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With age the WMA want us to throw with lighter implements. Is there a theory how the difference effects your distance? My guess is that it goes with the square root of the difference, so throwing a 500 gram javelin goes SQRT(600/500) times the distance with a 600. It fits reasonably on my own distances in javelin, discus and shot.

No theories? No guesses?

I've used the square root of mass formula for a few years with the hammer throw. It's worked well for me. In any given training period it let's me know if I'm slow or weak, relative to my competition implement. Sadly sometimes both.

I don't claim to be the originator, but to answer someone's question about this topic, I did once derive that square root of the ratio formula. It depends on two assumptions for its validity. First, that distance thrown is proportional to release velocity. Not strictly true, but at least for the distances involved, not too far off for the non-aerodynamic implements. I never thought of applying the formula to discus or javelin--its interesting that it gives accurate results for some people. The second assumption is that you can give the various weighted implements the same kinetic energy at release. This is close to being true if the weights of the implements are not too much different, and I think is the source of MichaelV's ability to use the formula to analyze his weaknesses. (Although I wouldn't call them weaknesses, he's throwing further than I am.)

Michael V is a good friend. Friends don't let throwers do math.

Yeah, the story of my life. Always the designated math doer.

T&F iiissss math and physics!

Rev GJ,

Like Jethro Bodine, I like to think of it as cyphering.

Carl,

Thanks for the additional information. The numbers never worked well for me when I went to light or heavy relative to the comp ball. Your explanation helps me understand why. Good, one less thing to get all worked up over.