Another Training Talk with Derek Evely (Part 1)
We all know the hammer throw is a unique sport, but I rarely stop to ponder why exactly it is unique other than the fact that we are hurling a ball and chain as far as we can. It is unique in a number of ways and this uniqueness should play an important role in training. I recently re-watched a presentation Derek Evely made in Sweden last year where he addressed this specific point and pointed out two key facts about the hammer throw that make it unique. First, the hammer throw is the only track and field event where the athlete keeps contact with the ground at all times and the goal is to lengthen the amount of ground contact. Second, hammer throwers must work together with an external object. Both of these facts have an impact on training and I recently had a chance to talk with Derek about how he took these facts and used them to create a hammer-specific training plan for his athletes. We started out talking about the first point and its impact on training. Check back later in the week as we discuss the second point.
For those of you not familiar with Derek, he was most recently the head of the UK Athletics High Performance Centre in the lead up to the London Olympics where he also served as the personal coach of Sophie Hitchon. He has had a long and successful career that also included time working with one of my mentors, Anatoliy Bondarchuk.
This isn’t my first training talk with Derek. We sat down two years ago for a discussion on Dr. Anatoliy Bondarchuk which I feel is one of the best examples available online of how to implement Bondarchuk’s theories in a variety of events. Derek is one of the most knowledgable and thoughtful coaches I have had the chance to work with and, as you can tell, he is more than willing to share his knowledge with others. If you get the chance to hear him speak, I guarantee you will walk away smarter. One good chance for this will be at the Canadian National Throws Conference in Ottawa from October 18-20, where Derek will be presenting along with Vésteinn Hafsteinsson and Esa Utriainen. The theme for the conference is “Developing the Throws: European Perspectives” and registration is now open. This topic is just one of many that Derek will touch on in his presentations there and will be a can’t miss event.
Sorry, this content is for members only.Click here to get access.
Already a member? Login below… |
Trackbacks & Pingbacks
[…] One of interviews with Derek Evely also went into depth on his process of creating exercises and what he looks for to optimize transfer. […]
[…] you can read the articles he has posted here at HMMR Media, as well as my training talk with him, a second training talk with him, and his recent appearance on our own HMMR Media […]
[…] have lots of information from Derek Evely on HMMR Media. For starters I recommend checking out the most recent training talk we did with him where we bring up polarization and some other topics. His article on modern trends in periodization […]
[…] Something I’ve noticed and Derek Evely pointed out in our recent training talk is that quite a few elite athletes seem to be doing high concentration of maximal intensity work […]
[…] Earlier in the week I began a discussion with coach Derek Evely on how training needs to be tailored to the event you are training for. He provided two examples from the hammer throw by looking at two unique aspects of our event. First, the hammer throw is the only track and field event where the athlete keeps contact with the ground at all times and the goal is to lengthen the amount of ground contact. In part one, we discussed how the this fact has an impact on selecting exercises for the event. Second, hammer throwers must work together with an external object. In this final part we move on discuss how the hammer’s forces also impact training. […]
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!