Thrower Mass or Movement?

When you think about track and field what do you think of? Most people probably think of the track part such as running. Well I’m here to tell you that there is much more than running in the sporting world of track and field. One event that does not fall under the track part is the discus. You’re probably thinking what’s so impressive about throwing a heavy frisbee super far? 

First of all, to a surface level look at the sport of throwing discus it looks as if it’s about the strength of how far you can launch the discus by using your arm. It’s also known to assume if throwers are huge they can all throw far which is somewhat true. On the other hand there is more to the discus, if we take it just a little further and dig a little deeper there is actually a science behind throwing discus. What science is majorly involved in the throwing of discus… simple physics. The physics behind throwing the discus is the building up of kinetic energy through the body’s movement. 

The discus throw is such an amazing phenomenon of kinetic energy. There’s many ways to throw a discus. What it’s mainly known for is its spin. The spin revolves around two poles of alignment and weight shift. These poles are located from your heels to your butt to your shoulders in a parallel upwards state. 

Now starting the throw you are on the back side of the ring facing away from the sector. From there your  weight shifts on to your left pole then your left foot begins to turn towards the center of the ring. Once you are facing the center of the ring your right foot sweeps around and plants in the center of the ring once planted all of your weight shifts to your right foot and will then remain here. Then again your left foot sweeps to the front of the ring and plant to create a forced block. Lastly your hip swings around the planted right foot followed by your upper body and arm, with the block being in place your kinetic energy has no place to go but from your legs to your upper body then to the arm right into the discus as you release and throw.