Spear and Cast
The following are tips that hold when throwing.
Throwing a spear is like throwing a knife. You need to practice to understand the physics of the object thrown so the sharp end lands true.
The spear is held in your dominant hand. I used to hold it as one would a pole, but due to a injury to my thumb, I have since changed to pinching with my index finger and grasping with the remaining three; this can be just as accurate and powerful after a day or two of practice—maybe even more so, as a spin on the shaft during flight feels more natural.
When choosing your grip style, know that at the Olympic level, none are determined to be best. Some use the style of pinch just described, but I think the traditional pole-grasp method, pinched in the palm and thumb, is the most common. My experience has revealed, however, that the limitation of the latter is that the cast style is forced to be more overhead. When the pole crosses through the index and middle finger, a more accurate side cast is allowed, as the natural limitations of wrist rotation will have less effect on the ability to cast a true pole. The cast may be simmilar to as throwing a ball, but a side caat is not more powerfull, with any hold, while a pole is the object cast.
Point being that the grip style can be flexible and whatever works for you. Note that the day after my switch I felt like my hand underwent a severe bout of carpal tunnel syndrome, which quickly subsided.
Use your non-lance arm to help balance the cast, and always bring your lance hand as far back as possible. Use your whole body with the muscles of your shoulder and arm—drive the shaft into the target by pulling from the rearmost position into the proper trajectory. The result will be a forward whip.
Do not flick the spear. Pull to a cast. Follow the cast, follow the aim, focus on the target, and accelerate the arm into a cast. Judge the distance, the power needed to reach that distance at the determined trajectory and follow through with a true pole.
Always, with near or far targets, lead the cast with a well-rolled shoulder and arm, holding the javelin in the center balance, pointing at the target, as far back from the target as you can hold it, with your body nearest to the target. Lean back, and roll your whole arm, at the shoulder, clockwise if you are left-handed and counterclockwise if you are right-handed. Keep this point in mind at all times and most other principles will fall in line.
I can't explain fully why doing this roll is so effective at improving accuracy. Seeing as it improves the power of the cast by adding body leverage, perhaps by some other mechanism we evolved to improve accuracy as well using said posture of the arm.
Following this roll, it is your elbow, and not your hand, which must be imagined to be leading the aim and cast. Keep your elbow high through the pull and thrust target-wise. Imagine rotating your arm vertically and not horizontally.
I'm not sure why leading and aiming with the ELBOW improves accuracy; it just does. Eventually you get to the point where you will lead with your elbow, look at the target, and your fingers and hand will just know what to do.
Throwing a spear with a side swing generally results in an inaccurate cast. The spear will tend to want to rotate with the swing or, at best, become very difficult to keep true in flight. The more vertical your cast, the more accurate your cast.
Thomas Roehler on YouTube, covers many of the Olympic-level throwing components. He explains how to safely and powerfully throw a stick; you need to modify the throw to hit nearer targets and also go by hand feel as opposed to seeing the tip of your spear.
The physics of my spear is different than olympic spears in that the center of gravity is closer to the tip due to the weight of the head—but this need not always be the case, as you may apply a counterweight to the rear of your spear to center the grip on your lance and reduce the weight of your tip. In other words, you should learn to cast and strike accurately, based on the feeling you have in your hand—like I have. Practice is the only way to develop a feel for throwing a fast, powerful, whipped, true-flying lance.
The cast begins with your shoulders near perpendicular to the target; this enables you to give more power to the throw and have a longer time holding the shaft to ensure a true and calculated flight, but most importantly, to whip the throwing arm, using your torso. Use your whole body to rotate and leverage the throw arm into a whipping cast.
Your power throw begins by planting the lance-side leg and then the opposite leg; this will use the leverage of your forward-moving body to transfer enormous power into your lance arm to become a powerful whip lever.
Think about trajectory prior to initiating the cast as well.
Fine aiming is the role of your finger as the cast is carried out. Think about how you set the trajectory with your fingers and strike the mark with a powerful cast.
Avoid lobbing the shaft. Only work to strike a mark you know you can hit hard.
A good grip on your shaft is indispensable. You need a leather tie or wrap so your full energy and focus is applied to your throw and not working to grip a smooth and sometimes wet shaft.
Think about your breathing. Keep your mouth shut, with your tongue on the roof of your mouth—always.
Focus on moving the tip to the target throughout the cast cycle. Manipulate with all your fingers to counter the movement of your swinging arm.
Cast thoughtfully and slowly during warmup. After, think about your energy expenditure through the exercise; is it moving you toward perfection of your goals? Accomplishing a thoughtful exercise so you reach your goals of perfection the fastest . Throw the spear and feel every muscle needed to move the spear nearer and nearer to hitting what you want to.
Think about each cast and avoid just throwing it in the general area of your target, but rather at a precise point. Make sure you go through each step of the spear cast after, thinking briefly about how to improve.
Be dynamic. Don’t think of sticking to one position. Practice with a range of thrust positions, keeping the goal simply to hit the target (like you should with archery). A new position will feel awkward, you will initially throw the shaft untrue, and you will feel like a goof, but eventually, with a THOUGHTFUL effort, it will result in becoming a dynamic user of the weapon; this will also make a long practice fun and exciting by mixing up the monotony of a repetitive action.
Avoid the temptation of using an upside-down spruce tree. Though naturally straight, they are incredibly weak and brittle and not worth their weight in strength. Use good wood, about 6 ft in length. Saskatoon is good, but you will never find a ready shaft. Find an OK shaft, debark it, and let the season wrap it to something true. Smear something thick on each end before seasoning. Once dry, use dry heat and a form of your own design, a couple of trees growing near each other, or any other stationary objects to bend the wood straight. Heat the section to bend so you can't touch it but are not burning it. Bend it just past straight in your form, and secure it for half a minute until cool in a form. Move your way along the shaft until you have a proper, perfectly straight lance.
When the bends eventually begin to appear again, you may now use your weight and the ground to return the shaft to straight, but you may also need heat.
Longer shafts are better.
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