Comparison is certainly one of the keys to progression . It is now possible for everybody to access videos and documents on the technique of the champions in training or competition. That’s good but sometimes the gap between a beginner (and even an advanced athlete) is too large and it is difficult for the beginner to understand the ”finesses” of the technique of the champions and why they do this or that. It is also difficult for them to perform this champion’s technique for lack of preparation , coordination , specific fitness ,or proper coaching. Then comparison with training partners is still a good idea as we can see them at every session and copy what they do better . But not all the athletes are the same and the wise coach will have to find the best adaptations inside the whole picture of the throw and not try to produce technical clones.

This is what is interesting in this chapter as the 3 girls we have been comparing are VERY different in their morphology ,  their background and their mental attitude toward the event. They have trained recently together at Auckland centre during several weeks and they have certainly learned from each others…and everybody has clearly faster progressed than just training on their own.

The main document is the result of this training period and is making a ”competitive” technical comparison about 25 phases (or stages) of the throw. To make it more fun we have used a rating system using coloured stars (Green = good point  ; Orange = Could be improved  ; purple = Serious problem) and decide the winner of each stage and the overall winner.   The comparison between the still pictures is talking better than just watching a video , where things go too fast. Now everybody knows quite right where it is possible to make progresses and we are very confident that all three of them will seriously improve their pbs before the end of the year.

The 3 athletes : Centaine NOOM DUCKWORTH 19 years PB 57m+ – Jasmine HE LING 17 years PB 49m 3k -Fernanda TIRADO 14 years PB 49.5m 3k

Available documents : 1-PDF 26 page comparative commented and rated technical analysis -2-Comparative simultaneous videos with slow mo and photo sequences -3-Video Jasmine HE LING training throw -4-Video Centaine NOOM DUCKWORTH Training throw -5-Video Fernanda TIRADO training throw