Tom Petranoff started playing baseball at the age of five he quickly became good throwing pitching and hitting he started in Little League and then pony league and then played in high school and through 90 miles an hour. He received a scholarship at ball State University 1976 he did not like the coach or the school so he transferred to Southern California school Palomar College in San Marcos California. This is where his Javelin career started and he would pitch batting practice once a week as cross training for his javelin throwing this is where he was clocked throwing 103 102 101 By San Diego Padres and offered contract.  He declined because he has two children and would have to start double a ball in Yuma Arizona. Hot as hell

 

Tom’s throwing style was developed using baseball footballs rocks snowballs anything that we could throw we threw.

 

Tom has also turn on the softball in the junior Olympics when he was 15 in through 315 feet set the record For junior Olympics. He also played professional softball in the Chicago leagues during his summers away from college he played in the left or center field and good batter as well. He played 16 inch softball in the  league as well which is huge ball no gloves. This experience has helped Thom develop his throwing skills over the years

 

Injuries:

 

Tom Petranoff’s  sporting success can be attributed to managing to stay injury free and healthy throughout his two-decade javelin career.  He learned early in on that he needed to learn how to throw with weak side throwing and two handed throwing drills. Volume training at all intensities was crucial in developing good stroke and velocity. Plus prevent injury. He threw for 20 plus years and no injuries ever!

 

Throwing events require all-round athleticism and coordination as well as flexibility, agility and then add power and strength.   Power, speed, accuracy, control and strength are essential, but without proper technique and mechanics, throwers are prone to suffer injuries to elbows, shoulders. The explosive block and involuntary movement that your looking for to throw far is called stretch reflex.  Serape core torque effect that creates a chain reaction of energy. To find it you must do the reps and put in the volume to get the whip and bump of stretch reflex action.  Baseball pitching and throwing early in my life help set me up my stroke and arm speed which is very important to throwing javelin.  I learned how to get stretch reflex action from torque developed at my lock and block action. Loading the energy behind the CG and letting the coil unwrap itself,. The whip! It takes 10,000 to get good and 100k to get real good and million to get world class.  

 

It is important to listen to your body when you do sports. Learn when to rest and when to push it. To understand the signs and feedback that your body gives you, in terms of rest and training, of pain, of tiredness, of food you eat. Discuss this with your coaches or parents during training, keep an agenda of the training and testing them regularly to see what they are good and what is weak. Fix weakness first and maintain strengths. It is important to communicate with your coach, tell them how you are doing, how your body is feeling.  Get enough rest! Your body must be fresh for training as this is the only way to improve your performance. Sometimes you will need to take a day or two off and relax, let your body recover from the strenuous training program. Be aware over training is not good.  If you have sore or tired body ads risk in training. You must listen to your body and take the necessary rest when is needed.  

 

You don’t need to throw every day, all the time, as your mind will get tired and bored. We would swim three days a week to recover and keep loose in shoulders.  

Most injuries do happen when you are not focused on the task you need to do or when you add speed or strength to your training routine. You must stay focused on fixing weaknesses and building your foundation with many reps at 40-50 60 percent max over and over until perfect it. Then go 70 and 80 perfect your stroke then the throw will come easy and no risk of injury. 

 

 

Core strength: 

 

Upper body:

Shoulders, elbow, biceps and triceps must be building up in order to throw well. There are tons of good exercises that you can do with the rubber band, the med ball, and using body weight.