Besides being a world-class masters athlete, Bud Held is a scholar of the sport with special authority on the throws. Today he responds to some proposed changes in the masters implements. Bud begins: “Norm Deep has done some good work and his arguments make a lot of sense.” But after much thought, Bud concludes: “I am an advocate of all masters using the same weight implements at all ages.”

The rest of Bud’s note:
“A glance at the record book verifies his argument that high school athletes are superior to 50-year-old masters. High school athletes develop much faster than masters decline. Four years of their development is equivalent to 30 or 40 years of masters decline, so it is a little harder to know where the average high school athlete is.
“Relative to the record book, high school athletes appear to be pretty close to 40-year-old masters in throwing events (after adjusting for implement weights) and noticeably superior in the running and jumping events.
“Norm’s weight schedule makes good sense, and I think his comment about ‘personal satisfaction’ is important. Maintaining an interest in track and field is largely dependent on the feeling of satisfaction with performance. Adding a weight change level to the M40-49 will help stimulate interest.
“I note that Norm does not include the javelin in his proposal, which is really okay because going down in javelin weight does not add as much satisfaction as going down in discus, shot or hammer weight. When I went from the 800g javelin to the 600g javelin I experienced more frustration than satisfaction.
“The 600g javelin is 25% lighter than the 800g javelin and I expected some considerable better distance, but try as I would, the best distance advantage I could get was 9% (I often tested them one after the other in workouts). Larry Stuart also expressed the same frustration. His best was even less than 9% better. My 9% distance improvement could not overcome the frustration of the poor flight characteristics of the 600g javelin.
“Even with the new spec. 800g javelin it is possible to get some good aerodynamic lift with a properly launched 50 to 60 meter throw, but no matter how perfectly I would launch a 600g javelin and watch with great anticipation I would see it drop though the atmosphere like a wounded duck.
“The problem only gets worse with the 500g javelin, and with the 400g javelin, one might as well throw a 400g rock as far as the flight characteristics are concerned. If I were still competing at age 78 (can’t do javelin now because of worn out knees), I would prefer to throw the 800g javelin.
“The problem with the lighter javelins is not with the weight, but with the design. The rules committee that established the specifications are apparently neither engineers nor javelin throwers. My brother, Dick Held, who was the pioneer and master of modern javelin design worked with the committee for years to get specs. approval for more ‘throw-able’ javelins, but with little success.
“The aerodynamic lift of a javelin is primarily related to the ratio of the projected, or shadow area, to the weight. That ratio is .58 for the 800g javelin and .53 for the 600g javelin (using maximum allowable dimensions). This loss of lift is at the heart of the problem. It would have been a simple matter to make the maximum diameter the same 30mm for all javelins.
“This would have solved the flight problem nicely and even made it easier to manufacture them. The rules committee, however, seems to think that if a javelin is shorter and lighter, it must also be smaller in diameter. The consequence of such thinking is a frustrating javelin.
“Strangely enough, the committee did not do the same thing to the discus. The shadow area to weight ratio of the discus actually increases as the weight decreases. The ratio for the 2k discus is .19 and ratio of the 1k is .26.
“Even though these ratios are somewhat lower than for javelins, the discus has a much more efficient aerodynamic shape than the javelin so that this ratio increase provides significant satisfaction for the older discus thrower. Even at 20 to 30 meters a good flight makes a significant difference in distance.
“Having stated all the above, I am an advocate of all masters using the same weight implements at all ages. Throwing an implement isn’t all that much different than throwing ones body over a bar or into the long jump pit. Jumpers don’t get a new lighter weight body every few years to throw around.
“Even runners, for the most part keep running the same distances. Jumpers’ heights and distances just keep getting lower and lower every year and runners times keep getting slower and slower. They don’t get discouraged and quit; they just accept it and and go on. Why should the throwers be the only privileged group in masters track and field?
“Let the 90-year-old men throw the 16 lb. shot. All the masters women have been throwing the same discus since the beginning of masters track and field. I think all masters throwers should be on an equal footing when it comes to implement weight. That way we can monitor our decline rate better and know where we really stand with regard to fitness.”