BAS Trainer In Action at the Simplot Games

A Proposal for the Indoor Javelin Event

“Weighted Shoulder Throw”

A proposal for the Indoor Javelin event

Christopher A. Vogel

BAS Athletics

USATF National Convention

12/2/09

Abstract

The javelin, as an event, has been functionally limited to outdoor venues during spring and summer. Assorted attempts at winter javelin implements have met with limited success. Essentially, the javelin event is dormant during winter. To complicate and reinforce the issue, throwing javelins at competitive levels for extended periods nearly guarantees injury. The “Weighted Shoulder Throw” has the potential to both act as an indoor javelin event and, using javelin-correct kinetic motor patterns that remove the throwing arm from the throw, the WST offers an extended 100% training effort that significantly curtails the injury rate of javelin athletes.

Goal

Given the acceptance of the Weighted Shoulder Throw as a viable indoor javelin event by the USATF, the Weighted Shoulder Throw will be given exhibition status allowing the event to further develop, expand and to be examined by the track and field community.

Questions to be answered

*What is the “Weighted Shoulder Throw?”

*Is an indoor javelin event necessary?

*Is the WST a relevant skill to outdoor javelin?

*What is the opinion of coaches involved in the WST?

* Is there objective data supporting the skills taught by the WST?

*Can the WST fit into an indoor T&F facility?

History in short

In 1992 I was a first year teacher and coach at North Central High School. I had a thrower who was not able to “block”. He would leap off the ground instead. To solve this I mounted a plastic cup on seatbelts that I sewed together. In the plastic cup I placed a ceramic ball. If he jumped off of the ground the ball would go nowhere. If he “blocked”, the ball would be thrown from the cup. I realized I had created a good tool to train throwers and I promptly hid it in the basement.

Fast-forward past engineers, attorneys, business plans and false starts to this past year. The Weighted Shoulder Throw, or BAS trainer, has now developed into its fifth generation as a trainer and has also completed its first test run as a competitive T&F event.

Apparatus Description

The implement thrown by shoulder acceleration is a two-pound, capsule-shaped projectile that is inserted into a plate. The plate is mounted directly over the humeral-clavicle area. The cavity that holds the projectile is situated over where the humeral head and the clavicle meet. The plate is held in place by a flexible body-jacket that holds the plate and projectile over the shoulder. Note: The athlete’s throwing arm is immobilized by looping their thumb through a small hoop mounted underneath the throwing arm’s pectoral area. Thus… the only way to effectively throw the projectile any distance… is to use effective javelin motor patterns.

Indoor Javelin: a necessity?

Indoor T&F is a necessary preparation for the outdoor season. It trains and prepares the athletes for the season ahead. Only the javelin event is dormant. Javelin has found no place in the indoor T&F world. Due to this fact, the javelin athlete is arguably the least prepared athlete for the outdoor season.

It stands to reason that to ensure the safety of javelin athletes, there must be a method developed that not only increases their physical preparation, but protects and furthers the javelin event as a whole.

Relevance of the WST to javelin

The javelin athlete is arguably the most injured athlete in T&F. It is a barbaric event that transfers a dead sprint directly into the legs, torso, and arms of the athlete. Moreover, due to the violent forces placed on a javelin athlete during a throw, precious few full speed throws are performed during a practice period in an attempt to protect and safeguard the athlete. Thus… no other T&F athlete is required to do so much… with so little allowable training.

The javelin thrower has perhaps ten 100% effort throws per training day. Throwing more than that number is unwise. So… how do we as coaches increase the training load while protecting the javelin athlete?

The WST removes the wildcard, the arm, from the throw. By removing the arm from the throw, correct, and incorrect, motor patterns of a javelin throw are more clearly seen and thus trained. Since the arm is the most injured point on a javelin athlete, limiting the use of the throwing arm is highly beneficial. To add to this, by being able to quadruple the number of full speed throws, while leaving the arm untouched, we as coaches can increase the training load exponentially… as well as protect the athlete.

Do coaches support the WST?

In the past three years of testing, the involved high schools and universities that have served as testing locations are unanimous in their support. The three high schools that I directly worked with all together share ten top-six medals in the Washington State (WIAA) Track and Field Championships over the past three years. Those athletes are now competing for schools such as University of Montana and Eastern Washington University. Marcia Mecklenburg of Eastern Washington University has also fully implemented the WST into the throws program. Last year her freshman thrower, Michelle Coombs, threw 163’ 1” to break into the NCAAs. Community Colleges of Spokane produced Shae Murray and Ryan Weidman, 15^th and 17^th, respectively, at the last US Olympic Trials. Whitworth University’s Eloise Cappellano placed Alex Hymel and Joey VanHoomissen 5^th and 8^th place at the NCAA Div III Championships.  If six local schools have produced that much hardware in the javelin event, something must be working.

Developmental Coaching

I had a skinny kid named Justin Graff whom I mentored as a 6^th grader. He became my first WST test pupil at the developmental stage.  Justin’s 7^th grade Turbo Javelin went 191… in 8^th grade 198’2”.  As a sophomore, Justin took 4^th in the 4-A Washington State Championships throwing 179’. As a junior he went 191’ to take another 4^th place. In Justin’s senior year of high school he went 203’5”. He is now at the University of Montana throwing for Doug Leffler

Is there data to support the WST?

Dr. Jeni McNeal of Eastern Washington University competed a digital matrix study comparing elite javelin athletes comparing the WST motor patterns and 100% efforts with a javelin. The following is a short quote:

“We did a two dimensional kinematic analysis comparing the two performances (WST throw compared to javelin throw).  We found that the results show that there is less than 2% difference between any of the kinematic variables, velocities, accelerations and angles between the two performances. Within an athlete we can easily expect a 1% to 3% on any given day, multiple throws due to fatigue, lack of attention to certain details… there is going to be some minor variation so the fact that we got a 2% variation between the two performances may, in fact, show that they are extremely similar and that the variation was due to the normal variation in performance and not due to the device.”

Reference

McNeal, J. (July 2005).  Digital Comparison of Weighted Shoulder Throw to Javelin. Interview.

Sector Description

Given a standard indoor 200m track, the Weighted Shoulder Throw will be conducted from a standard javelin approach runway or other viable surface. Thrown from a standard toe-board into the standard sector measuring, 75 feet to padded implement stopping boards will offer proper room for throws over 60 feet.   Given a standard indoor setup, the Weighted Shoulder Throw sector requirements will be comparable in area to the Shot Put sector. The runway requirement will be roughly 75 feet, though shorter approaches of 50 feet will be standard. Thus… the compact nature of the WST easily fits into most indoor 200m facilities.

In Summary:

Javelin athletes have no home in the winter months. To accompany their dormancy in winter, they are the most at risk for injury of T&F athletes. These issues are solved by implementation of the Weighted Shoulder Throw.

The WST removes the arm from the throw thereby forcing the athlete to master and correct proper motor patterns. The WST will both honor the throwers and protect them as well. What could be more vital to the javelin event?