e-mail

Technique Comparison between track & field throwing and Scottish highland games

Tony Dziepak, April 1995, revised August 1998

Reprinted from the NASAA #28 News, vol. 1, no. 3.

The general principles of throwing apply to all of the Scottish heavy events. Former track & field (t&f) athletes make excellent Scottish "heavies." Those with a weightlifting or powerlifting background generally also do well; especially in the #56 weight toss, sheaf, and caber.

The basic principle of developing power entails using all muscle groups, and in the proper sequence. While the casual observer might conclude that heavy events are principally upper-body phenomena, the experienced thrower knows that most of the power comes from the legs and hips.

In power training, the athlete develops the proper firing sequence of muscle groups, creating the proper succession of muscle contraction from the ground up. The power starts in the feet, is transmitted into the legs, up to the hips, through the torso, then shoulders, elbow, and finally, the push with the wrist and fingers.

The theory behind this succession is that the largest, strongest muscle groups must fire first. When the largest muscle groups are past their peak strength, the next largest take over, etc.. The result is the optimal summation of forces and maximum power.

The action must be successive, not simultaneous. To demonstrate this, try doing a barbell squat and overhead press simultaneously. You should find that it is very difficult, awkward, and slow to try to extend your arms while you are coming up from the squat. On the other hand, it is easy, quick, and feels quite natural to simply extend the arms the immediately after the legs have been straightened, transferring and maintaining the bar velocity provided by the legs.

There are also some basic mechanical principles that come into play in the heavy events. First, velocity is angular speed times radius. This means that you can speed up your angular frequency in your hammer winds by simply pulling in by bending your elbows (like an ice-skater pulling in her arms to twirl faster). However, by pulling in your arms, you shorten the radius as much as you speed up your winds. As a result, the hammer goes no further upon release.

Another principle concerns the flight characteristics of an object acted upon by gravity, with no air resistance. While horizontal velocity is maintained, vertical velocity is constantly decreasing. The resulting flight is a parabola, which makes the optimum angle of release 45 degrees at ground level. Now because the object is released at shoulder level, this reduces the optimal angle of release, somewhat. This angle is about 40 degrees for the #56 and shot, about 42 degrees for the #28 (goes farther), and 40 degrees, again, for the hammer (due to wind resistance).

Stone:

The shuffle, a simplified glide, is a common technique in both novice Scottish athletics and t&f.

What is the point of the glide or the spin? Obviously, the athletes are able to throw farther with this action than by just putting from the power position (as in the Braemar event). The glide was the first modern technique, while the spin was first developed in the 1960's.

The reasoning for the glide is as follows: put a stone as far as you can standing still. Now get in the bed of your pickup, have your friend drive at 20 mph, and put the stone (in the direction of travel) as far as you can. Your throw will travel farther on the pickup (measuring from the point of release) because the velocity of the moving truck is added to your throw. Similarly, the momentum (which is velocity times mass) produced in the glide is added to the standing throw, resulting in increased distance.

The spin is where the athlete build up rotational velocity by turning 360 degrees into the power position. The athlete also builds up torque by driving the lower body ahead, while holding the shoulders back. The twisted trunk then uncoils in the power position.

The key to throwing stones (over and above the principles of shot putting and grass conditions) is to find a good hand position on the stone. You want the center of mass located close to the area of the upper palm. You also want to find a ridge on which you can place your fingers so that you can maintain the thrust through the follow through without your fingers slipping. The stone must also feel comfortable against the neck and not slip out during the turn. A thumbhold is also nice to find; especially for a large stone.

It is good to practice with a bowling ball. Practicing the spin with a bowling ball will force you to minimize any unnecessary upper-body jerking movements that may dislodge the stone from your neck or grip before you get into the power position. Practicing with a bowling ball may improve your technique with the shot put as well.

Weights:

The 28-throw technique is actually more akin to a discus throw, than a two-handed #35 weight throw. You get 9 feet of rectangular space with the Scottish weight throws, but only a 7-foot circle with the t&f weights, with no trig or toeboard. With the discus throw, you get an 8'2.5"-diameter circle.

The pros currently use two turns in a figure-7 pattern. The size of the throwing area doesn't allow for two full turns; thus the first preliminary turn is foreshortened. The preliminary swings are pendulum-style, side-to-side, accross the front and the rear of the athlete.

The purpose of the first turn is to establish the orbit and velocity of the weight. The second turn is most akin to the "South African" discus throw, which is also similar to the steps of the spin-style stone throw. The goal is to increase velocity by driving out of the back toward the trig. This first step with the right leg is long and forceful; however, the second step, with the left leg, must be tight and quick. The goal is to get into the "power" position early with the weight still cocked back as far as possible. The sooner you get into the power position, the longer the arc you have to most effectively deliver acceleration to the weight.

Hammer:

When leaning over at an angle, the athlete wearing spikes can significantly increase his/her radius of winds by keeping straight arms around the back. The spiked athlete is not really moving the hammer behind the body, but above the head, when the leaning-back is taken into account.

