The Estonian Athletic Association welcomed 73 participants from 12 countries to Tallinn for the 3rd European Discus and Hammer Conference as part of the European Athletics Coaching Summit Series on 16-17 October.
The conference programme included theoretical presentations, practical sessions and four panel discussions.
The first day of the conference was focused on the long successful experience of three Olympic champions: Yuriy Sedykh, Gerd Kanter and Virgilius Alekna, who all have imposing major championships medal collections and are also known for their longevity at the top of the sport.
Hammer throwing pioneer and world record holder, Sedykh of Belarus, spoke about his career emphasising that there is no guaranteed recipe for success. The most important is to avoid ’stupid’ injuries - they usually happen outside the circle - and that every athlete must have an achievable goal according to his or her abilities.
Sedykh emphasised the importance of throwing throughout the year, using event specific strength exercises and throwing with hammers of various sizes weighing up to 20 kg.
Kanter, one of Estonia’s greatest champions, shared his knowledge about staying healthy, and his secrets to remain competing at the highest level.
Lithuanian legendary discus thrower Alekna, who still competes at the age of 43, could not participate due to personal reasons but gave addressed the attendees through video conference.
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The discussions proved that there are different ways to reach the top and staying there.
Sedykh had his coach Anatoliy Bondarchuk surround him during his entire career, while Kanter and Alekna eventually decided to compete without a coach, with strong support of their physiotherapists instead.
The second day, which took place in the Tallinn Sports Hall, began with presentations by Indrek Tustit on throwers warm up and cool down and injury prevention by using the case studies of Kanter and Märt Israel. The practical training session of gymnastics, fitball exercises and hurdle drills was demonstrated by Israel and young Estonian discus throwers.
Finnish national discus throwing coach and former thrower Anssi Mäkinen also joined in on the panel to discuss reverse and non-reverse technique.
Sedykh and Finnish hammer coach Lassi Korhonen presented different hammer throwing drills with Sedykh correcting techniques of the demo-athletes. He insisted to “not be lazy” after the preparation phase and compared the transition from the swings to the turns with the movement of a golf-swing.
The speakers were asked a lot of questions and the discussions continued even after the programme. The practical training sessions had been filmed and participants received a DVD to take back with them.
Kanter concluded the programme by saying: “Listening to Youri Sedykh I recognise that the main key points of hammer throwing technique are similar to the discus. Everything starts at the first phase of the throw – you can take control and change anything only in this phase. I hope that every participant found an idea for the trainings.”