Freestyle Ball Throw
This field event will be of great interest to baseball and cricket players
and their millions of fans all over the world.
By concentrating only on
the throwing prowess involved in these sports, and confining the thrower to
a 7ft diameter circle and a throwing sector, the ball throw becomes a
legitimate athletic event, much like the shot put, but with a far larger
pool of potential competitors and followers.
Unlike team sports, which involve expertise in a number of skills (like
running, hitting, throwing, catching, and pitching), track and field events
tend to focus on just one specific activity and build that up to a very
high level of proficiency. For this reason, the ball throw is likely to
benefit baseball and cricket because, by treating it as an athletic event
and applying a greater degree of concentration to this one area, more
advanced ball throwing techniques and training methods will be developed
which can then be passed back to those sports. For example, the Gorbous
drill, a special training technique developed for baseball throwing named
after the Canadian baseball distance record holder, Glen Gorbous, involves
throwing the ball straight up in the air as a way of developing the muscles
involved in distance throwing. His 1957 record of 445 feet 10 inches still
stands.
Throwing techniques will vary but it is expected that most throwers will
start with their backs to the target and spin on the back foot to give
added acceleration from the trunk prior to release. At the same time as the
weight is transferred to the front foot, the rear throwing arm will come
through at the shoulder which is tilted back to achieve the desired degree
of loft. Being able to accurately judge the loft of the ball will gain
valuable distance for the thrower. The ball must land in a designated strip
of raked sand so that the throw can be correctly measured. The width of
this strip will ensure accuracy of throw is maintained as a ball falling
outside it will not count. The weight and size of the ball chosen for the
event is likely to be closer to that of a baseball rather than a cricket
ball which, being slightly heavier and smaller, will fly further than a
baseball and not be so easily accommodated on sports grounds.
(Cricket balls are approximately 156g and 22.5cm in circumference while
baseballs are approximately 148g and 23cm in circumference.) Ball and strip
dimensions will be posted soon.
