Remarks of Shot Put Champions

I suppose it is the inevitable by-product of the fast paced technological world we

live in, but it strikes me we do not allow ourselves the luxury of listening to those

who, in our chosen vocations, have gone before us. All too often we fail to heed

the words of our predecessors and end up having to discover truths that have

been already discovered many times over.

This is particularly true in sports. We tend to think of our champions

as faceless entities with nothing to offer developing athletes. Eastern-bloc athletes,

efficient system to succeed. This is far from the truth, for many champions from

these countries are in fact intelligent, thoughtful people who have succeeded

because they have put considerable time into their respective

programs and their sport.

When you stop and think about it and try to put into perspective feelings we all

share, to be a champion in track and field is an amazing accomplishment. If we

take the shot put for instance there have only been 22 Olympic champions. Out of

four billion people only 22 have won the Olympic Gold! Quite remarkable.

I have always found it interesting to listen to champions and hear why they think

beings provide has a different, and possibly more beneficial flavor than the myriad

theoretical papers that are extant. With this in mind I put together this article based

on my conversations with three great champions in shot put, Edward Sarul, World

Champion in Helsinki in 1983, Wladyslaw Komar, Olympic Champion in Munich in

1972 and Werner Gunthor, World Champion in Rome in 1987.

The material I present here is a compilation of my personal contact with the

athletes, interviews, and was extended by some data printed in the Polish

Rudi Kunz who helped me when I interviewed Werner Gunthor at the World

Championships in Rome in 1987.

before that I had at least 5-6 years of general physical preparation. I swam, dove,

boxed and played games such as European Handball and rugby.

Spartikade. I put the 6kg shot l4.85 m.

have the latent talent I would say it takes 2-3 years of general preparation and

then 4-5 years of specialized shot put training. All together a young athlete must

invest 6-8 years. Myself I achieved good results after four years of shot training. In

1964 I had the best results in Europe and was ranked pretty high in the world at

- 17.10; 1963 - 18.80 and 1964 - 19.60)

into intensive training, about 4-5 hours a day, when I was 18. (Sarul became World

Champion when he was 25.)

else. The truth is a successful shot put athlete must be just an excellent over-all

athlete. He or she should have good, if not great, sprinting ability, jumping ability

results: 100m - 11 sec., long jump 7.21, triple jump 14.86, HJ straddle - 1.90. He

was also Polish national decathlon champion in 1962, was top national rugby

player and an international calibre boxer.)

the beginning and now I can jump 3.60 m in the standing long jump (Gunthor

stands 2.00 m high and weighs 127 kg). His standing long jump distance is the

second best ever achieved by a thrower. (Brian Oldfield of the United States

jumped 3.68 m)

may develop speed and power through such games as basketball or European

training is started there should be a lot of development of the technical aspects of

the sport.

Intensive weight training shouldn’t start until the athlete is 20. This doesn’t mean

strength exercises should be ignored in the earlier stages of development, but they

should be done in great balance with the shot technique work and with speed and

jumping. Strength can be deceiving because I used to win competitions against

many throwers who were stronger than I was.

weight lifting can be put off until later, but dynamic exercises should be performed

right from the start. I started serious weight training five years ago, when I was 21.

and squats are the most important. Some throwers do a lot of bench press and

jerks behind the neck.

intensity is an athlete’s body and psychological approach. The key should be

ceased to be fun I put the brakes on and slowed down the development. I would

either not lift or cut out certain exercises. On the other hand, if l found during a

workout that I felt good and was doing better than I anticipated, I would increase

a run in the woods. As an aside, after my lifting I always did some stretching and

running exercises to keep limber.

In my opinion the best exercises for shot are those in which all muscle groups are

worked, things like the snatch. Specific exercises such as bench press I would

only do at the beginning of a training session and then only lift 50% of the load.

use of the program prepared by my coach, but I will change the number of sets of

the weights depending on how I feel that day. This is where experience is valuable

because cutting down your work load can help you avoid injury. I also never do

isometric or isolated muscle group exercises because of their unnatural amplitude

of motion.

there should be an emphasis on global strength exercises.

throwing speed development. I spend a lot of time putting light shots. I do heaving

with 16- pound shot, things like overhead backwards, underhand forwards and

sideways like a hammer. But I only put light shots. My feeling is that during training

develops bad throwing technique. I do maybe 20 standing puts and 40 with the

glide using light shots. I think this helps me develop speed.

of medicine ball throws during my work outs. I can heave a 3 kg medicine ball

more than 23 m (overhead forward standing position).

aspects to shot speed training running and throwing speed. Running speed, which

is important because it teaches economy of motion and helps develop fluidity in

the athlete, is developed by running short distances like 30 to 60 m and through

team sports such as soccer or basketball.

changes. I remember periods in my training where I was putting 6 kg shots and

7.26 kg shots NSCA Journal, Volume 10, Number 3, 1988 into the same holes. If

this is occur- ring, the athletes probably overdid their strength training.

days before the Helsinki final I put a 4 kg shot 28.40. I also put the 5 kg shot 25.80

m, but my 6 kg throw was not that much farther than my 7.26 throws.

off. Exercises like triple-bound, standing long jump, jumps over hurdles and

standing high jump are all important and they can be performed anywhere or

anytime.

For the beginners, the most important jumps are backward jumps and running

backwards. This will help them develop a “feeling” for moving backwards and help

develop the glide movement. For more advanced throwers these exercises are still

important, but they should be performed with an additional load on the shoulders.

A sand bag is the best since it is easier to handle.

One must also remember not to exaggerate with the volume of jumping, especially

depth jumps, which can have a negative influence on coordination and also cause

knee and ankle injuries.

athletes. But this planning should have limits and guidelines, and the coach must

be aware of the dynamics of the group on that particular day. A workout should not

to be a success. This means that the athletes must be aware of their bodies and

increase or decrease the intensity of the workout accordingly.

A good example of a coach being tuned to the needs of his athletes is my coach

Zieleniewski. He would usually schedule a light warm-up for about 15 minutes,

something like soccer for example. But if he saw that we were into the game and

that even though he had prepared a workout, playing a game was better for us on

that day, he just let us play for the entire workout. He saw that everyone was

deeply involved in the game, and he didn’t want to spoil the pleasure of the

practice and the pleasure of the competition. On the other hand, if he saw that we

were listless during our strength training, he would either change the workout

completely or stop it all together.

The mastery of this coach was that he would prepare a very tight workout

schedule, but each day the athletes left the gym feeling that they had created their

own workout plan. To my mind this is the best management/coaching style.

prepared to see where the athletes are on a particular day. Coaching is more of an

art, not a mechanical vocation. Too many coaches make a big mistake by reading

the books or articles by other coaches or athletes, and instead of adapting them to

the ability of their athletes, just copy the programs with little thought and whether

or not it is appropriate.