Masters Javelin Throw

Still love throwing, training and competing in Masters javelin throwing? We love it too. We train many Masters athletes in the javelin throw to this day and help them improve their throwing and uncover all of the mysteries of this great throwing event.

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If you’ve ever wondered about your penultimate stride or impulse step or your hip drive, you’re not alone.

If you’re not sure how to block properly and you’re still stuck make the javelin stick in, we can help. You may even be taking up the event of the first time and be hooked on racing out to the field to do some throwing on a sunny day.

We know your passion and it’s great to hear from people who love throwing just like we do.

As a masters athlete, this may be your first introduction to throwing or you may be continuing your competitive career. If you’re continuing your competitive career, you should have a pretty good idea of what you need to focus on.

However, if this is your first time trying out for throwing, good for you.

Here are some masters javelin basics you should focus on.

Masters Javelin Throw Practice

Warm Up:

1. Start with a good warm up of getting the body moving with light jogging, arm circles, shoulder, knee, ankle and trunk rotations.
2. Then try some light ball throws. There are weighted balls you can buy on amazon to get you started. Ball throwing is still very important in javelin throwing. If you find that you’re losing technique in the javelin throw, go back to the ball to work on it and smooth things out.
3. After ball throwing, you can move to light punching throws with the javelin. These are throws where you throw the javelin into the ground about 10-15 feet ahead of you. Imagine you’re trying to hit a target about the length of a car or car and a half away. This should be a straight throw without any ark.

Masters Javelin Practice Part 1

Your standstill javelin throw is really important even as a masters athlete. You can, and probably should spend a great deal of time in your standstill stance practicing the standstill throw. Jan Zelezny (current world record holder) was known for living in his standstill stance during practice. He genuinely felt this was key for developing his overall throw. At times, he spent up to 2 hours working standstill throws.

Though you don’t need to spend near that amount of time, you can use up to 25-50% of your practice working with standstill throws.

Masters Javelin Practice Part 2

The next area you want to focus on is adding a tiny bit of motion to your movement. This is often where things can become challenging. The standing javelin throw has lots of stability and you have all kinds of time to apply force. Once you start moving, the window to apply force shortens the faster you go.

The key to managing your run up is to start incredibly slowly. Many athletes I’ve trained try to take large penultimate strides and jump into the throw to “create” something. This is understandable because much of the coaching and elite throwers are focused on all out throwing power. This is a very advanced approach that we must build up to. You don’t want to start at this speed.

You must focus on rhythm during these little steps. It’s not about going fast. As you arrive at your penultimate step, don’t try to make it so big that it disrupts your movement. You don’t need to jump or aggressively push off of it. Just let it happen naturally and you’ll be far better off.

Every masters javelin thrower is different and will have differing penultimate strides and cross steps. This is perfectly normal. There’s no need to make yours like anyone else’s or make it bigger because a coach says so.

Your goal should be to take baby steps or “chicken” steps as you ease into a few throws.

We develop our top athletes in this fashion. I never force them to throw from a 3 step or a 5 step. I want them to work rhythm and come in smoothly and in a controlled fashion so they can maintain balance and control.

The throws should have a gentle ark on them and the javelin should stick in the ground.

If you’re having trouble making the javelin stick in the ground, you may be dragging it through without turning it over. We have videos in the Member’s Section to help you with this if you’re really stuck on it.

Masters Javelin Practice Part 3

Towards the end of your javelin practice, you can attempt some slightly more aggressive throws. This may be 5-6 more serious throws with larger cross steps. You still want your run up to be in control and keep in mind that you don’t have to go that much faster for these throws.

If you feel like you can’t get good force or a good throwing motion with the more serious throws, you need to slow down and back off a bit.

Javelin throwing is highly technical because the movement is high velocity and not very natural to most people. This is why so much focus is on perfecting a good throwing motion. If you can’t achieve a good throwing motion during your running throws, you must go back to the drawing board and see what’s happening with your javelin throw technique.

Recording some of your throws is a great way to see what’s happening. This will tell you if things are buckling or breaking down as you add speed.

Cool Down

Once you’ve completed your throwing session, it’s a good idea to go for a light jog, loosen things up a bit, get out of the patterns you’ve been performing and have a good stretch.

Javelin throwing is very demanding and it’s a one sided throwing event where each half of the body is doing different things. Make sure you stretch out and keep both sides of your body working properly.