learningg the correct entry.y
y Now that he has several cues that help
him rere-establish
establish the correct movement
when the entry is off, he is much more
efficient at whole motion changes.
changes
Ryan
y Whitingg Entryy 2008vs2010
Questions?