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The weight of the various throwing objects used in this workshop seemed to match the weight of the rain that dropped on Carn Brea at times, when Malcolm Fenton delivered his Heavy throws workshop there on Tuesday evening on 14th August.

The Network was very pleased to have Malcolm, a National Coach Mentor for England Athletics covering the shot, discus and hammer, who has coached people to international level at all three events, including one to the Olympics in the shot-put. Malcolm also specializes in coaching athlete’s coaches and currently mentors 34 coaches nationally, including a high proportion of the coaches whose athletes took part in throws in the Olympics.

During the Olympics, Malcolm attended the whole throws athletic programme to record any changes in the competing athletes’ technique and body type, on behalf of England Athletics.  Malcolm’s report will be used to help drive up the level of throws coaching in the country, which will hopefully help our athletes become better throwers.

So it was great to have Malcolm visit our Network, and his good humoured and clear delivery definitely made the trip by the Newquay + Par AC, CAC, and Hayle Runners coaches and their athletes to Carn Brea on a windy and wet evening worthwhile.  Malcolm had a knack of explaining a number of very important biomechanical musts in throwing in ‘user friendly’ terms without bamboozling the workshop attendees, and he even used a simple tool, a broomstick to help demonstrate good foot positioning in the throws circle.  
Some of the coaches queried the different styles used by the male and female competitors in the Olympics and Malcolm explained the various historical and physical differences that occur between the sexes and various competing nations which have brought this about.

Malcolm managed to fit in a lot during the two hours he had to demonstrate good throwing practices in the shot, hammer and discuss out on the field, and he rounded it all off indoors with a discussion on the use of video analysis via apps on tablets, phones etc, that can help a coach study an athletes throwing technique in more detail in an accessible and affordable way.

Malcolm’s workshop is the start of an exciting schedule of workshops being delivered by the DAN over the Autumn and Winter.   Rob Thickpenny (EA National Coach Mentor – Physical Preparation) and Mark Brace (EA Area Coach Mentor - Endurance) will be visiting Carn Brea on Saturday 27th October to deliver a Physical Preperation workshop.

The first part of the workshop will focus on developing the physical qualities for all events using a versatile equipment bag. Specifically the use of medicine balls and strength bands for the development of key strength related movement patters; also exploring the uses of a suspension training kit for the development of general strength and trunk conditioning.

Part 2 of the day will focus on multi-throws (medicine ball conditioning) and their relevance to all event groups. Coaches will learn about developing triple extension with throws and the importance of postural control. Coaches will also develop an understanding of the force-velocity time curve.
Coaches are welcome to bring one or two key athletes on the day. For more information on the workshop or to book a place on it, contact Anneliese Heard at aheard@englandathletics.org / 07968 498709.

 

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Northern Power Grid – the company that owns and operates the electricity distribution networks in Yorkshire, northern Lincolnshire and the North-east - is proud to support England Athletics through its corporate sponsorship programme.  The company are proud to sponsor the “Get Switched on to Athletics” programme which aims to help aspiring athletes from the region reach their full potential and follow their dream to compete in the 2012 Olympics and beyond.

You can visit Northern Power Grid’s England Athletics micro-site, which includes interviews with some of the region’s young athletes, training plans and a body mass index (BMI) calculator, by visiting http://athletics.northernpowergrid.com/page/index.cfm