There is an extreme talent void among throwers, with elite throwers possessing a special talent that the majority of average throwers do not possess. This talent is not size, strength, technique, or any kind of natural physical ability. The talent we are talking about is the internal motivation to strive towards being the best you can possibly be, no matter what the cost, and to follow through on that drive. It is a combination of hard work, consistent training, focused throwing, and intentional learning that drives a chasm between successful and mediocre throwers. There are too many throwers out there that fall victim to "lazy thrower syndrome", and if we are to continue to further our sport, we must develop a culture of excellence, learning, and relentlessness towards training.
So how does The Throwers Assessment play into this? We wrote the assessment to be an antidote to Lazy Thrower Syndrome, AND for throwers who do have that "special talent" of intense internal motivation to have a guide to take advantage of every ounce of natural talent they have to be the best they can possibly be.
The Assessment
The book is divided into three sections, the first being the actual assessment portion. How we broke it down is by assigning a score of 1-4 for 10 different areas of improvement.
For each section, we break down each category into what a thrower will act like as either a 1, 2, 3, or 4, with a 1 being a beginner thrower and a 4 being the daily routines and mindsets of a world-class thrower. This gives you an opportunity to identify with certain lifestyle patterns and training approaches, learning what is a poor routine, and what is the optimal routine. We used countless examples of successful and unsuccessful throwers to develop this list, and we do not go easy on some of the common habits that we have discovered among throwers!
After marking down a score in each category, you will end up with a total score that indicates the amount of progress you have yet to make on your training and lifestyle habits. It acts almost like a personality test but is intended to uncover the areas where you need the most improvement in order to throw further.
The overarching premise of the book is that it is these daily habits and routines that make you throw far, NOT your natural physical ability. Although you will ultimately throw far with a high physical ability, it is by developing these habitual practices that will grow your physical ability into that of an elite thrower.
"Your capacity to throw far is not limited by your natural ability. You will throw far by taking advantage of every ability you do have."
Physical Attributes
So we understand that it is the above attributes that develop our physical ability, but it is ultimately our physical strength, speed, and technique that make the implement go far. Although it is easy for throwers to get caught up unnecessarily on size and strength numbers, it is important to learn and understand how each plays into the ultimate result and what should be focused on.
In this section, we break down each physical attribute, how much it actually impacts the throw, and how to optimize its development. We break down:
Height
Weight
Explosiveness
Strength
Technical Ability
In the strength section, we also dive into which lifts are best for throwers, and provide charts estimating how high each lift should be in order to throw certain distances. In the technique section, we go even further, discussing some of the most common questions we receive weekly and provide in-depth answers:
“Should I be primarily a shot put or discus thrower?”
“Should I spin or should I glide?”
“Should I throw with the reverse or non reverse?”
“How should my full throw compare to my partial throws?”
“Why should I throw off-weighted implements. If so which weights?"
“How much distance do off-weighted implements add or subtract from the competition weight?”
Rankings and Recruitment
The last section of the Throwers Assessment is about the ultimate outcome of training: Distance. It is the ultimate goal of the sport of throwing, and can either become a sticking point for throwers or an extreme motivator. We ALWAYS get the question, "Is X distance good for a thrower?" Or, "if I throw Y distance as a Sophomore, how far should I be throwing as a Junior?" Although these questions are usually not conducive to the improvement of a thrower, it can be extremely motivating to strive toward a certain result to train harder and have a greater desire to improve.
We included every chart you can imagine laying out what is an average distance for each grade level to what is an elite or national caliber distance. We also included charts on what your expectations should be to improve season to season, how to set goals, and how to evaluate your progress.
We also discuss recruitment, including how far you need to throw to get recruited by college coaches from every division, and what else you can do to stand out to them. We also provide charts on distances for college athletes to determine how far you need to throw to be competitive in each division.
How can I do everything I possibly can to throw farther?
If you are asking this question, The Ultimate Throwers Assessment is designed for you. We want to make a change in the throwing community, driving throwers towards perfection rather than "getting away with what you can". There is no other sport out there where training can make so much of a difference, and an individual can go from the worst on their team to the best in the nation like throwing. All it takes hard work, consistency, knowledge, and the internal motivation to drive the machine.
"Our aim is to provide concise and concrete education and training on the throws, helping coaches and athletes learn what they need to do to succeed and become champions."
- Dane and Trevor
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