How Weighted Ball Throws Directly Improve Your Javelin Distance

Upper body and throwing arm power is extremely important in javelin. Any 80m thrower I

ever met was able to throw 60m in high school and when they got up to 80m they could

throw 60m from a stand. What does that mean? They had a cannon for an arm.

PLYO BALLS

Plyo balls are a great way to not

only build throwing arm power, but

to improve shoulder mobility, arm

endurance, and health by taking

some stress off the elbow. Plyo balls

are fantastic for increasing throwing

volume, as it is extremely easy to get

100 reps in against the wall in a 20

minute session. Utilizing the relaxed

arm and hip shoulder separation

concepts, it is an amazing way to

practice your throwing technique,

develop layback, and use progressive

overload to develop power and the

ability to handle heavier weights.

When warming up with plyo balls it is essential we warm up our rotator cuff, scap,

and triceps to prepare the body to decelerate properly. It is important to even out

the amount of throwing volume we put on our shoulder to avoid forward shoulder

impingement. The shoulder is a ball in socket joint and if we have too many throws

going forward, and not enough going the opposite direction we will start to develop

imbalances and shoulder pain will ensue. It is the same reason when we bench press we

want to do back rows to be sure we are doing at least an even amount of posterior and

anterior. My favorite reverse throws are 90 degree reverse throws, crossbody reverse

throws, and figure 8 crossbody throws. The tricep throw is not a reverse throw, but it

does warm up the tricep which is part of the deceleration of the throwing arm so I put

that in this category as well.

“Following ball release, the arm deceleration phase continues until maximum shoulder

internal rotation. Now that the athlete’s arm has reached this extremely high angular

velocity and released the ball, the arm must decelerate in a safe, controlled manner.

After ball release, the torso rotates and tilts forward again to clear space for the arm as

the forearm continues to pronate as well.”

Trasolini, N. A. “Biomechanical Analysis of the Throwing Athlete and Its ….” PMC, 2022

Once our decelerators are warmed up we can move on to warm up the arm to throw

forward. With throwing forward we want to keep a few areas in mind: Warming up the

elbow, increasing range in the external rotation position in the shoulder, and establishing

good movement patterns for proper technique. Some of my favorite plyo ball drills to

warmup are underhand throws and ER pulses.

ER pulses are great to help the arm handle more weight and expand the external rotation

ROM that you currently have.

Underhand throws are great to help the bicep and forearm to handle the stress that the

throw puts on the arm.

Once you are all warmed up we will start with some light throws that will establish good

throwing patterns and start to build intensity.

The purpose of these low intensity throws

is to continue to develop the relaxed arm motion, using the hips, spine, pelvis, and block

side to drive the motion. My favorite throws for this are the figure 8 ball throws in a

bilateral & unilateral stance, float and whip throws.

Once the light throws have been completed we can start moving to some throws that

will help develop more arm power by using heavier weights, and use more speed and

power from the legs. Building into more movement I like to start with the 3 position with

a left step, then progress as follows:

● 3 step ● 5 step ● Vetter throws

Once you feel comfortable doing all these drills with a light ball, keep progressing

upwards until you get to a 1-2k ball.

I recommend working up to a 2k ball with the 3 position, and 3 step. Then Working up to

a 1KG with the 5 step and above should be just fine.

Females: I recommend working up to a 1k ball with the 3 position, 3 BFC hops, and 3

step. Then working up to a 800g with the 5 step and above should be just fine.

Note: we also use a mix of high intensity throws into the wall and throws for distance at

various weights to increase arm power, but it is important to phase that in and out and

not over do it. Come up with a smart plan for when you will push the boundaries with

velocity and weights.

To watch how we implement these plyo balls into our training watch the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N38qwEjSLTY

To purchase the Jacked Javelin Plyo balls, click here.