Track season update

Sometimes our children surprise us.

Belladonna is going through the "simulated annealing" process in her throwing technique.  Her coach, Mr Baker, told her that she was plateauing out.  He told her that she needed to come across the throwing pit with more speed and energy if she hoped to increase her distances.

She did not stay safe.  She listened.  The speed and energy messed up her timing.  Now she throws wide left.  And she throws wide right.  And she throws line-drives.  It is very frustrating to her.  She used to be as repeatable as a punch-and-die producing coins.  Now she is more like a roulette wheel.

Mason Invitationals

Eaton Rapids was invited to the Mason Invitationals.

So was Belladona's arch nemesis. 

Belladonna stuck with the plan.  She threw wide left.  She threw wide right.  She threw a line drive.  And she threw one pretty good throw. 

Her arch nemesis still beat her by 2 feet but Belladonna is OK with that.  "I'll get her before the end of the year."

Throwing venues

All of the women throwers from Eaton Rapids "PRed" in discus at Mason.

Mason is a "lucky" venue.  Most of the luck is due to the fact that the field drops away from the throwing pit.  My rough eyeball approximation is that the grade is between a 3% and 4% grade.  Given that an optimal discus throw re-enters at a 35-40 degree one can expect a five percent boost to one's throw.

Given that Belladonna has one foot in the canoe and the other on the dock, I would have expected her throws to diminish by 15%.  I was impressed by the fact that her 2015 PR increased by 5 feet.  But then, all of the women Eaton Rapids throwers increased by a similar amount.

Mr Baker

Mr Baker is a good great coach.  He tells us that young women and young men are different.  "Young men," he tells us, "need to throw well to feel good. Young women need to feel good to throw well."

It seems to work.  Eaton Rapids is not a large school.  I expect the class of 2015 to be about 175 students.  In that class are three young ladies who can throw the discus over 105 feet.

While that might be occasion for yawns in California where athletes are a distinct subspecies, or in Texas where the wind blows hard enough to snap logging chains...it is pretty exceptional for a blue-collar community in a rust-belt state.

Mr Baker is modest.  He says it is the girls out there throwing, not him.  But there is something to be said for having a physics teacher as a throwing coach.

Thank-you Mr Baker.