American Big Guys Throwing Team A Not for Profit Organization Established 1989
Weekly Training Sessions
These sessions follow the training year. We start the year in June with summer throwing where you have an opportunity to throw the hammer and javelin along with the shot and disc to prepare for the summer season USATF and AAU meet series. That period ends some time in October when the weather sends us indoors. Fortunately we have access to the upstairs gym at the school where we have netting and platforms, we stay indoor till late February. During indoor we work on the technical issues that need correcting with drills and full throws. When we go back outside our training is designed to have you ready for the sectional thru state meets which ends the school season and we start summer throwing again.
We are for girls and boys from the 12y/o through 12th grade along with Open and Masters throwers. The coaching is from Gary England who has over 40 years of throws coaching experience with girls and boys and has had everything from state champs to national champs to USA Team members, see bio on this site. We recently lost the other half of our coaching staff, my father Jerry coached for 27 years in college and eight in Indiana high schools. Known as the Godfather of the throws in Indiana, his throwers have and still hold many of Indiana's record throws. He will be missed but his throwing spirit, it lives on at our ring.
Lessons are on Sunday at 2:00. To get one of those slots you need to do orientation at the 1:30, this is once so the program and system can be explained along with facility rules and needs to be scheduled in advance, it is a one time fee of $20. After that you can join the session and that fee is $40 Cash Only. We are located at Center Grove Middle School Central. 4900 W Stones Crossing Rd. Greenwood IN.
Throwing Equipment
If you are serious about throwing there are some things you will need to survive in the Mid-West. You will need the proper clothing, shoes, accessories and implements of your own. If at the end of high school career you no longer want your implements ABG will provide a letter of donation for them. You don't need to buy this all at once and probably have much of it so all you need to do is have a Throwing Bag to keep it all together.
Shot Put-1 shot of your competitive weight*and 1 around 1k heavier.
Indoor Shot - Hadar is the prefered indoor implement
Discus-1 Disc of your competitive weight ** and 2 practice discs ***
Throwing shoes - I suggest the cheapest Nikes you can find****
Rain Suit - This is where you don't want to go cheap.
Crew Neck Heavy Sweatshirt
Heavy Sweat Pants
Long Sleeve Cotton T Shirts
Plenty of heavy socks
Clean Hand Towel
Container of Magnesium Carbonate
Throwing Bag- For all of your stuff
Throws Bags- For your implements
There are links to supply companies on the contact page
and I have always had good luck with OnTrack
*Lathe Turned Iron, cheap is good
**Under $100, they can get in the $300's but are not necessary, YET!
***Around $30 steel and plastic
****Ebay, Eastbay
INFORMATION :
Shots- Iron is the metal of choice for a shot because is rusts and dings which create grip, especially with chalk. Make sure they are lath turned, the size depends on the size of your hand but the rule of thumb is, the larger the shot the more the mass is spread out, you should also stamp the adjustment plug for permanent ID..
Discus- Practice discs should be two things, durable and cheap, a beginning competition disc should not cost over $90.00. There are $300 plus discs out there and some day you hope you will need one. Pick one side of the discus and make it the top side so it always goes against the hand. This keeps a smooth feel and look, you should also stamp the inner disc for permanent ID.
Shoes- I designed the technology into the original Nike throwing shoes and it has not changed much since 1992, it has a toe plate in it that makes it easy to turn in, I suggest the cheapest pair I can find on ebay or eastbay. If you go with another brand try to get one with a toe plate.
I am taking orders for my hand made throwing bags that will last a career, contact Gary to get on the list.