WashPo: How the U.S. used golf technology to dominate shot put

[tiderider]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2021/08/02/us-throwers-wanted-way-get-better-they-turned-golf-technology/

 

In May, after a track and field meet called the Tucson Elite Classic, Phil Cheetham showed Ryan Crouser the future. This, Cheetham told Crouser with pure confidence, is how he would set the shot put world record. Cheetham’s version of a crystal ball was an Excel spreadsheet. The spreadsheet contained a matrix of distances, launch angles and speeds. Cheetham, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s director of sport technology, created it using radar tracking systems from TrackMan and FlightScope. The high-tech devices professional golfers employed to hone their swings, it turned out, could make an impact on a sport that has been contested, in some form, since one cave man challenged another to a rock-throwing contest.

 

The biggest challenge, Crouser said, is reconciling physics, sport science and individual technique. Because he stands 6-foot-7, he can get away with a flatter throw, which provides him the chance to create more speed. Crouser’s longest throws are launched around 34 to 35 degrees.

 

While the USOPC was the first to use the technology, it’s no longer alone. New Zealander Tomas Walsh, perhaps the lone man who could challenge Crouser and Kovacs in Tokyo, has changed his form to spin faster and generate more velocity on his throws, which Cheetham theorizes emerged from work with radar. The Germans are proponents.

 

 

 

 

 

[TiScape]

Oh man. I’ll never watch again. All this technology and analysis is ruining what was once a wonderful sport. Back in my day we didn’t rely on this technology. We just got out there and relied on our instincts! Ratings will continue to decline and the sport will eventually die… What? This is about shot put?… not baseball??? Oh, Never mind 😊😂 

Edited August 3, 2021 by TiScape

[tiderider]

2 hours ago, TiScape said:

Oh man. I’ll never watch again. All this technology and analysis is ruining what was once a wonderful sport. Back in my day we didn’t rely on this technology. We just got out there and relied on our instincts! Ratings will continue to decline and the sport will eventually die… What? This is about shot put?… not baseball??? Oh, Never mind 😊😂 

it's just not my shot put anymore ... i can't relate ... in the old days, we'd just crush protein & beer and go out and shot put till we got better ... 

[TiScape]

12 minutes ago, tiderider said:

it's just not my shot put anymore ... i can't relate ... in the old days, we'd just crush protein & beer and go out and shot put till we got better ... 

😂 so true. Oh I know. All (most) competitive sports have gone this direction. I was speaking tongue IN cheek bcs baseball seems to be the one most ppl b****/complain about. 

[wildcatden]

So will this information create the demand for a new Shot Put Tour Live channel? 

[TiScape]

2 minutes ago, wildcatden said:

So will this information create the demand for a new Shot Put Tour Live channel? 

Man, I hope so! 😂 

[bladehunter]

3 hours ago, TiScape said:

Oh man. I’ll never watch again. All this technology and analysis is ruining what was once a wonderful sport. Back in my day we didn’t rely on this technology. We just got out there and relied on our instincts! Ratings will continue to decline and the sport will eventually die… What? This is about shot put?… not baseball??? Oh, Never mind 😊😂 

Funny but.  There’s no denying that it lessons exceptionalism.  If everyone is exceptional. Nobody really is. 

[TiScape]

6 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

Funny but.  There’s no denying that it lessons exceptionalism.  If everyone is exceptional. Nobody really is. 

I don’t feel in regards to baseball (most sports) it makes everyone exceptional. You get the info/data, the individual still needs to execute. Let’s just stick to the “funny” part 😉 haha

Edited August 3, 2021 by TiScape

[bladehunter]

3 minutes ago, TiScape said:

I don’t feel in regards to baseball it makes everyone exceptional. You get the info/data, the individual still needs to execute. Let’s just stick to the “funny” part 😉 haha

lol. Yea. It’s fine. I’m too tired to formulate complete sentences anyway. I’m in a Star Wars rabbit hole.  So I’m not sure I can conure up a master yoda quote to combat you guys anyway !  😂

Edited August 3, 2021 by bladehunter

[TiScape]

1 minute ago, bladehunter said:

lol. Yea. It’s fine. I’m too tired to formulate complete sentences anyway. I’m in a Star Wars rabbit hole.  So I’m not sure I can conure up a master yoda quote to combat you guys anyway !  😂

[Shilgy]

12 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

Funny but.  There’s no denying that it lessons exceptionalism.  If everyone is exceptional. Nobody really is. 

You would rather have most be mediocre so the great really looks good? 
 

Not very sporting of you, old chap. 😉

[bladehunter]

1 hour ago, Shilgy said:

You would rather have most be mediocre so the great really looks good? 
 

Not very sporting of you, old chap. 😉

Hey !  You already knew that was my angle.  I just like it to be as hard as possible. Weeds out the ones who aren’t willing to die for it ! 😇

[Loki]

Innovate or die...

[bscinstnct]

Just sayin

 

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Dependence-of-release-variables-in-the-shot-put.-Hubbard-Mestre/9fe8fc595ce6a286b338fba301feb2db04b50f01

[oikos1]

On 8/3/2021 at 8:38 PM, bladehunter said:

Hey !  You already knew that was my angle.  I just like it to be as hard as possible. Weeds out the ones who aren’t willing to die for it ! 😇

Says the guy with a bag full of technology.  🤣

[mat562]

Will the governing body now copy the R&A and USGA approach and wait until people are chucking the things out of the stadium before banning old pairs of shoes with a particular sole pattern as a solution?

[sekrah]

Side note: Is there a track & field event less interesting to watch than the Shot Put?  I don't think so.

 

[ThinkingPlus]

5 hours ago, sekrah said:

Side note: Is there a track & field event less interesting to watch than the Shot Put?  I don't think so.

 

Race walking.

[jvincent]

Given that the shot put is a purely ballistic flight problem the science required to optimize launch conditions is a high school physics problem.

[bscinstnct]

6 hours ago, sekrah said:

Side note: Is there a track & field event less interesting to watch than the Shot Put?  I don't think so.

 

 

Shot put dope!

 

But most coolest of all is like

 

[goaliedad30]

And here I thought this would be about the arm-lock grip .... 🤣

[jonsnow]

On 8/7/2021 at 5:08 PM, bscinstnct said:

 

Shot put dope!

 

But most coolest of all is like

 

Pish posh, you can have your shot puts & hammer throws. Real men throw logs...

 

 

 

[ThinkingPlus]

4 hours ago, jonsnow said:

Pish posh, you can have your shot puts & hammer throws. Real men throw logs...

 

 

 

Wonder why the caber toss isn't in the Olympics?  🤔  Maybe it's the kilt.

[tiderider]

6 hours ago, jonsnow said:

Pish posh, you can have your shot puts & hammer throws. Real men throw logs...

 

 

 

nope ... real men throw mullets ... 

 

[SavageCy]

On 8/3/2021 at 7:43 PM, Loki said:

Innovate or die...

This 👆  

[TiScape]

On 8/3/2021 at 6:43 PM, Loki said:

Innovate or die...

All major sports have been innovating since their inception… The OGs will always b**** and moan about it. “Back in my day…” I guarantee you back in 1906 when the forward pass was legalized in football there were guys sitting around bitchin about it! 😂