Coaching and Training

We have some coaches that have offered their assistance for the coming season.  Please feel free to contact these people or make contact with one of the committee if you have any questions.

Coach	Events	Day/Time
Phil Badman	Distance Running	Tuesdays 6:30pm - 7:30pm & Thursdays 5:30pm - 6:30pm
Jo Linford	Throws	Click here for details
Wayne Dyball	Jumps - High, Triple, Long	Sundays 10.00am - 11.30am (U9 and above). Starts Sept 23

Coaching Tips

Shot Put

For Shot Put you need to have a clean palm of the hand and a dirty neck.  By holding the shot along your fingers and thumb you will keep your palm clean.  You then place the shot to your neck, just under your chin (not to the back of your neck).  Then proceed to raise your elbow.  With all throws it is important to use your legs as they are much stronger muscles than your arms.  This will help you throw further.  If right handed, you need to place your body weight over your bent right leg, pushing forward to your straight left leg and following through with your hips and then arm.

Remember not to pull your hand/shot away from your nect until your body is fully forward and ready to release the shot.

Good luck with your next throw.

Discus

Most athletes in little athletics will begin with the standing throw.  This begins with a right handed thrower placing the discus in his/her right hand, with four finger tips over the rim of the discus and the thumb resting on the top.  You should be able to roll the discus off your pointer finger comfortably.  When a discus is released by a right handed thrower, it must spin in a clockwise direction, and will spin anti clockwise for a left handed thrower.

I will base the rest of the information on a right handed thrower, the reverse would be done for a left handed thrower.

Standing throw.  Place your left foot to about 2cm from the front rim of the discus circle, this allows movement from the feet.  Your right foot is then positioned back to the middle of the ring with a slight forwarding position of the back foot towards the side of the ring.  You then will move your arm from a back position to front swinging only a couple of times.  By swinging any more you will only make your arm tired.  You also need to bend your right knee to allow movement from your legs through your hips to your arm being the last part to move forward.  It is very important to make your hips push forward, as they are a stronger part of your body and will help you throw further.

Relays

At Mentone we use the downward pass, so with relays fast approaching, enjoy your training being held with your team managers.  1st runner – right hand, 2^nd runner – left hand, 3^rd runner – right hand, 4^th runner – left hand.  This allows the baton to take the shortest possible path around the track.