Distance Runner’s Guide to Track Meets: The Shot Put

With the first real meet tomorrow (weather permitting), we start our event-by-event guide to high school track with the event farthest removed from distance running:  the shot put.

You have probably noticed a round concrete circle just behind the football endzone, right next to where we usually start drills.  You may even noticed people (mostly large people) standing around this circle, rolling around big iron balls. One of these balls is called a “shot” which is exactly what people used to call them on ships when they were occasionally fired from cannons and also thrown in friendly competitions when the sailors were on shore.  That is the origin of the shot put, and you should never forget that one of those things flying through the air or rolling along the ground is still capable of doing serious damage to human flesh and particularly bones.  Never try to stop a rolling shot with your foot, or you will be spend the rest of the season as assistant clerk at the starting line.

The girls shot weighs 4 kilograms.  The boys high school shot weighs 12 pounds; if they compete in USATF junior competitions, the shot is 6 kilograms, while college and senior men throw a 16-pound shot.  The differences in size are significant – girls who look pretty normal-sized can be pretty competitive in the shot in high school, but the heavier boys’ shot puts more of a premium on strength that you just won’t have if you are big enough.  Thus Hannah has attempted the shot with non-embarrassing results, while Peter will never be allowed to do so.

To “put” the shot means not just to throw it, but to actually start with it against your neck and use just one hand, so there are some limits on what is acceptable form.  You’ll see two main techniques – the glide, in which people slide across the circle and try to transfer all their momentum at the front into the shot itself; and the spin, in which people spin around one-and-a-half times and try to finish at the front and, again, transfer their momentum to the shot.  (Actually, in high school, you mostly see some sort of uncoordinated shuffling around, stop at the front of the circle, and then push as hard as they can with one arm.)  Everyone from Watauga does the spin.  There are not big differences between the effectiveness of the two techniques, but huge differences in how effective people are at doing either one of them.

At small meets, people get three throws each; at big ones, usually everyone gets three throws, and the top 8 or 9 then go to the finals for three more.  No matter what, the longest throw wins; if there is a tie, the second best throw is used to break the tie.  If someone steps out of the circle while throwing (usually because they can’t control themselves after letting go of the shot) or does not land the shot inside the landing sector, the throw is a foul and isn’t measured.   Sometimes people foul on purpose if they don’t like their throw (coaches often don’t like this), or deliberately push the limits knowing they might foul because they are trying to improve on an already-good throw.

More, including hopefully some video, after practice today.

What is good in the shot put?  For girls, about 30 feet normally will score in the top 4 in our conference, something above 36 feet will be needed to make it to state, and 40 feet or so will win state.  Katherine has thrown close to 30 feet.  For boys, above 40 feet will score, close to 50 feet is usually needed to make it to state, and close to or over 55 feet will win state.  Jordan has thrown over 52 feet (that is the school record) and has scored at the state meet each of the past two years.