The discus.

is flat like the earth was 500 years ago. You see, I'm as ignorant as Vincenzo Galilei and Guilia Ammannati Vincenzo, the proud parents to the little Galileo. I know that I do not know a thing, my friend. But you want to know, how it's done. Well, look at this

It looks easy, doesn't it? I tried it with a flat stone, almost fell on my face and the stupid stone ricocheted towards some windows, the whole action hurting like hell. But still, I got a 1.5 kg Discus for my age group, at least that one I got right. Also, I got the video and a few books trying to explain something that sounds very complicated, to say the least.

In addition , I downloaded some information from the web and who doesn't? Actually, what would we be if it were not to the web? Heavy question, of course, but if you learn to pick the useful from the useless and/or find the useful in the first place, you get information that even five years ago would have been almost be impossible to obtain. So, three cheers for the web!

By the way, I'll keep you informed on my progress. So far, I'm bowling the thing up a slight hill while rolling it off my index finger and not my pinky. And yes, I'm throwing it straight in the air while practicing the correct grip and the index finger thing. I'm alive.

In the world of the old Greeks the discus thrower was the embodiment of an athlete. Well, I'm not there yet. But I have to admit the discus is one challenging adventure that I really like. I made and still make progress, luckily all in the right direction. I truly make progress in the standing throw. I also practice the starting position, the first turn, the second turn, the shifts of the center of gravity, and all other aspects of a good throw. I still make mistakes, mainly in the acceleration phase of the discus. I feel the placement of my foot in the center of the ring is too passive and I miss landing on the balls of my foot a bit too often, again slowing down the movement of the throw. I use the upper body too much, not throwing from the ground up, at least not enough. I'm not Al Oerter.

Nevertheless, sometimes, the flight of the discus looks as follows. And that makes me happy.: