shot-put

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Shot put

The shot put is an athletics (track and field) event involving "putting" (throwing in a pushing motion) a heavy metal ball (called the shot) as far as possible.

It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the throwing motion.

Competitions and rules

Competitors take their throw from inside a circle 7 feet (2.135 meters) in diameter, with a toe board approximately 10 cm (4") high at the front of the circle. The distance thrown is measured from the inside of the circumference of the circle to where the shot lands at its nearest disturbance of the soil.

Rules

Upon calling the athletes name, he/she has 60 seconds to begin the throwing movement.
Athlete can enter the ring from any side.
The athlete must rest the shot close to the neck and keep it tight to the neck while throwing.
Athlete is allowed to touch the inside edge of the circle but must not touch the outside of the circle.
Shot put must land in legal sector in the throwing area.
Athlete must exit, while in control from the rear half of the circle.

Foul throws occur when an athlete:

Does not exit from the rear half of the circle.
Touches the top of the toe board, the top of the iron ring or outside the circle after having entered the circle, before the implement lands.
Throws a shot which falls outside the throwing sector.
Allows the shot to drop below his shoulder or outside the vertical plane of his shoulder during the put.
Does not pause or demonstrate control after entering/exiting the circle.
Does not begin the throwing movement within 60 seconds of having ones name called.

Competition

Each competition has a set number of rounds of throws. Typically there are 3 rounds of preliminaries to determine seats for the final. The competitor with the farthest legal put is declared the winner. In men's competition, the shot weighs 7.26 kilograms (16 pounds). The women's shot weighs 4 kg (8.8 pounds). American high schools usually use 12 pound (5.44 kg) shots for boys and 4 kg shots for girls; these are sometimes used as practice shots as well. The weight of the ball differs depending on the age group. Men over the age of 50 and under 19 internationally use a 6 kg shot (13.2 pounds).

Shot put competitions have been held at the Summer Olympic Games since their inception, and is also included as an event in athletic world championships. The shot put originates from Highland games 'stone put' where Scottish people put a rounded cube, stone, or metal form of considerable weight from behind a given line.

Putting styles

Two putting styles are in current general use by shot put competitors: the glide and the spin.

The origin of the glide dates to 1951, when Parry O'Brien of the United States invented a technique that involves the putter facing backwards, rotating 180 degrees across the circle, and then tossing the shot. With this technique, a right-hand thrower begins facing the rear of the circle and kicks to the front with the left leg while pushing off forcefully with the right. The key is to move quickly across the circle with as little air under the feet as possible, hence the name "glide". As the thrower crosses the circle, the hips twist toward the front, followed by the shoulders and strikes in a putting motion with their arm. The spin was invented in the United States in 1976. From this, in 1976, Brian Oldfield popularized the spin technique which involves rotating like a discus thrower and using rotational momentum for power. Oldfeld set the record of 75 feet (22.86 m) in 1975; it was unofficial, however, because he was a professional at a time when the IAAF had an amateur-only policy, but undisputed and over 3 feet better than the official world record at the time. Oldfield's record in the 33 years since has been bettered by only 10 inches. In the spin, a right-handed thrower faces the rear, and begins to spin on the ball of the left foot. The thrower comes around and faces the front of the circle and drives the right foot into the middle of the circle. Finally, the thrower reaches for the front of the circle with the left foot, twists his hips and shoulders like in the glide, and puts the shot.

With all putting styles, the goal is to release the shot with maximum forward velocity at an angle of approximately forty degrees. Currently, most top male shot putters use the spin, but the glide remains popular, especially at the amateur level and among women, since the technique breeds higher consistency for the athlete as opposed to the rotational technique. It is worth noting that the world record by a male putter (Randy Barnes) was completed with the spin technique, while the close second-best all-time distance (Ulf Timmermann) was completed with the glide technique. Measuring which technique can provide the most potential is difficult, as many of the best throws recorded with each technique come from athletes under a thick cloud of doping suspicion and violations. In some opinions the decision to glide or spin should be based on the thrower's size and power, with short throwers benefiting from the spin and taller throwers benefiting from the glide, but for many throwers selecting the right technique differs on an individual basis, with almost all throwers first developing the glide technique.

