Here's my reasoning. Last year, all I ever threw with(in practice) were hammer handles made out of conduit PVC. This year, I've been throwing with the way more flexible regular PVC. I noticed today, that when I held the hammer straight out from my body, the head was bending waaaaaaaaay down, almost to the ground. Sure, with the conduit, there's a nice bit of flexibility, but not that much.

To me, it seems that if you were used to the stronger/stiffer handle, your timing would be off with the more flexible one, ie the regular PVC, due to the more flexible handle bending farther back. In turn, this would effect the amount of force you could use in your explosion, thus making you slow down your winds to catch up with the head. Overall, this would make you slower and less explosive, causing you to get in the habit or being slower on your winds and delivery.

Also, the exagerated bending would seem to throw you off your balance, thus making you change your whole base to compensate for the late arriving head. Since I have changed my base, it's a bit harder for me to block at the end as well.

To me, this all makes sense, but does this sound viable or not? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Oh My God!!

Oh My God!

Oh My God!

Chill BITCH!

Your making us other panicy Hammer Throwers all friggin neurotic......Must let go of mind screw must let go!!!!!!

My hammer Sucketh as well.

Hahaha! 

Maybe I'm just over thinking it.  Just a tad though.

I always threw better with whippy handles.  I think that your technique modifies itself timing-wise to whatever you're practicing with.  I used PVC the last few years and when I got a hold of a stiff handle the way I moved changed.

It always seemd to me the best hammer throwers did better with stiff handles.  I forget what he threw but Ryan launched that Fair Hill heavy hammer with the shovel handle on it years ago.  Maybe the stiffer it is the less energy is lost.

Whoa... physics dude.

~Jason

Jason Pauli wrote: I always threw better with whippy handles.  I think that your technique modifies itself timing-wise to whatever you're practicing with.  I used PVC the last few years and when I got a hold of a stiff handle the way I moved changed. It always seemd to me the best hammer throwers did better with stiff handles.  I forget what he threw but Ryan launched that Fair Hill heavy hammer with the shovel handle on it years ago.  Maybe the stiffer it is the less energy is lost.

You could view all differences in hammer throwing as coming from the way force is transmitted from the hands to the hammer head.  The rest of the body's motion basically places the hands in position to put force on the hammer handle.  If a whippy handle is working for you, the reason probably has to do with the timing of your pull and the dynamics of the handle:  the slow part of your motion doesn't slow the head down as much as the fast part of your motion speeds it up.  Someone with a really clean motion is better at managing the hammer head, having little tendency to slow it down in one part of the motion.

On the rare occasions that a hammer throw has really clicked for me (always in practice with nobody else in sight), I felt like I could feel the head accelerate throughout the motion.  When you feel this, it's unmistakable:  it feels like you can make the head go as fast as you like, and the only reason you don't make it go a lot faster is because you're so surprised to feel this.  The frustrating part is that, knowing what it feels like to make a good throw doesn't seem to help you get back there on the next throw. 

-Wayne

Roy Bogue wrote: Oh My God!! Oh My God! Oh My God! Chill BITCH! Your making us other panicy Hammer Throwers all friggin neurotic......Must let go of mind screw must let go!!!!!! My hammer Sucketh as well.

That's not all I heard sucked. Oh wait that was Steve....