Jun 22, 2022
Medicine Ball Target Throwing ?? . This may seem like a trivial topic but years of watching clients throw medicine balls has taught me that having an intended target to aim for makes a difference. Far too often I see clients mindlessly throwing medicine balls against the wall with no thought of the intended result. . Whether training general population or competitive athletes medicine ball throwing shouldn't be a game of pattycake against the wall. Each effort throwing the ball should be a focused explosion. When you swing a bat, toss a ball or throw a punch you don't just wildly create force. In fact, you could argue that precision of movement is more important than power in most sports. The goal should be to create as much force as possible through a specific pattern towards a specific target. Medicine ball ball throwing then should be no different. I think attention and awareness in the exercise is the key to transferring these motor patterns into athletics and creating changes in the nervous system. Having an intended target provides the client an external focus and lets the brain know that what you are asking it to do matters. . At MBSC we simply drew an X at varying heights on the wall for our clients to aim for (See the wall in the video). If you aren’t allowed to deface the walls of your gym with a marker you can simply aim for a specific brick, crack or blemish etc. I think the most important thing is that you just aim for SOMETHING. . With overhead med ball throws I like progressively moving further from the wall and aiming for the same target to increase the velocity demand of the throw. . Week 1 = 10 feet Week 2 = 15 feet Week 3 = 20 feet . Then I would adjust the posture ( Ex: 1/2 Kneeling ????Standing) and start over. . With some personal training clients, adult groups and youth groups I may have the client do a push-up every time they miss the target to create more psychological engagement or metabolic demand. . Now get out there and go smash some medicine balls...with precision. . PS: @perform_better has the best soft toss medicine balls on the market. If they can survive the throwing volume at @bodybyboyle they can survive anywhere. A post shared by Movement As Medicine (@movementasmedicine) on Nov 30, 2017 at 2:51pm PST
Medicine Ball Target Throwing ?? . This may seem like a trivial topic but years of watching clients throw medicine balls has taught me that having an intended target to aim for makes a difference. Far too often I see clients mindlessly throwing medicine balls against the wall with no thought of the intended result. . Whether training general population or competitive athletes medicine ball throwing shouldn't be a game of pattycake against the wall. Each effort throwing the ball should be a focused explosion. When you swing a bat, toss a ball or throw a punch you don't just wildly create force. In fact, you could argue that precision of movement is more important than power in most sports. The goal should be to create as much force as possible through a specific pattern towards a specific target. Medicine ball ball throwing then should be no different. I think attention and awareness in the exercise is the key to transferring these motor patterns into athletics and creating changes in the nervous system. Having an intended target provides the client an external focus and lets the brain know that what you are asking it to do matters. . At MBSC we simply drew an X at varying heights on the wall for our clients to aim for (See the wall in the video). If you aren’t allowed to deface the walls of your gym with a marker you can simply aim for a specific brick, crack or blemish etc. I think the most important thing is that you just aim for SOMETHING. . With overhead med ball throws I like progressively moving further from the wall and aiming for the same target to increase the velocity demand of the throw. . Week 1 = 10 feet Week 2 = 15 feet Week 3 = 20 feet . Then I would adjust the posture ( Ex: 1/2 Kneeling ????Standing) and start over. . With some personal training clients, adult groups and youth groups I may have the client do a push-up every time they miss the target to create more psychological engagement or metabolic demand. . Now get out there and go smash some medicine balls...with precision. . PS: @perform_better has the best soft toss medicine balls on the market. If they can survive the throwing volume at @bodybyboyle they can survive anywhere.
A post shared by Movement As Medicine (@movementasmedicine) on Nov 30, 2017 at 2:51pm PST