Javelin

This chapter focuses on coaching or teaching the basic throwing technique for javelin. Although the example I use here draws on my experiences of teaching undergraduate pre-service teachers the ideas are clearly applicable, and adaptable, to coaching contexts. The chapter draws on a unit of work I developed for pre-service teachers at the University of Melbourne (Australia) on throwing. It used an experiential, inquiry-based pedagogical approach aimed at having students understand the core principles of throwing as a basis for teaching them how to throw the javelin. As part of a physical education teacher education programme the sessions were aimed at showing the pre-service teachers one way of adopting an inquiry-based approach to teaching throwing events in physical education. The first session focused on developing an experience-based, comprehensive

understanding of four principles of throwing that would inform learning the basics of how to throw the javelin. The knowledge and skill developed in the sessions discussed here could also form the basis for teaching other throwing events in athletics such as the javelin, shot put and discus, as well as throwing as a skill in team sports such as softball, cricket and handball. The pedagogical approach I took emphasized experience and was athlete-centred and inquiry-based in nature. In school settings this unit would be aimed at students in their first few years of secondary school (junior high school). This unit of work focused on the ‘root movements’ of throwing upon which

the ensuing, more detailed, teaching of technique was based and with an aim of maximizing release velocity. This understanding of how power is generated is developed through experience, reflection and dialogue, with an emphasis on how it feels, and provides the core knowledge that the students or athletes can draw on to develop into independent learners. Along with social interaction with peers, it provides some of the resources that learners can draw on to meet the challenges involved in learning or improving throwing technique in javelin or other throwing

events. Drawing on Antonovsky’s (1979) ideas, this helps make the challenge of the tasks involved comprehensible and manageable for athletes, which contributes towards making learning positive.