Something a little different

Editors Note: My new site is now at www.just-fly-sports.com Check it out for a wealth of information on jumping higher and running faster, all backed by research and practical experience!

Normally I just tend to post regarding either strength training, jumping, or jumping events in track and field, but I decided to use this post to discuss something that I noticed at the 2008 olympics, particularly in the men's decathlon javelin throw. What I am about to post is something I actually discovered my first year throwing the javelin, and have confirmed through the years of watching athletes throw the javelin.

Now what I saw in the olympic javelin throw.......is that two of the farthest throwers in the competition were the Cuban athletes. The farthest throw of the competition was produced by Leonel Suarez at 73.98 meters, which is over 240 feet. At just around 5'10 and 170 pounds, this is a big throw.

The future of the decathlon

So what is the big deal about this? Well, if you watched the decathlon javelin throw on nbcolympics, you might realize that the majority of the decathletes would take relatively long run-ups in their throws, probably around 12-14 steps. The two Cubans however took relatively short run-ups, probably around 7-8 steps, yet they produced the number 1 and 6 throws of the 26 man competition.

What I am trying to say through all of this, is that any field event in track and field is about maximal controllable speed. Javelin seems to be the one event in particular where this philosophy gets thrown out the window, and I am not sure why. In Javelin, an effective block with the lead leg followed by the "reverse C" is one of the most difficult, if not the most difficult position to get into in track and field. As with anything, the more speed that is added, the more difficult it is to get an effective block and then subsequently get into the "reverse C". Why does it seem like every athlete then thinks that they need a huge run-up that they can't control? Is it from watching the olympic athletes and think that we need to do what they do right off the bat? Do hammer throwers do a 4-turn in their first practice? Do vaulters jump off of a 16' 200lb pole their first month of practice? So why do we think that we can take such a technical event and teach our throwers to keep blowing through their block with way too much speed in the throw?

Correct Javelin Positioning

Here is a quick story from my first year of throwing javelin: It was my junior year of college, and I had always had a good arm, but never really thought of throwing the javelin. Anyways, I learned pretty quickly and went through the first part of the season with a 10 step or so run-up and was throwing somewhere in the 50 meter range for the first part of the season. Usually in warmups, I would throw a standing throw or two, and then a few 4-step throws. Anyways, one meet, the NCCAA championships, I took a 4 step warmup throw and managed 170 feet off of it....which was only a foot or two under my PR at the time. I decided to stick with the 4 step thing and just throw that for the competition. Anyways, it turned out I threw 58 meters in the competition, which is 188'9" to be exact, a 15 foot+ PR off the last few meets. After the meet I was looking at the pictures of me throwing, and my positions and block were great! They were much better than my throwing position when I would go off of the full run-up.

So what I am I trying to say.......don't do big run-ups for beginning/intermediate javelin throwers? Well, I do believe in a holistic philosophy of track and field, i.e., I don't believe in a lot of drills, and I believe the full or shortened movement of any event should be emphasized above a bunch of drills. With javelin, however, the event needs to be built from the block outwards, rather than the throw inwards (funny how almost all guides on javelin throw start with the preliminary steps in the run-up). As far as the run-up for individual throwers, it should be as long as the thrower can still utilize an effective block, which for most high-school and college throwers will be less than 10 steps. Just ask the Cubans.

On a closing note, next time you watch an olympic level javelin thrower come in at 7.5 meters per second and launch a monster throw, please realize that they have been throwing javelin from a very young age and are from a country that has a much better physical education system than ours. Thus they have mastered the right throwing positions and can handle the extra speed.