Goals - Post 'em if ya got 'em

[Yaish]

Since we have a bunch of throwers on the board, post your goals for the year. Especially our new throwers, what is it you're working towards?

Personally I want to get to some competitive "A" class numbers by the end of the year. To that end I need:

Braemar Stone 33 ft - currently 31' 5.75"

Open Stone 42 ft -currently 37' 7"

HWD 28 ft - currently 24'

LWD 50 ft - currently 46' 9"

Heavy Hammer 70 ft - currently 68' 7"

Light Hammer 90 ft - currently 87' 10"

WOB 12 ft - currently 11'

Come on guys, what are you working towards?

[Arizona Scot]

How about giving some of us newbys some numbers to shoot for my first games will be in Nov. in Tucson. If you could give me some ball park numbers to shoot for in my training that would be great. I can practice for those numbers or better than be ready for Tucson.

[Yaish]

SAAA (Scottish American Athletic Association) has a pretty good 'move up' guideline posted.
http://www.saaa-net.org/old%20site/saaa_moveup.htm

For a first timer, try to get somewhere close to the C class numbers. A few feet short is no big deal, but you probably want to be around 75-80% of whatever they are throwing.

For a C/Novice you would probably want to throw around these numbers:

Braemar 24ft

Open 27ft

HWD 18ft

LWD 35f

Heavy Hammer 50ft

Light Hammer 60ft

WOB 10ft


Don't get discouraged if you aren't hitting those numbers, or even getting close right away. Those are actually pretty competitive numbers in most C competitions, so it's a goal to work towards, not a minimum standard to meet.

[Ayin McFye]

Well Arizona Scot and I got together yesterday to throw some weight around. This was only my 2nd week of practice and Arizona Scot's 4th I believe. I am so grateful to him, because I am absolutely addicted now. I felt really good about my stone throws and decent about my Weight for distances, we didn't do the heavy hammer last night but we did do the light hammer. My best throw was about 53 feet, which was surprising because it was my last throw of the night and I was exhausted. I know I have lots to work on, especially form. Here are a rough estimate of my throws last night give or take a few inches and my goals that I'd like to hit by next month.

Braemar 20 Feet [would like to hit 23 feet]

Open 29 Feet [would like to hit 35 feet]

HWD 20 Feet [would like to hit 23 feet]

LWD 28 Feet [would like to hit 35 feet]

Heavy Hammer N/A

Light Hammer 53 Feet [would like to hit minimum 60 feet]

WOB ??? (I threw this once last night, and we didn't have a measure but it was pretty horrible) [keep practicing for now]

Speaking of practing how often do you all practice?

[Ayin McFye]

P.S. Next week I want to actually start writing down the exact distances, but for right now I'm just trying to get used to the technique.

[Ryan Nielson]

I have my next competition in september here are my goals and I think they are reachable I want to be hitting all the recommended c to b numbers from this chart here http://www.saaa-net.org/old%20site/saaa_moveup.htm

Right now I'm focusing on WFD and Braemar stones getting those up. Need to make major improvement on those WOB is already at 11 or 12 feet. And i'm not too far off on hammer throws I think they are reachable. I want to be very well rounded and not have strong weaknesses.

[Alan H]

Tell you what, Arizona Scot, I will post results from last years Woodland Games, in the C class, and point out my marks. I can't post them all, but I'll post the winning mark, the "last place", the mark set by the guy in the middle of the pack, overall, and MY marks. Woodland was my first Games. Tim C was 5th of 21 entrants (some guys didn't come back after lunch) and I was 8th.

Open Stone
winner; 34' 5" (the winner was a young guy in his second Games, but he's an animal)
last place; 20' 1"
median; 29' 9"
Alan: 25' 2"

Braemar Stone
winner; 29' 7"
last place; 15' 11"
median; 24' 3"
Alan: 23' 1"

28 pound WFD
winner; 44' 8' (this is a B-level toss, really, same guy as won stones)
last place; 20' 8"
median; 37' 1"
Alan: 33' 0.5"

56 pound WFD
winner; 22' 6"
last place; 10' 3"
median; 18' 6"
Alan: 16' 5"

Heavy Scottish Hammer (22 lb.)
winner; 59' 7" ( I won this event)
last place; 23' 3"
median; 44' 11"
Alan: 59' 7"

We didn't do a light hammer that day, there wasn't time, but add 10-15 feet to the heavy hammer numbers and you're there.

