Athletics - Shot Put

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Shot Put

Shot put is one of the field events held in athletics and is one of the events that has been competed in every modern olympics. Believed to originated from ancient warfare and the first women's event at an Olympics was in 1948 in London.

probably one of the simpler events to understand each competitor must throw (put) a heavy metal ball known as the shot as far as they can each competitor as three attempts to gain the furthest distance.

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Some Basic Info

Shot putters usually are tall and powerfully built the sport requires that an athlete must combine speed, flexibility and coordination with strength. Most shot putters are good all round athletes.

For each of his/her three shots the competitor may touch the inside of but not step over the stop board at the front of the circle. The length of the shot is measured from the front of the circle to the shot's first contact with the ground and recorded to the nearest centimetre or half inch below the actual length of the throw.

The landing area is a measured sector that fans outwards 35 degrees from the centre of the throwing circle it's sides are usually no more than 30m (98ft 6in) long.

Glide or Spin?

There are two main styles of shot put delivery these are the glide and spin, the athlete faces the rear of the circle and hops backwards while twisting the hips to the front. The feet stay as close to the ground as possible. The spin as it's name suggests uses extra rotation to build up momentum.

American Parry O'Brien is credited with inventing the Glide during the 1950's he would crouch to face the back of the circle then pushing of powerfully from one leg to rotate the body and face the front and then launch the shot.

Soviet athlete Aleksandr Baryshnikov introduced the spin or Baryshnikov's Rotation to the sport during the 1970's it is similar to the discus thrower's spin and makes it easier to maximize the launch speed of the put. Originally very controversial it is the style used by most modern shot putters.