Rotational Style

Introduction:

Out of all the different styles there are in shot put, rotational is by far the most used and seen on the world stage. It is a style that does not depend as much on strength or power, as seen in other styles. It is often seen as the style that preserves the throwers strengths and further be a great risk when first learning it. This is why most young throwers do not learn this style seeing that the smallest mistake can make the shot put fly a meter shorter, which can make it difficult for an inexperienced coach in the matter to teach it to someone else. However, I myself have been practising this technique for over a year. Meaning I am not an expert in anyway, though here is how to perform the style:

Step by step:

(written for a right-handed person, otherwise switch right for left and vice versa.)

  1. Go to the rear of the throwing circle, having your back towards the landing sector.
  2. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, however knees and feet pointing away from each other.
  3. Place the shot in your right-hand, wherever you personally find to get the most power from and push it close to the neck, with the elbow faced up. It would be an illegal put if the shot left the neck before the final put.
  4. Place the left arm straight out and opposite of right, forming a straight line from one to the other.
  5. Bend knees to an angle of about 140-90°, the more experienced, the smaller angle.
  6. Start throw, by first of all twisting your left ankle, while pushing away the right foot into a type of orbit, a few decimeters over the ground and before the rest of the body.
  7. A small detail for a advanced thrower to try to learn, is to try to place all the body mass, to the left of the left foot, slightly leaning in the direction of the “spin”
  8. The right thigh should be pushing the right foot through this orbit and set it down a bit closer to the stopboard than the centre and in front of the rest of the body, also making sure that your hip is forwards.
  9. However with the right foot at a 90° angle from the stopboard since this foot will later continue spinning into the final position, also do like a slight jump when placing the foot down.
  10. When this foot is placed on the ground like so, the right leg should have been lifted during this slight jump. Therefore it is now time to spin this foot around placing it parallel to the left and next to the stopboard, feet should have the same type of position as in the beginning and same bent knees. However, only about a foot in between.
  11. As you enter the last phase in the put, it is important to already have decided if you will be doing a leg-swap or not at the end of the put. Which in this case is exactly how I would end a put seeing as it relates all energy into the shot and prevents accidentally stepping over the stopboard also making the put illegal.
  12. (optional)Then what you want to do is focus all energy on having the shot slightly above you as you release it and as the shot is about to leave your right hand and you flick your wrist to give it an extra push, you switch legs also placing your right foot right by the stopboard. Therefore also stopping the bodies rotation.

Famous Athlete: Tom Walsh (NZL)

Age: 26 (2018)

PB (2018): 22.67 (7.26kg shot put)

  • 1x Olympic bronze medalist (2016)
  • 2x Indoor world champion (2016/18)
  • 1x World champion (2018)

A total of 7 championship medals.

Drills:

  • One of the best drills to practise the beginning phase of the style is to, practise doing the first “twist” but in a complete 360°, which practises the drive wanted in the right leg through that spin, making sure to not rely simply on the twist of the left ankle.
  • Another great practise is to do what is called a half rotation, which is when you start right after the right foot has just landed in the ground near the centre of the circle. Then just start from there and stop either after completing the throw or stopping right before the upper body catches up with the rest.