How to discus throw

Discus throw handbook
Written by: Jeffrey Koelewijn from the Netherlands

Males throw with a 2 kilogram discus
Famales throw with a 1 kilogram discus

Note that boys and girls throw with lighter weights

The discus circle is 2.5 m in diameter

Before starting I'd advice to do a good warm up




It's best to use throwing shoes when throwing
As it's a lot better for the knees and ankles
as it makes moving around on the balls of the feet
a lot easier and smoother.

Discus placement:
Should be placed on the end of the fingers or against the top
of the fingers.

Be carefull not to make too much throws per training
12 to 20 throws should be enough and reduces the chance of injuries.


Power position or powerstance:
Asuming a powerstance
One leg in front one leg behind
The hips and shoulders should form an x seen from above
And the toes and knee should form a line with the chest
And 70 to 80 percent of the bodyweight should be on the back leg
or the leg wich is leant on.
and 20 to 30 percent of the weight on the front leg
The non throwing arm is held in front of the body

A good throw is made doing the triple extension
Extending the feet, knees and hip
To create a kinetic chain together with the twisting of the upper
body and the use of the shoulders and the arm
The upper body should be strong enough to support the chain
and add aditional power.

Most power for the throw is generated by the legs and hips

Use weightshifting (that's why 70-80 percent of the weight is on the back leg)
for even further throws.


Semi rotational or greek method:
A semi rotational
The greek method starts with a twist up then the left foot is placed in to a power stance

Rotational:
-It is hard to explain the rotational in words It's probably best to just watch
 a discus throwing video on a video site
The rotational starts by doing a wind up or twist up to the other side of
which you're going to move to this is to create tension
You should try and maintain this tention until the throw and use it.
Then the left foot turns in and the left arm moves to the side
Then the right foot makes a swaying or somewhat kicking motion
with on the end a somewhat kneeing motion is made
Then there's a short air time
Then the right foot is placed and the left foot follows as soon as possible
to come into a power stance and then the throw is made
Don't forget to use the non throwing arm to block or to create
extra rotational force.

A good active left foot and leg can result in further throws

Types of throwing:
Active release
 There's a short air time or small jump
Fixed feet release
 The feet stay fixed on the floor

Pivot drills:
First get used to standing on the balls of the feet
Is done by pivotting on the balls of the feet
while rotating
90 degree turns
180 degree turns
270 degree turns
360 degree turns
Some people can even do turns between 450 and 720
You can do this with and without the discus


Inverted C:
The body creates somewhat of an inverted C while just after the power position
and the beginning of the throw
A lot of energie is stored produced and released this way


Tip:
In competition be carefull not to walk out of the ring to the throwing
direction as the throw will then be declared a foul
Walk out of the ring to the non throwing direction

Tip:
Check the biomechanics of the discus throw
IMG_6172


Myotatic reflex of the chest
By winding up at the beginning tension is increased on the chest and side area
this is used while throwing
The non throwing hand can also be used to increase the myotatic reflex
Keep the throwing arm long and extended and keep it back as much as possible, in the
same position as created by the wind up until the trow

Discus releases:
Throw the discus up and catch it again
Make sure the discus rotates a lot and is thrown properly
And catched around the way you throw it up in the air
Don't throw to high just around chest or head hight is enough
Catching is much easier like this and the next release can
be made soon after.


Do plyometrics like push ups and squats for overal conditioning.
Rocket jumps are also very usefull

Strength power and explosiveness training
Trainings like weightlifting and short sprinting can be done
to develop strength power and explosiveness

Tip:
Also do flexebility training