Anyone watching the NCAA Championships or a big international meet like the Worlds might be forgiven for thinking that the glide shot technique is no longer a viable way to win medals–at least for male throwers.
And while that may be true at the highest levels of the sport, the fact remains that for many high school athletes the glide is a more comfortable and effective approach to putting the shot.
So, those of us who coach high schoolers need a full understanding of the glide technique and how to teach it.
But with many college programs abandoning the glide altogether, it can be difficult to find an experienced and successful throws coach to give us some insight into how best to approach the glide.
Luckily, one of the featured presenters at the 2020 ITCCCA clinic is Scott Cappos from the University of Nebraska.
Scott grew up in Oak Lawn, and was Illinois state champion in the shot in 1987. He then went on to throw for Indiana University and was twice Big Ten shot put champ.
Scott won each of those titles using the rotational technique, but for most of his high school career he was a glider, and his coach at Oak Lawn High School was George Dunn–possibly the best glide shot coach this country has produced at any level.
Throughout his twenty-five-year coaching career, Scott has practiced and refined the glide concepts he learned from Coach Dunn, and he will share them in a presentation titled “Why the Glide Still Matters” on day one of this year’s clinic.
According to Scott, this presentation will be “designed for beginning and intermediate level coaches focusing on proper technique development with coaching points and simple teaching progressions.”
Scott will return on the clinic’s second day to discuss rotational technique and general training for high school throwers.
Each of these sessions should be of great value to the high school coach.
Go here for more info on this year’s clinic. I hope to see you there!