Throwing sports

Throwing sports and throwing games are physical, human competitions where the outcome is measured by a player's ability to throw an object.

The two primary forms are throwing for distance and throwing at a given target or range. The four most prominent throwing for distance sports are in track and field: shot put, discus, javelin, and the hammer throw. Target-based sports have two main genres: bowling and darts, each of which have a great number of variations.

History Throwing sports have a long history. Modern track and field comes from a lineage of activities that dates to the Ancient Olympic Games. Artwork from Ancient Greece, in the form of friezes, pottery and statues, attests to the prominence of such sports in the society's physical culture.Rosenbaum, Mike. A Brief History of Throwing Events. Track and Field About. Retrieved on 2015-03-16. Antiphon describes phaininda (φαινίνδα) as an ancient Greek ball game in which the players deliberately tried to throw the ball to someone who was not expecting it.Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Phaininda

Bowling games have similarly ancient roots. Games based on throwing stone balls in Ancient Egypt date to 5000 BCE, and a form of bocce is documented in Ancient Rome.Introductory Manual. World Bowls. Retrieved on 2015-03-16. The game of catch (throwing and catching an object between players) is among the most basic of all games and is a key component of many modern, complex sports and games. Its dodgeball variant is a basic throwing game where the opponent is the target.Dodgeball. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved on 2015-03-16.

Projectiles used in such sports are highly varied. Common projectile types include balls, darts, sticks, discs and rings. Formalised throwing sports often have strictly defined criteria for projectiles, such as a pre-determined size and weight.IAAF CERTIFICATES - Certified Competition Throwing Implements. IAAF (2015). Retrieved on 2015-03-16.DRA Rule Book. Professional Darts Corporation (May 2012). Retrieved on 2015-03-16. Less formalised games are usually not as strict and some games (for example, pitching pennies and horseshoes) incorporate everyday objects into the game, reflecting the simplistic roots of the pastimes.

Most throwing sports use a defined field of play (including an area players may throw an object from, and an area where the object should fall) and a specific throwing method. Common one-armed throwing methods include overhand throwing (releasing with the arm above the shoulder) and underarm throwing (releasing with the arm below the shoulder). With both arms, overhead throwing and chest-passing are common actions.Fontenot, Andrew. Four Types of Ball Throws (blacklisted link). EHow. Retrieved on 2015-03-16. The type of throw used is highly influenced by the properties of the projectile: small, heavy objects are held and pushed away from the body (e.g. shot put); handled objects are swung and released with one or two hands (e.g. weight throw, keg toss);Keg Toss. Bodybuilding. Retrieved on 2015-03-16.Weight throw. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved on 2015-03-16. smaller, lighter objects such as balls and darts tend to use an extended overarm technique where distance or speed is required, and an underarm technique where greater precision is required. In these sports, most throws are taken from a static position or limited area. However, some sports do include a short run-up to the throw line, for example javelin throw and tenpin bowling.Javelin. Brian Mac Sports Coach. Retrieved on 2015-03-16.Delivering the Ball (the Run-Up). Capital District Tenpin Bowling Association. Retrieved on 2015-03-16.

Standardised throwing sports typically have high-level competitions across regions and a sports governing body, with the most common and international varieties having a world championship and a professional circuit.Shot Put. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-03-16.William Hill World Darts Championship. Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved on 2015-03-16.. World Bowling. Retrieved on 2015-03-16. Those that are less standardised in format tend not to have highly organised competition and instead are played in a more casual or social setting. Throwing games with prizes are common funfair and carnival games, with varieties including ring toss and coconut shy games.Kirchheimer, Sid (2012-07-17). 7 Rigged Carnival Games. AARP. Retrieved on 2015-03-16.

The act of throwing is an element of many sports, particularly ball games – such as handball, basketball and codes of football – and bat-and-ball games, such as cricket and baseball. The throwing of an opponent is also a key feature of some martial arts and grappling sports.Throws/Takedowns. Black Belt. Retrieved on 2015-03-16. In these sports, the throwing aspect is just one part of a more complex system of rules. As throwing ability does not in itself determine the outcome, these are not strictly defined as throwing sports.

List of throwing sports Throwing for distance

Track and field Discus throw (Olympic sport) Hammer throw (Olympic sport) Javelin throw (Olympic sport) Shot put (Olympic sport) Weight throw (former Olympic sport) Throws pentathlon – a combined track and field event comprising the above five events Softball throw Club throw (Paralympics) Frisbee Boomerang Dwarf-tossing Keg-tossing Mobile phone throwing Sheaf toss Stone put Steinstossen

Two-handed throwing

In events where one hand is used to throw the object, a "two-handed" contest may be staged wherein each competitor's score is the sum of the distance thrown with left and right hand. Such contests were staged at the 1912 Olympics (in discus, shot, and javelin) and at the Women's World Games in the 1920s.

Target sports

Board targets Axe throwing Darts Knife throwing Disc golf

Bowling Alley bowling Tenpin Nine-pin Five-pin Candlepin bowling Duckpin bowling Kegel Trick bowling Turkey bowling Boules Basque bowls Bocce Bocce volo Boccia Bolas criollas Bolo palma Jeu provençal a.k.a. boule lyonnaise Bowls a.k.a. lawn bowls Pétanque Taistelupetankki

Skittles Bunnock Finnish skittles Fowling Gorodki Kubb Mölkky

Aunt Sally Bean bag throwing Cherokee marbles Chunkey Coconut shy Cornhole Horseshoes Irish road bowling Ladder toss Lawn darts Milk bottle pyramid Pitching pennies Ring toss Quoits Svaika Tin can alley Washer pitching

Other varieties Caber toss – a competitor throws a large pole (the caber), which must fall pointing away from the throwerHighland Games Traditions. Scotland.org. Retrieved on 2015-03-16. Catch – a basic throwing game, where players throw and catch an object between one another Dodgeball – players try to strike opponents with a ball to eliminate them Keep away – catch game where players must keep the object away from another player Flying disc games – a genre of throwing sports based on flying discs, and containing a large number of games and rule-sets Stone skipping⁣ – competitors skip stones on water for both distance and number of skips Net and wall sports Hooverball Jollyball Loofball Throwball

See also

List of jumping activities Juggling Running

References