11-11-2017, 18:26
Throwing a football for distance; whilst fulfilling the technical restraints, is a matter of technique AND physical ability. At the risk of polishing my own ego, I was reasonably adept
at getting the ball into the six yard box from anywhere about 15 yards short of the halfway
line. I did not have extreme musculature; overlong arms or any other special attributes but
I did have a history of throwing javelins, cricket balls, stones etc and I believe my ability
was built up during a childhood doing this without realizing I was honing a good general
throwing technique. With a football I soon realized I could achieve distance by using one hand to throw with the other gently placed to give the impression of a two handed throw.
The power came from bending the spine backwards and then snapping the trail leg together
with the forward, stationary, leg when the arms were at the highest point of arc. The downside of all this is that in later life you may suffer from a bad back, as I do. For purists,
the thought of getting the ball into the danger area in this manner is anathema but I think
it does add an additional attacking dimension if used sparingly. The ball in my day was
much heavier so I suppose the modern ball lends itself to this tactic as it must be a lot easier
to get distance and a flatter trajectory and hence more difficult to defend.
at getting the ball into the six yard box from anywhere about 15 yards short of the halfway
line. I did not have extreme musculature; overlong arms or any other special attributes but
I did have a history of throwing javelins, cricket balls, stones etc and I believe my ability
was built up during a childhood doing this without realizing I was honing a good general
throwing technique. With a football I soon realized I could achieve distance by using one hand to throw with the other gently placed to give the impression of a two handed throw.
The power came from bending the spine backwards and then snapping the trail leg together
with the forward, stationary, leg when the arms were at the highest point of arc. The downside of all this is that in later life you may suffer from a bad back, as I do. For purists,
the thought of getting the ball into the danger area in this manner is anathema but I think
it does add an additional attacking dimension if used sparingly. The ball in my day was
much heavier so I suppose the modern ball lends itself to this tactic as it must be a lot easier
to get distance and a flatter trajectory and hence more difficult to defend.