Injuries...this season has been hard on my back.

You know what Ryan Viera told me....he practices with the womens weights, or at least lower-weight implements a lot. He says you can get more reps in with less stress if you go a bit underweight.

so sometimes when I want to throw a lot of weights, I pull the stacked plates off of my 22 pound hammer, and load that up on my WFD plumbing jobbie, and throw that.

I spend a LOT of time with a 10 and 12 pound stone rather than the 16 and I basically never touch a heavy hammer or a Braemar stone until one or two practices before Game Day.

I probably do 1/3rd to 1/2 of my hammer winds with a 12 pounder.

Try it, it might help. Come Game Day though...you're right. You just survive. You know what has helped me a ton? I just found this out at Woodland this year.....I take a folding chair out on the field. I SIT DOWN between events. Oh my lord, but it pays off in less grief in the lower back the next day as well as bigger throws. My back was always a total mess the day after a Games, but not so after Woodland. Of course you have to take your turn shagging weights and pulling tape and stuff, but still. Try it.