Entries by Martin Bingisser

Why a technical philosophy is more important than a technical model

March 28, 2019 in /by

Earlier this week Nick Garcia wrote about how we think too much about good technique rather than what style will fit an individual athlete. Looking at the final technique is trying to reverse engineer the problem. What we should be looking at is the philosophy that it all started with. One thing that top coaches have in common is that they understand the throw and have an idea of what forces they want to create. How that looks and what the athlete needs to do to achieve it might result in different technique, but the core idea is front and center.

Gaincast Episode 157: Find the right fit (with John Baumann)

March 25, 2019 in /by

Supporting a track and field team might sound like a simple enough, but when you look a bit closer you see it can often mean helping 100 athletes competing in vastly different sports. John Baumann knows the sport inside and out, having helped develop NCAA champions as both a technical coach and strength coach. He joins this week’s GAINcast to talk about his work as the head strength and conditioning coach for the University of Kansas track and field team, how he learned from his background as a throws coach, and finding the right program for athletes from varied backgrounds and diverse events.

HMMR Podcast Episode 193: Aim high (with Dana Lyon)

March 18, 2019 in /by

As a javelin thrower Dana Lyon was undersized and overlooked. It forced her to aim high and learn more about the event to succeed. She climbed her way up to become US champion. On this episode of the podcast she comes on the show to discuss how she developed her throw, her coaching philosophy, the competition mindset, and military life.

USATF Hershey Youth Indoor Championships (NY) Results

March 17, 2019 in /by

Jacob Furland (Classical, Providence, RI) continued his late season hot streak. After winning Weightarama earlier in March, he captured the win at the Hershey USATF Youth Indoor Championship on Saturday. Little more than a foot separated the top three boys and Furland came through with a personal best to jump into the lead and claim the win at 72’03.75″. In the girl’s competition Furland’s teammate Cheyenne Figueroa (Classical, Providence, RI) easily captured the win by nearly eight feet.

Moving beyond dynamic correspondence

March 15, 2019 in /by

Start talking about special strength or specific strength and one of the first things that often comes up is Yuri Verkhoshansky and the principle of dynamic correspondence. In our latest video lesson, I sat down with German national discus coach René Sack to discuss his framework for specific strength and how he applies it to discus throwers. What stood out to me the most is how big of a gap there is between the theory of special strength and how it is put into practice by top coaches. Dynamic correspondence might look good on paper, but top coaches like René are finding different ways to make specific strength effective in training.

New Balance Nationals Indoor (NY) Championship Results

March 11, 2019 in /by

After Friday’s Emerging Elite competitions, action continued on Sunday at the New Balance Nationals Indoor with both championship competitions. The girl’s took off first in the morning with a bang. Already on her first throw Monique Hardy (Webster Thomas, Webster, NY) improved her national lead, then jumped ahead even more in round two. Her winning throw of 64’7.25″ added nearly two feet to her best and shot her up to sixth all-time among high school throwers. Behind Hardy were Rhode Island’s top throwers, but not in the order you would expect. Annika Kelly (Barrington, RI) added more than a foot to her best to beat state champion Cheyenne Figueroa (Classical, Providence, RI) for the first time this year and claim silver in the process.

GAINcast Episode 156: Chucking spears (with Steve Backley)

March 11, 2019 in /by

Watch the javelin in full speed and it is a thing of beauty. Watch it in slow motion and it’ll often make you cringe. In order to throw a spear the length of a football field requires athletes to put their body in extreme positions with massive amounts of force transferring through the kinetic chain. Mastering it is hard, staying at the top even harder. Steve Backley was not just one of the best javelin throwers of all time, but sat atop the sport for 15 years. On this episode of the GAINcast, Backley joins us to discuss how he developed in the sport, what creates the perfect throw, and becoming a better competitor.

New Balance Nationals Indoor (NY) Emerging Elite Results

March 9, 2019 in /by

Competition and the New Balance Nationals Indoor kicked off on Friday with 70 throwers facing off in the Emerging Elite competition. In the girl’s competition Julia Garcia (Cornwall, New Windsor, NY) and Kaitlyn Conte (Marlboro Central, NY) both broke 50 feet for the first time to place first and second respectively. Aaron Williams (Bloomfield, CT) added more than three feet to his best to win a close boy’s competition where six of the top seven throwers improved their personal best. The weight throw competition will continue on Sunday with the Championship competition.

Weightarama 2019 (RI) Results

March 7, 2019 in /by

After struggling at the state championship last month, Jake Furland (Classical, Providence, RI) took some revenge and improved his personal best on his first throw to claim the win at this year’s Weightarama meet. His new best captured the win by just inches in a close competition with Kyle Moison (Lincoln, RI). In the girl’s competition, Furland’s teammate Cheyenne Figueroa (Classical, Providence, RI) also won with a big first round toss.

Rethinking drills for the hammer throw

March 6, 2019 in /by

Back in December, I invited Sergej Litinov to Zurich to present a workshop and work with some of the Swiss hammer throwers. Since I first got to train with Litvinov in 2004, I have been impressed by the different perspective he brings to the event. He conceptualizes the hammer throw different than any other thrower I know. Back in August 2017 and September 2018 he joined member hangouts to try and explain his approach, but only seeing him with with athletes in person do you really get to understand how to put the concepts into practice.