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Tossing it High |
Tossin' it around
Mark Navarre
Stretching. Conditioning. Exercise.
These are words a few of us sometimes avoid using and a lot of us avoid actually doing. As
much as I hate to admit it, to be competitive at a Handlaunch Glider contest will involve
some improvement in my athletic ability. A proper warmup is important to avoid injury and
will also help extend the life of your throwing arm. Even the feet are vulnerable to
injury from poor throwing technique or lack of warmup exercise. Wait, before you let me
scare you off! The small amount of exercise I'm talking about is easily done on the
morning of the contest, I'm not talking about a bodybuilding program here! A few minutes
of warmup will improve your launch height and also help keep your throw strong for the
duration of the event. I'll describe some basic warmups as well as I can without pictures.
Stretch!
A good start before stretching is to
jog in place for a half minute or so. This will raise your heart rate and boost the blood
supply to the muscles for the "back-breaking exertion" to follow. Follow this
with the familiar hamstring stretch: feet about shoulder width apart, knees locked, bend
at waist and let your body hang with your fingers reaching toward your toes. Hold this
position about 10 seconds and straighten up. Repeat a few times. Then with your feet still
in the same position, put your hands on your hips and lean backwards to stretch the
abdominal muscles. Now lean sideways to the left with the left leg locked to stretch the
inside of the thigh. Repeat to the right. It's OK to mix these up for variety, too.
Arms, Too
Now for the arms. First with your throwing arm, reach
across your chest and and wrap your other arm around the elbow of the throwing arm and
pull towards your chest. Switch sides. Next extend your arms horizontally out to the sides
with palms up and try to reach back with both arms at the same time. Finally, stick an
elbow in the air like you would while trying to sniff your "pits", then reach
behind your head with the other hand and pull the elbow backwards. A gentle warning: if
you can't picture what I am describing, please don't try it, I'm not insured as a physical
therapist. If you would like to see any stretches demonstrated, or have any other
questions, please ask me next time you see me. These are the stretches I use and they work
well for me. Your mileage may vary.
Launch Height is Everything!
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