Going Through the (Throwing) Motions

2019 looks to be a year of "Loki goes into the woods and throws things." Erin got me an atlatl kit for Christmas, and I've been dying to play with slings as well. Most of us learn to throw things at a very young age, but some people don't, and others don't progress past a rudimentary level.

Why Learn to Throw?
I view the ability to accurately throw an object to be an essential life skill. Not only is it used by the weapons mentioned above, but it is also vital in many social activities; for example, the ability to play catch or darts or baseball opens opportunities to expand your acquaintances and network with people.

The hidden benefit of learning the throwing motion is that those body mechanics are used for a plethora of other things: the same arm movement that allows an accurate dart throw also makes for a sure hammer strike, and the weight transfer that gives power to a baseball throw drives an axe efficiently into a log. You can of course drive nails, split wood, and perform other tasks without knowing these techniques, but doing so will burn a lot more energy and time with far less satisfactory results. Learning good throwing mechanics adds competency to all these skills.

Accurate vs. Powerful
Accurate throws and powerful throws employ different throwing motions.

Powerful throws are large and explosive and use the whole body.

MLB pitcher Randy Johnson is a great example of a big, powerful throw.
From www.baseballhall.org

Accurate throws are more compact, relying on only some regions of the body to get work done.

Champion darts players are incredibly precise, with a small, controlled throwing motion.
From Wikipedia

In the coming weeks I'll show detailed breakdown videos of both types of throwing motions, as well as how they relate to more traditional preparedness tasks. I'll also work on video of "throwing things in the woods," but a lot of that will have to wait until there's not a foot of snow on the ground.

Limber up and learn to throw.

Lokidude