Discus Turning over could b result of high spin! - Throwing Events Discussion

My son is a sophomore discus thrower who throws around 130. His power position seems to be pretty good but lately his discus seem to turn over to the left (right hand thrower.)The discus seems to come out OK but once it gets going it turns up a bit and dives hard left (kind of like and airplane making a turn). I am not sure what to do to fix it? Most throws seem like they are going far then at the last minute do this little dive left and die. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Without seeing what you're trying to describe, it's hard, but from my experience, when I see a right-handed thrown diving down left, I usually think the thrower is rolling his shoulder. Normally this is not a subtle, end-of-the-flight thing though; it is usually pretty evident right from the release. If this IS the case, and maybe your son is rolling his shoulder just a bit at the end, I suppose it could manifest into a left-handed dive at the end of the throw. If so, my only advice for correction is to stop trying to throw with the arm and just use hips and legs, chest high, etc. If a thrower tries too hard, he often pulls his throwing arm instead of just letting it guide the disc; if he is really aggressive in this pull, the arm/shoulder will "roll over", causing the disc to dive.

Not sure this is your problem, but that's my $.02.
Good luck.

Pam

That's good advice. Basically, he's what we refer to as "going over the top. Since his throw starts off nice, it's probably something you'll hardly be able to see without video to slow it down. If you study film of him, you might see his upper body pulling away from the disc at the very last second, this could have just enough effect to make the disc turn in flight. Make sure he's using a tough left leg to keep his weight focused on the right leg and don't allow him to disconnect (lean away) from the throw...if that is the case. good luck

Thanks. We got some tape of him and he was using his arm just a bit at the last minute. We think we have it corrected as he threw his best yesterday but now have a shot question on the shot forum. Thanks

It is Very difficult to analyze on a forum but keep in mind a high spin discus will stay flat like an airplane wing and fly farther as long as the gyro affect keeps it level or pitched to gain lift.

Once the spin is slowed down the gyro effect is lost and the discus will dip tilt and Dive. We found at THE 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES most throwers preferred to throw the low spins!
The OTE Dick Held aluminum low spin and portapit yellow low spin seem to provide more retention of the power and the spin too
Gold was on the OTE low spin and the silver was on a low spin yellow portapit made by Nelco. High retention discus allow more power in the throw as they stay in the hand longer giving more power to the discus!
This is why sometimes a high spin discus can work against you it stops spinning and dives!
Bruce Caldwell