Great article from Martin Bingisser and HMMR Media analyzing first throw scratches at the 2015 World Track and Field Championships in Beijing.
Looking at all of the throwers at the 2015 World Championships in Men's and Women's Shot Put, Discus, Hammer, and Javelin 20% of their first throws were scratches. In the qualifying round, throwers who scratched had a 27.9% chance of moving on from qualifying. Athletes that had a legal first throw nearly doubled their chance to make the final at 52.4%.
In the preliminary round the numbers did not change much. 22% of throwers with a first round foul earned 3 more throws in the final. While 44% of throwers with first throw marks moved on to the top 8.
Many factors, not just pure probability of first round fouls play into making it into finals at any meet. But I do think the importance of having a mark on your first throw as meets get bigger and the competition is at its highest, can not be overlooked. Things like psychology and pressure DO factor in here as well as experience. Please read the article for more details!
One important thing to remember during your training is to not practice fouling! I see a lot throwers scratch every throw during a warm-up and then have to drastically change what they do during the competition to get a mark. Practice how you want to compete. If you scratch a lot during practice slow down, find a way to stay in the ring, then add speed back in slowly and see if you can continue to stay in the ring. When you have a legal throw on throw number 1, it can make the rest of your competition much easier to approach.
Not only can having a mark on your first attempt take a lot of pressure off of yourself it can allow you to chase big throws on your next 2 attempts. But it opens the possibility of other impacts as well. Having a mark that is a BIG throw in the first round can put pressure on your competitors. I've watched plenty of competitions where a big first round mark weighs heavily on the rest of the field. And despite there being talented throwers capable of out throwing your big mark, the psychology of them having to chase you can change their outcomes drastically.
Read the article for more, and watch some of the big throws at the Worlds below...
Enjoy.
World Championships - Women's Discus Final (New Video) from MACTHROWVIDEO.COM on Vimeo.
World Championships - Men's Discus Final from MACTHROWVIDEO.COM on Vimeo.
World Championships - Men's Shot Put Final from MACTHROWVIDEO.COM on Vimeo.
World Championships - Women's Shot Put from MACTHROWVIDEO.COM on Vimeo.
World Championships - Men's Hammer Throw Final from MACTHROWVIDEO.COM on Vimeo.
World Championships - Women's Hammer Throw Final from MACTHROWVIDEO.COM on Vimeo.
World Championships - Women's Javelin Final from MACTHROWVIDEO.COM on Vimeo.
World Championships - Men's Javelin Throw Final from MACTHROWVIDEO.COM on Vimeo.
