Practice Tips for Shot Put & Disc Throwers

Warming Up

• Shot put and discus throwers use upper and lower body strength simultaneously during a throw. Before practicing throw techniques or drills, throwers must stretch and warm-up all major muscle groups, including shoulders, arms, legs, back and core muscles. Jogging, calisthenics, push-ups, sit-ups and trunk twists focus on muscles used during a shot put and discus throw. After completing general warm-up exercises, practice scale, glide or spin techniques without the shot put or discus to warm-up sport-specific smaller muscle groups.

Scales

• A scale is a throwing technique performed at the front of the ring. Start the shot put scale with the outer edge of the left or right foot parallel to the toe board. Place your feet shoulder-width apart. Right handed throwers use the left foot and left-handed throwers use the right foot. Hold the shot put to the neck and twist the body away from the toe board toward the back of the ring. Twist back toward the toe board at full speed and throw the shot put into the field. Repeat several times.

  A discus scale is similar to the shot put scale with the outer edge of the left or right foot parallel to the front of the ring. Legs should be shoulder-width apart. The thrower holds the discus instead of the shot put. Gravity will pull the discus out of the hand without centrifugal force created during the discus spin, so the discus must be held in the palm face up before scaling. Twist the body away from the front of the ring, continuing to hold the discus in the palm. Throw the arm not holding the discus at a 45-degree angle toward the sky while rotating the trunk back toward the front of the ring. Flip the palm over during the movement and release the discus when the trunk is parallel to the front of the ring.

Incremental Drills

• Incremental drills allow the thrower to achieve proper technique by breaking down the glide or spin technique into smaller sections. The shot put glide has three parts, the starting position, glide and trunk rotation to throw. The glide starts at the back of the ring and moves the thrower to the front of the ring. During incremental drills, start in the middle of the shot put ring and glide half the full distance to the trunk rotation. Concentrate on the transition between the glide and trunk rotation to throw.

  The spin technique works for shot put and discus. There are four sections to a spin, the starting position, leg kick, trunk rotation and release. Incremental drills include moving from the trunk rotation to release, leg kick to trunk rotation to release and finally from the starting position to leg kick to trunk rotation to release. Working the spin backward allows the thrower to focus on technique rather than distance.

Release Drills

• At the end of a shot put throw, the wrist flips to push the shot put into the air. Stand at the front of the ring with toes bumping the toe board. Hold the shot put above the head with the throwing hand. Use the wrist to push the shot put into the field.

  The discus release requires the discus to spin from the pinkie finger to the index finger. Hold the discus in the hand as if a throw were going to take place. Roll the discus on its edge to a partner as if bowling. The discus should roll off the index finger and travel in a straight line to the partner without wobbling.