HMMR Podcast Episode 305: World champs preview (with Don Babbitt)

The world championships in track and field starts next week. There is some thrilling action ahead in the throwing events, and University of Georgia coach Don Babbitt joins us on this week’s podcast to talk about trends in technique, which countries are hot, which not, and what we are looking forward to the most.

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Related resources

• This episode is brought to you by HMMR Plus. Become a member for full access to our videos, articles, and podcast archives.
• You can learn more about Babbitt’s background from the University of Georgia webpage.
• Babbitt was also a guest on Episode 256 on throwing trends, Episode 170 on throwing biomechanics, and on Episode 116. And he sat down for a lengthy interview on individualization and other training topics back in 2012.
• HMMR Plus Members can watch Babbitt break down rotational shot put styles, technical development, and training methods in this 3.5 hour video lesson.
• Additional episodes referenced in this episode: Episode 303 with Paddy McGrath, and our recent 2022 world championship previews with Shaun Pickering on Episode 277, Tokyo Olympics review with him on Episode 255, and Episode 300 remembering Pickering’s legacy.

Key quotes and topics

• 0:00 – Introduction.
• 3:15 – The rise of North American hammer throwers.
• 12:00 – Men’s shot put and discus preview.
• 13:15 – The value of experience and how to get it: “There’s a big value in comfort. To be a medal contender it sure helps to have been there a bunch of times and you’re used to your competitors.”
• 16:30 – The new normal in the shot put: “When the bar gets raised, everybody raises their game.”
• 21:00 – Historical national powers.
• 27:45 – Technical trends in the shot put.
• 35:00 – Learning from the good and the bad: “We’re usually trying to manage our athletes from not dropping off from their best instead of trying to figure out how to be their best, especially if they’re good.”

Complete transcript

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