1. INSIDE THE MINDS OF
COLLEGIATE THROWS COACHES
IMPLEMENT A THROWING PROGRAM TO
MAXIMIZE A COLLEGIATE STUDENT-
ATHLETE’S THROWING SUCCESS
Christopher K. Witscher

2. ABSTRACT
GOAL
• The research delves inside the mind of a
collegiate throws coach.
• The results reveal what collegiate coaches have in
mind, and the transparency of the coaches’
thoughts of what it takes to create and
implement a throwing programto benefit and
maximize a collegiate student-athlete’s potential
based on the accessibility of the survey results on
the author’s website and in the research.

3. LITERATURE REVIEW
GOAL OF RESEARCH
• Obtain information on throwing
programs and procedures from inside the
minds of collegiate coaches who have
gained experience from the success of
their student-athletes.

4. LITERATURE REVIEW
EFFECTIVE COACHING
• Do coaches continue to study and
research effective coaching in the
throwing field arena?
• How coaches learn to coach and how
they implement what they
coachispersonal, andprimarily based on
prior coaching experience.

5. LITERATURE REVIEW
• Little to none written about field throwing by
successful coaches in the collegiate area.
• Wide gap in the area of throwing
strategies, methods, and practice.
• Traditional networking of coaches was
primarily phone, face-to-face informal
encounters, camps, or videos (Pagani, 2002).

6. BACKGROUND
OPERATING A SUCCESSFUL THROWS PROGRAM
• Weightlifting
– Coaches agreed about maximizing in the
weight room.
• Training practice
– Coaches agreed about how many throws a
day and week an athlete should perform per
event.

7. BACKGROUND
• Training methods
– Coaches agreed as evident by guidelines
and shared philosophy via videos and
throwing camps (Logan, 2000).
• Training for success
– Coaches had individualized perceptions of
how athletes train for success
(Pagani, 2002).

8. METHODS- PARTICIPANTS
• Collegiate Divisions I,II,III coaches participated in the
survey:
– 12 Females
– 24 Males
• Coaches*
– 18 West region
– 11 East region
– 5 Midwest region
• Degrees held
– 18 BA
– 17MA
– 1 PhD
* Responses received

9. MATERIALS
• The survey was created on experience
and questions to discover what collegiate
coaches do to operate a successful
throwing program.
• The survey isdivided infour categories:
weight-training, training practice, training
for success and training methods.

10. PROCEDURES
• Survey distributed by email and available
on the website:throwernetwork.com.
• Coaches were able to start the survey
and stop if needed, and then continue at
a different time.
• Participants completed the survey by a
specific date.

11. RESULTS
• The analyses focus on participants’ answers of
the questions thatwere divided into four
categories.
• Participants’ responses were analyzed on a
total of 63 questions: 17 questions focused on
weight training; 30 questions on training
practice; eight questions on training for
success;eight questions on training methods.

12. RESULTS
• Weightlifting
– Student-athlete’s should max 1-2 times in the
weight room during pre-season.
– Coaches implement sport-specific weight lifting
into regimen.
– Student-athlete’s should throw heavy and lift
heavy for a four week cycle and have one week of
rest.

13. RESULTS
• Training practices
– 60-105 throws a week for the shot-put.
– 90-135 throws a week for the discus.
– 90-135 throws a week for the hammer.
– 50 and below throws a week for the
javelin.

14. RESULTS
• Training for success
– Commitment, technical
improvements, strength drills, mental and
emotional stability and goals.
– Using other implements than competition
weights to gain distance in throwing events.
– Throwing repetitions are more effective
than drilling repetitions for gaining distance
in events.

15. RESULTS
• Training methods
– Shot-put glide technique: line hops, A-drill, pivot
drill, and glide with stick on back.
– Rotational technique for discus and shot-put:
pivot drill, wheel drill (half-spin), South
Africans, and left leg drills.
– Hammer technique: two hammer winds, chain
throws, heavy plate throws, and multiple turns.
– Javelin technique: Penultimate
steps, approaches, creek jumps, and over-head
med ball throw.

16. How many throws a week should How many throws a week should
an athlete perform for shot put? an athlete perform for discus?
9 8 12
8 10
7 7
# of coaches responses
# of coaches responses
10
7
6 8 7 7
5 4 6
4
3 2 4 3 3
2 1 2
1 0 0 0
0 0
60-75 75-90 90-105 105-120 120-135 135-150 150+ 90-105 105-120 120-135 135-150 150-165 165-180 180+
# of throws # of throws
How many throws a week should How many throws a week should an
an athlete perform for hammer? athlete perform for javelin?
12 18 16
10 16
# of coaches responses
10 9
# of coaches responses
14
12
8
10 8
6 5 8
4 6
4 3
4 2
2 1 1 2
0 0
0 Below 50-65 65-80 80-105 105-120 120-135 135-150 150+
90-105 105-120 120-135 135-150 150-165 165-180 180+ 50
# of throws # of throws

17. If the athletes lift heavy and throw
heavy, how long should this training How long is a rest cycle for the
last? athletes?
12 30
27
10
10 25
8 20
# of coaches responses
# of coaches responses
7
6 15
4
4 10
2 2
2 5
1
1 1
0
0 0
1 week 2 weeks 3 weeks 4 weeks 5 weeks 6 weeks 7 weeks 1 week 2 weeks 3 weeks 4 weeks 5 weeks 6 weeks
# of weeks # of weeks

18. How many times during the pre-
How many times do the athletes
season do your athletes max in the
max in the weight room during
weight room?
season?
14
25
22 12
12
20 10
10
Total # of responses
# of responses
15 8
6
10
8 4
4
6
2
5 2
1
2
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1-2 3-4 5-6 7+ No
Answer # of times athletes max in weight room during season
# of times athletes max in weight room during pre-season

19. Standard Deviation of the Four
Mean of the Four Categories Categories
21 6
5.5
20.6
20.5
5
4.5
20 4.1
4
19.6
Standard Deviation
3.4
19.5
Mean
3
19
18.6 18.6 2
18.5
1
18
17.5 0
Weight lifting Practice Success Methods Weight lifting Practice Success Methods

20. DISCUSSION
• Collegiate coaches share the same perception
in training student-athletes to maximize their
potential within all the categories.
• The study has significant value for the next
steps, which includes fully developing the
website: throwernetwork.com
• Immediate responses and answers to student-
athlete’s and coaches can be found on the
website to help with training.

21. CONCLUSION
• The study offers significant findings in order to
create and develop future work in the area to
maximize a student-athlete’s potential in the
throws program.
• Better networking for coaches and athlete’s.
• Better clarity amongst collegiate coaches and
athletes.
• Accessibility to throwernetwork.com to view
and analyze the throwing events.