John J. Magee, Bowdoin College Track coach, has written the following article on the development of the hammer throw in intercollegiate competition. Magee is the trainer of Fred Tootell, the glant Bowdoin weight thrower, who holds the I. C. A. A. A. A. and Olympic records in the hammer throw.
One of the records which seems certain to withstand assaults in the fiftieth annual I. C. A. A. A. A. championships at the Harvard Stadium May 28th and 29th is the mark of 181 feet 6 1-2 inches which Frederick D. Tootell of Bowdoin established in 1923. That mark, made the year before he won the Olympic title, was ten feet further than any other throw in the history of the association. It was more than 105 feet better than the original I. C. A. A. A. A. record for this event and it is my belief that the improvement in this event is more marked than in any other on the program.
The hammer, which consists of a metal ball attached to wire handle, four feet overall in length and weighing 16 pounds, has been held in this meet since 1877. The hammer is thrown from a seven foot circle, in which the competitor is restrained to his fair throws. From its inception to 1891 a wooden handle was used. The wire handle, with its double or single grip, proved a great improvement over the old style hammer and really revolutionized the event.
Size Not Necessary
In the old days it required only a big strong athlete with hands and wrists powerful enough to hold onto the wooden shaft, in order to get a good throw. Today a competitor weighing no less than 165 pounds has a chance for points in competition. Comparatively speaking the wooden handle was a great handicap.
My observations and experience of hammer throwing dates back to the days of John Flannigan and later Matt McGrath and still later Pat Ryan, the present world record holder. These famous Irish athletes were all big, powerful men, weighing well over 225 pounds, and standing over six feet in height, while the present college hammer throwers are rarely of that size.
Tootell, the present I. C. A. A. A. A. record holder was a young man of 22, six feet one inch in height and weighing 210 pounds at his heaviest. Johnny Merchant of California was in my opinion the greatest little man that ever threw the hammer. Merchant weighed about 185 pounds and stood about five feet ten inches in height; he held the I. C. A. A. A. A. record in 1922. Another great little man was Bill Quinn, the former field coach at Harvard, who weighed only 163 pounds and could throw the hammer 165 feet.
The essential qualifications for a successful hammer thrower are height, weight and strength coupled with speed in throwing. The training in this event for the college man consists of many years of concentrated work. It is, however, quite possible to develop a thrower during his college career, to break Tootell's present record of 181 feet 6 1-2 inches. Tootell himself never had any scholastic experience but took up this event for the first time during his undergraduate days at college.
Teach Coordination
An asset for quick development is the practice with the 35 pound weight. As coach and trainer of Tootell, I discovered that he progressed rapidly with a lot of speedy work with this modified hammer and that this, combined with plenty of gymnasium exercise, kept him steadily increasing in weight and strength. Constant practice remedying defects and patience to conquer any such is bound to develop perfect coordination. I firmly believe there is more technique used in developing a man in controlling himself while turning three times in a restricted circle of seven feet in diameter than in any other event, in track and field competition.
Tootell's greatest improvement came in his Senior year. His best mark up to that year was 158 feet, yet in his last year he threw consistently 175 to 185 feet; this last mark which he set at Bowdoin College is the college record. His improvement was also marked in his ability to stay in the circle with two or three turns. I have often seen him take three turns and still have from 12 to 18 inches to spare from the front of the circle.
He never at any time had two feet off the ground in his three revolutions, but instead pivoted squarely on his left foot.
How the hammer throw record has been lowered in half a century of I. C. A. A. A. A. competition: The article which is printed below is a resume of I. C. A. A. A. A. competition, which has now reached the half century mark, by O. F. Hedlund, track coach at M. I. T. Hedlund has divided the whole period into three parts, which furnish a basis for comparison between the athletes of different times and a means of tracing the progress the colleges have made in developing track and field prowess. Title distribution by colleges, Yale 9, Princeton 8, Harvard 5, Pennsylvania 5, Columbia 4, California 4, Syracuse 3, Cornell 2, Dartmouth 2, Mass. Inst. of Tech. 2, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Maine and Bowdoin, 1 each When the first I. C. A. A. A. A. meet was held in Saratoga in 1876 the athletes turned in meritorious performances considering the lack of background they possessed. There is little to prove whether these trail-blazers ran up-hill or down-hill; whether the records were established with or without the aid of the wind, and in those days the circles for the shot-putters and hammer throwers were not so well defined as the steel rings which are now in use. Read more in News
