Date

Sunday 03 April

Lead Coaches

Mick Hill and David Parker

Location

Becketts Park, Leeds Met University

Weather

Challenging

Report

3rd April 2011, saw the 2nd event of the year for the UK Javelin Association. This event entitled "Throwing yourself into form 2011" was held at Leeds Met University; the venue for the inaugural UK Javelin Carnival in 2010.

The event was attended by a number of coaches and athletes who were exposed to some quality coaching and advice which fitted in well with the fantastic demonstration of throwing given by the current UK number 1, James Campbell. Campbell threw over 80m in training for the first time in what could be described as challenging conditions at Becketts Park. Surely this is a sign of big things to come in 2011 and with a more relaxed approach to his throwing this year, will surely make the breakthrough at senior level that his talents deserve. The day also served to show that the event is in safe hands. With the current crop of young developing throwers across the UK training and throwing in groups now, they will surely all push each other to bigger things and develop that competitive edge; critical to the success required to achieve at the highest level.

The first session of the day saw former British International Javelin Thrower and 4 time Olympian, Mick Hill take the young athletes who had attended the day, through a rigorous drills session, finishing some ideas around how a run up should be developed. Whilst throwing off a run-up should be the bread and butter of a young athletes training coupled with getting into the right positions to throw optimally, it is often neglected in training, and performance in competition is often compromised. All that took part in this session challenged Mick throughout and the feedback was positive.

The next session after lunch looked at competition preparation and started with a warm-up and throwing demonstration from a number of athletes coached by Mick Hill and David Parker, the current Chairman of the UKJA. After this some of the theory was addressed behind what athletes should be emphasising at this time of year in order to prepare themselves for competition. This discussion dealt with athletes who are participating in the event at a higher level, along with what younger athletes who are perhaps ranging from beginner level through to those who are participating at national level.

The final session of the day looked at injury prevention strategies. This session was lead by David Parker, himself a Strength & Conditioning Coach working for the English Institute of Sport. The focus was around the common injuries that are associated with the event and how conditioning can be used as a tool to not only rehabilitate athletes from existing injuries, but also proactively condition areas that are susceptible to further injuries. This session certainly stimulated some debate amongst the coaches present and will hopefully allow them to reflect and develop their own strategies for preventing injuries from occurring.

All in all, the day was a resounding success and a great start for the Northern Javelin Centre, in partnership with England Athletics.

The key message from the day was that "Practice makes Permanent, not perfect. Only Perfect Practice achieves that state."

The next event for the UK Javelin Association will be the 2nd Annual UK Javelin Carnival to be held on the 12th June 2011. This event will be held at Mount St Mary’s College near Sheffield. The UK Javelin Association are hoping to attract all of the top British Javelin Throwers to this event to truly make this the event that it should be. With the announcement that Nordic Sport will be in attendance and with the imminent launch of the clothing and merchandising line, the UK Javelin Association is continuing to develop at pace, thus bringing resources and opportunities for the wider Javelin community.

See you on 12th June.

Next Event

2nd Annual Javelin Carnival

Location

Mount St. Mary's College, Nr Sheffield

Date

12th June 2011