56 pound WOB
winner; 11 feet...same kid that won stones and WFD, really a B-level thrower.
last place: couldn't clear 8 feet , and about 1/5th of the field couldn't do it.
median; 9
Alan: 9

Hope that helps!

[Alan H]

My goals...

In these first two Games of this year I've achieved three goals that I set right near the beginning.

1. turning a caber in competition
2. breaking 40 feet in the light weight for distance
3. breaking 80 feet in the light hammer

I'm not throwing in competition again until September because of the TransPac race, so for the two-three Games I'll do in September and October I want to.

Braemar Stone: get better! My marks are so rotten that ANYTHING is an improvement!

Open Stone: get better! 30 feet is in there, I've done 28's and 29's in practice, last year.

Light Weight for Distance: this is a two-part goal. I throw 40 feet in practice a LOT. So I want to A.) do it AGAIN in a Games and prove that Woodland 2008 wasn't a fluke....and B.) See a 42 before the season is out. But mostly I want to FEEL that I'm 1.) "stovepipe" in the first turn, 2.) well extended throughout, 3.)balanced all the way through the action, and put all that together so that I can start to be 4.) AGGRESSIVE in the second turn. That will be a huge turnaround, to get to the point where I can forget the "control, control, control" and let go and wail on it without going wild....whatever the distance is.

Heavy Weight for distance 42 lbs: 28 feet, which is eminently do-able. I don't focus hard on the heavy weight for distance.

Heavy Hammer: I want to repeat my 65+ throw and prove it wasn't a fluke. But more than distance, I want to transition to three spins and really *SNAP* the last power stroke and release. If I only get another foot or two that's OK, because I will have GOTTEN BETTER.

Light Hammer: I have an 84 inside me. I KNOW it's in there. I've done it in practice. I can do it in a Games if I really, really *SNAP* the last power stroke and release so that I pull my right foot around and follow through. I want an 84 this season.

caber OK, so I want to turn another caber...of course. So My goal for the season is to turn a caber AGAIN and prove that Livermore was no fluke.

42 pound WOB This is tough because I don't think that 14 feet is realistic. But 13' 6" IS....the problem is that nobody ever sets the bar at 13' 6" So my goal is to repeat 13 feet, and do it with room to spare and prove that Livermore was no fluke!

[Alan H]

And this might sound nuts, but these are also goals.

To help my fellow athletes get better.

To cheer and encourage every guy or gal on the field, from the newcomer who is just figuring it out to the guy who beats me by 6 inches on the last throw of the event.

My goal is to remember that it's not a number on a piece of paper that counts. No matter how good I get there's always someone else who's better. No, what counts is challenging myself, what counts is getting out there and participating and not spending life on the sidelines.... What counts is helping myself and others achieve their goals. When the smaller guy who's new throws twenty feet and I throw forty, but that's his PR, then I shout WITH him and I buy him the beer, because what it really comes down to is... there are no losers on that field. Not in my book.

[Yaish]

And this might sound nuts, but these are also goals.

To help my fellow athletes get better.

To cheer and encourage every guy or gal on the field, from the newcomer who is just figuring it out to the guy who beats me by 6 inches on the last throw of the event.

My goal is to remember that it's not a number on a piece of paper that counts. No matter how good I get there's always someone else who's better. No, what counts is challenging myself, what counts is getting out there and participating and not spending life on the sidelines.... What counts is helping myself and others achieve their goals. When the smaller guy who's new throws twenty feet and I throw forty, but that's his PR, then I shout WITH him and I buy him the beer, because what it really comes down to is... there are no losers on that field. Not in my book.

Ok, so Alan set me some new goals too. Really, that's one thing I miss about the C's is being able to help all the new guys. By the B class most have got it down, and I'm too busy to stop over by the C's. Fortunately this board and my practice sessions give me an outlet to help others, and that's what it's all about.