Shot Put and Discus Throws Training Progressions | Shot Put and Discus Online Coaching

Yesterday, I talked about the 160’DT/50’SP ceiling…

“What is that?”, you may ask…

It’s when an athlete hits a throwing plateau.

Ugh, the dreaded thrower’s plateau.

It’s one of those places in EVERY athlete’s training, where you cruising along, hitting every mark and then WHAM!

It can be a dangerous place to be in for the athlete and the coach!

Not knowing what to do next is where it can all fall apart and you end up looking frantically for help, some guidance, a life line…

Because, if you don’t know how to bust through that plateau,

you will start making training decisions that begin to unravel the athlete’s progress

and then things can …

Start to go backward!
Get into the athlete’s head & anxiety creeps in
Get demotivating & the downward spiral picks up speed.

Last night I was talking to the dad of one of my future superstar shot putters about how we want to teach 70m progression training from day one.

Key word there was PROGRESSION.

Ultimately, it should be your goal to want your Throws Training program to clearly produce 200+ ft DT and 70+ft SP….

But, naturally, everyone starts somewhere at the beginning and you build from there.

It’s important, as a coach and as an athlete, that you know how to build a throws training program to hit those goals.

Here’s where the plateau happens…..

Do you have a throws training knowledge base to know how to get a shot putter who has finally hit 50′ to throw 55′ ???

Then 55′ to 60′?

The jump from 60′ to 65′ is no joke…. and it takes even MORE throws coaching skills to get that thrower to reach down and hit throws even bigger.

The point is, if you only have a 50′ shot put knowledge base and a 150′ discus throws knowledge base- then that is what you’ll coach and reach.

I’ve used a metaphor many times at our TCR throws camps that learning the throws is like learning math….

No one starts at trig …. unless you are a complete genius, there’s not a bunch of 7th graders who are banging out the calculus.

You have to master the basics- addition, subtraction, multiplication and division…

then you get punched in the face with fractions – oh, is that just me?

and so on, you get the picture.

Well, throws training is the same… you must master the fundamentals, then move onto the foundational drills and training protocols and progress from there.

As you move up, and your throws are going farther and farther, the coaching gets more specialized, detailed and the adjustments more refined.

Therefore, early in the development cycle, we’ll spend more time on the Basic Training Drills (fundamental drills) –which is a lot of pillar foundational work!

Below is an example of this progression for rotational throws

Let’s call it – CRAWL • WALK • SPRINT

CRAWL: We begin with The TCR Flight School/ Strike School found inside the TCR System

FLIGHT SCHOOL | DISCUS- work on how to carry the discus and drag it behind, or in other words, locking it back by flexing the triceps and posterior delt to hold it in place, and do a lot of discus skips and bowling to improve comfort holding the discus and releasing it.

STRIKE SCHOOL | SHOT PUT- practice proper position of the elbow and on the neck, how to hold the shot in the hand and fingers, and how to keep the elbow level and thumb down during release.

WALK: TCR Basic Training, Position Drills, Throwing Drills & Progression Drills | Rotational Shot Put, Glide Shot & the Discus Throw … This is where the magic happens!

Example:

PILLAR 1 Wind up, first
PILLAR 2 center of mass shift & 90 degree walk arounds
PILLAR 3 8:45 drop ins (pillars 2-3), sprint counters
PILLAR 3- 4 Puddle jumps 1-2-3
PILLAR 3-4 modified wheel repeats
PILLAR 5 elevator drops
PILLAR 6 block leg/am stops & transfers

SPRINT: Once a thrower is comfortable with that, we advance the thrower with additional drills

For example, one of my pro athletes- Jason Harrell, who was top 5 in the US in 2016- was drilling the crap out of his pillar 6 as we prepared for the 2016 Olympic trials. His target was to do 500 reps of the pre-block for pillar connection in a week and a half. So we were taking 50-75 pre blocks per practice.
We focused on more acute details of the pillar drills
His implementation of pillar connection becomes more advanced, more detailed, and more precise.
All my throwers learn the same things, but as they better understand the TCR system, they’ll shift their drill focus- i.e Jason really doesn’t need to do modified wheel repeats, or push pull drills for pillar 3-4 work. That is mastered.
However, he still works pillar 6 block arm stops, and like I said, a ton of pre-blocks from pillar connections

Now the key when teaching the throws using the TCR system is to teach 70/70, the ratio of drill movements (pillar drills) to throwing drills (pillar connection).

Younger throws have a higher ratio of drills combined with throws. More advanced throwers—like Jason—have a higher number of pillar connection with specific pillar drills to address details of his throw.

A youth thrower does a lot of basic pillar work: crawling and jogging.

My average high school thrower does essentially the same thing because basic mastery is essential before moving forward.

My elite high school thrower will start to work details of the 6 pillars: jogging and sprinting.

Pro & Post Collegiate throwers, like Jason, will be working acute details of the six pillars: sprinting.

CRAWL • WALK • JOG • SPRINT

The key is teach the right mechanics from day one, and the TCR system teaches 70/70 from day 1.

When you poke around YouTube, you’ll see guys talking advanced concepts. I think some are right, some are half right, and some are so wrong it’s a detriment to throwers and coaches.

You can subscribe to Arete Throws Nation TV here

🚨 When new throwers, or new coaches, come across more advance throwing content (the sprint) on YouTube – the good, the bad, or the ugly – they will try to apply it to the crawl or walk level throwers, and this results in disaster…

… it’s a huge mistake.

Or worse case scenario, the throws content is completely wrong and is worse than 50/50 technique (meaning 160/50)!!!

I often say, don’t look at my 70 footers, my top 5 US discus thrower, or my 185/60+ /150/50 girl thrower….

… Look at the girls I’ve coached to 135/38 in a few months, boys that went from 100′ to 150′ quickly, or from 45ft to 52+ feet.

They’re my best examples of what a great throws system and good coaching can do… they are the best examples of what I’m talking about.

When you teach the throws using the TCR system from day one, the results are bigger, better, and faster.

So learn the Throwing Chain Reaction® of the throw to avoid the pitfalls of getting caught teaching mediocre or plain incorrect shot put and discus technique.

As you go out to practice today, or over the weekend, strive to teach 70/70.

Use the TCR system, and focus on the right things and the right progression.