The upper body movement is primarily at the shoulders. The arms rotate from straight above the head to close to the thighs at the bottom. There is also important action at the knees. It involves pulling the hammer around to the front by pulling the body down with the hamstrings. In doing so, the athlete may actually exert a negative force (tension) on the ground. Of course, this is not possible without being firmly anchored into the ground with spikes.

The technique for the unspiked athlete involves more emphasis on torso movement. The torso turns with the hammer around the front, with straight arms. The hammer is also swung away from the body, and the torso is upright, not leaned over. The elbows must be bent when the hammer passes behind the athlete.

The athlete twists back around at the torso in order to "catch" the hammer (get the arms to full extension again) at the earliest possible stage of rotation. At the release swing, the unspiked athlete is able to turn into the release, pivoting the toes without lifting the feet. The one disadvantage of the spikes is not being able to turn into the release.

It is now evident that slightly greater distances can be achieved with the spikes; and the world record and most meet records are with spikes. However, I know that some athletes have not had much distance improvement with spikes; so don't think that this is a must-have article, especially for amateurs.

Caber:

The first step of an attempt is the pick. I recommend that the athlete interlocks fingers around the caber before even picking. I recommend that the athlete maintain interlocked fingers throughout the attempt, up to the follow through with the arms at release. I believe that the fingers must be free to fly apart at follow through. Because of this, I recommend that no or very little pine tar be applied to the hands for the caber.

In the pick, place the interlocked fingers near the base of the caber, possibly getting the little fingers around the rounded end of the caber at the front. Legs should be bent 90 degrees, back should be straight and no more than about 45 degrees from vertical. Place your upper trap and side of the head against the caber. With straight arms, lift the caber with the legs, like a snatch pull. Accelerate the caber so that it has some vertical velocity after you are standing.

Upon standing, allow the caber to leave your hands. This will allow you to scoot your still interlocked hands completely under the end of the caber, with elbows bent. You should catch the caber high. Your hands should be at navel height, with elbows bent 90 degrees.

When carrying the caber, there are three control points: the shoulder, the side of the head, and the grip. The grip is used to control both forward-backward and sideways motion of the caber. The side of the head is used as the fulcrum to control side-to-side motion of the caber, and the upper trap is the fulcrum for front-to-back motion.

To control the caber after the pick: if the caber is falling to the side or to the rear, the hands should be pushed/pulled into the direction that the caber is leaning, and the athlete may take a step in the direction of the leaning. For example, if the caber is falling backwards, the athlete can pull the arms into the navel and simultaneously take a couple of steps backward.

Warning: if a caber is leaning more than what can be recovered, please bail out by pushing the end of the caber sideways away from you. If a judge orders you to abort, do not attempt any further to save the throw. YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE IN CONTACT WITH THE CABER when the end strikes the ground. If a caber is still against your shoulder and face when the end hits the ground, you will probably incur a broken collar bone, a broken jaw, knocked-out teeth, and/or a fractured skull.

The caber can be made to go forward by gentle forward force at the shoulders combined with a pulling-in of the grip toward the torso. The caber should be carried as high as possible (elbows more bent) to keep the center of gravity high. However, the higher the caber is carried, the closer the control points are, and the more difficult it is to control the caber.

If novices are having a hard time controlling the caber, the arms may be more straightened, but this will make turning more difficult. Under no circumstances should the elbows be locked straight.

The caber should be in contact with both control points all the way through the gather (squat in preparation for the release). The forward rotation of the caber should be initiated by the thrower by leaning into the caber with the shoulder during the gather. The caber should not be allowed to leave the shoulder during the gather, nor should the athlete wait passively, in the squat position, for the caber to come off the shoulder by its own momentum.

The angle at which the caber is released is critical. If the angle is too high, the athlete will be working against too much of the weight of the caber, and won't be able to accelerate or rotate the caber properly. If one waits too long (more common), there won't be enough time to accelerate the caber. The follow through with the arms should be back over the head, in order to impart additional rotation to the caber.

Conclusion:

I would also recommend that the collegiate athlete join the t&f team, and practice all of the throwing events. This may give you access to coaching, facilities, and equipment. What coaches are looking for is 1) genuine interest and willingness to practice, and 2) the remote possibility that you could possibly score some points for the team in a few years. This will only help your heavy events performances, and a collegiate thrower is free to participate in (amateur, not professional) athletics all summer, and usually all autumn, too.

Postcollegiate athletes should also seek opportunities such as either training at the local college, or being a volunteer assistant coach at the local high school.

References on biomechanics and technique

Geoffrey Dyson "Mechanics of Athletics" a technical book available at large university libraries.

Kenneth Doherty "Track & Field Omnibook," 4th ed. 1985 TAFNews Press, Los Altos, Ca.

"Track, Part II: the Field Events" paperback published by Sports Illustrated, available at most large bookstores.

Track & Field Coaches Review: A technical quarterly periodical on training and technique; the throwing issues are annually, each fall issue.

Milo Journal, published by IronMind Enterprises, Inc.