World records

The current world record holders are:

Type	Athlete	Venue	Date
Men
Outdoor	Randy Barnes	Westwood, California, USA	20 May 1990
Indoor	Randy Barnes	Los Angeles, California, USA	20 January 1989
Women
Outdoor	Natalya Lisovskaya	Moscow, USSR	7 June 1987
Indoor	Helena Fibingerová	Jablonec, CZE	February 19, 1977

Top Ten Performers

Accurate as October 3, 2008

Men

Mark	Athlete	Venue	Date
23.12	Randy Barnes	LA, California	May 20, 1990
23.06	Ulf Timmermann	Khania	May 22, 1988
22.91	Alessandro Andrei	Viareggio	August 12, 1987
22.86	Brian Oldfield	El Paso	May 10, 1975
22.75	Werner Günthör	Bern	August 23, 1988
22.67	Kevin Toth	Lawrence	April 19, 2003
22.64	Udo Beyer	Berlin	August 20, 1986
22.54	Christian Cantwell	Gresham	June 5, 2004
22.52	John Brenner	Walnut	April 26, 1987
22.51	Adam Nelson	Gresham	May 18, 2002

Women

Mark	Athlete	Venue	Date
22.63	Natalya Lisovskaya	Moscow	June 7, 1987
22.45	Ilona Briesenick	Potsdam	May 11, 1980
22.32	Helena Fibingerová	Nitra	August 20, 1977
22.19	Claudia Losch	Hainfeld	August 23, 1987
21.89	Ivanka Khristova	Belmeken	July 4, 1976
21.86	Marianne Adam	Leipzig	June 23, 1979
21.76	Li Meisu	Shijiazhuang	April 23, 1988
21.73	Natalya Akhrimenko	Leselidze	May 21, 1988
21.69	Vita Pavlysh	Budapest	August 15, 1998
21.66	Sui Xinmei	Beijing	June 9, 1990

Best Year Performance

Men's Season's Best

YEAR	DISTANCE	PLACE
1964	20.68	Los Angeles
1965	21.52	College Station
1966	21.09	Los Angeles
1967	21.78	College Station
1968	21.30	Walnut
1969	20.60	Koblenz
1970	21.75	Berkeley
1971	21.12	Moscow
1972	21.54	Potsdam
1973	21.82	San Jose
1974	21.70	Moscow
1975	22.86	El Paso
1976	22.45	El Paso
1977	21.74	Düsseldorf
1978	22.15	Gothenburg
1979	21.74	Linz
1980	21.98	Erfurt
1981	22.02	Modesto
1982	22.02	Koblenz
1983	22.22	Los Angeles
1984	22.19	San Jose
1985	22.62	Berlin
1986	22.64	Berlin
1987	22.91	Viareggio
1988	23.06	Hania
1989	22.19	Berlin
1990	23.12	Westwood
1991	22.03	Oslo
1992	21.98	Los Gatos
1993	21.98	Linz
1994	21.09	New York City
1995	22.00	Knoxville
1996	22.40	Rüdlingen
1997	22.03	Indianapolis
1998	21.78	Walnut
1999	22.02	Eugene
2000	22.12	Sacramento
2001	21.97	Eugene
2002	22.51	Gresham
2003	22.67	Lawrence
2004	22.54	Gresham
2005	22.20	Carson
2006	22.45	Gateshead
2007	22.43	London
2008	22.12	Eugene

Women's Season's Best

YEAR	DISTANCE	PLACE
1972	21.03	Munich
1973	21.45	Varna
1974	21.57	Gottwaldov
1975	21.60	Berlin
1976	21.99	Opava
1977	22.32	Nitra
1978	22.06	Berlin
1979	22.04	Potsdam
1980	22.45	Potsdam
1981	21.61	Potsdam
1982	21.80	Potsdam
1983	22.40	Berlin
1984	22.53	Sochi
1985	21.73	Erfurt
1986	21.70	Tallinn
1987	22.63	Moscow
1988	22.55	Tallinn
1989	20.82	Prague
1990	21.66	Beijing
1991	21.12	Frankfurt
1992	21.06	Barcelona
1993	20.84	Moscow
1994	20.54	Beijing
1995	21.22	Gothenburg
1996	20.97	Duisburg
1997	21.22	Hamburg
1998	21.69	Budapest
1999	20.26	Tula
2000	21.46	Moscow
2001	20.79	Tula
2002	20.64	Munich
2003	20.77	Tula
2004	20.79	Tula
2005	21.09	Minsk
2006	20.56	Minsk
2007	20.54	Osaka
2008	20.98	Minsk