Javelin coach Tim Newenham explains some of the common errors made throwing the Javelin by examining the flight of the implement. He relates common technical faults to whether the Javelin goes tail down, tail up or rotates sideways.
In this video, we will be indicating the clues to look out for when throwing the Javelin.
A flight that is dragged, meaning when the point is up and stays up then hits the ground tail first is usually an indicator of a low arm and a point that is too high on release. The flight characteristics of such a throw means it will just drop at the end.
If the Javelin flys high and then in an arc that sticks vertically into the ground it this means that the wrist is snapping through too much so that the javelin actually loses distance by sticking in at a very steep angle. An indication of a topping throw is that the throw will look fine to the naked eye but land almost vertical. The trick is to look at the flight of the javelin to work out exactly what happened.
An extremely common fault is a low arm that is not always visible to the naked eye but the clue is in the landing of the javelin. The point of the javelin for a right-handed thrower will go to the left and the tail to the right. It’s very obvious that type of landing is due to a low arm.
The drill is designed to help to correct the flight characteristics and the point control which is so important to throw a good distance. The problems that people might encounter such as if the javelin lands point to the left tail to the right for a right-handed thrower or vice versa for left-handed or indeed if it’s either flat, tail first or topping it sticking in vertically. Very simply aim towards the white marker with the javelin drawn back, pointing the javelin directly at the target, take one step in and release at it
For a more advanced drill line up to a left target first and throw towards it getting as close as you can then throw over to the right. Realign and on both occasions line the point of the javelin up so you are pointing directly at the target and then take one step in.