 Style versus mechanics. When you see elite throwers, one of the things people do is they tend to say, I want to throw like so-and-so, and I want to throw like so-and-so. Well, what you want to realize is that so-and-so and so-and-so tend to be thrown the same way. What we're going to talk about in this video is the difference between style and mechanics, how to not get confused, and that's going to help you throw farther faster. So check it out. Hey, it's Eric Johnson, and in today's video, we are going to talk about an important concept that I've talked about for years. From the very beginning of the throwing chain reaction, one of the things we have talked about is style versus mechanics. So what's the difference? Well, here back in the day, I'm old enough where everybody used to say the following. Do you do Wilkins or do you do Powell? Back in the day, I had the argument even as a young thrower, because if you can't tell by now, I'm a very detailed, throwing obsessed guy. So I used to study all of this stuff, and I watched so much video, it was crazy. So point is, back then, I came to the conclusion, these guys have different styles. Mechanically, they're doing all the same thing. So the basis of the throwing chain reaction system is a mechanics-based system. The system shows you how to understand the throw. How do we look at that throw in two seconds? How do we actually identify the things that are going on? What are the points and the objectives in the throw? Hence our six pillars. Pillar one is a location. Every throw has an objective. In that pillar has an objective, and then we have the positions that are necessary to achieve that objective. So pretty simple. So in today's world landscape, let's look at some different styles. So let's look at the discus first, and here's a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Mechanically, my argument is that physics, we create rotation onto an angle to create this linear motion across the ring. We have rotational angular linear movement in our throws. With the exception of the glide, we don't have a whole bunch of rotation. Very linear throw. But in the rotational throws, the discus in the shot put, we're going to argue that the mechanics are very universal amongst throwers, and what you want to get focused on is that they're all doing the same thing. Just recently, I had a short conversation with Dorell Hill, and he used to talk about when he used to look at YouTube videos, the one thing he would look for is what is everybody doing generally the same, because that's what he was going to try to emulate. And that was a very good point, and that goes to the mechanical argument that I'm referring to. When we look at discus throws, let's look at three female throwers. Let's look at Nadine Mueller, Sandra Perkovich, Denia Caballero from Cuba. So we're going to look at those three, and you're going to notice, again, stylistically, there's differences, how they move. But mechanically, one of the key things is that you're going to see, is you're going to see them, how they all set, right? They're all going to get to a stopping point. Perkovich is more here, Caballero's more here, Mueller's more kind of come up. But what you're all going to see is them going through their pillar two, moving around the axis, creating what we refer to as our drop in and applying speed. They're sprinting into the middle. They all create an axis transition, getting into the second single support, which we call, again, the pillar four or five. And so then you're going to see how they all crank through. Caballero is a reversing thrower, and Mueller and Perkovich are non-reversing throwers. So the thing is, though, they're all mechanically essentially doing the same thing. They all have different body structures. They all have different movement styles. Again, the key that we always focus on, and we've always taught in the system, is you have to learn mechanically. And then when you start to develop mechanically, and you're understanding the throw, and you're hitting those better positions, you're going to start developing your own style. And that's key. And if you look at our throwers at Arete Throws Nation, you're going to see style similarities, and you're going to see a lot of differences as well. The different throwers have different things. And I always coach my throwers to do certain things the same, to set up mechanical positions, and then different things that are going to work for them. So this past year, you're going to look at, I had Joe Lee, who was a discus thrower of ours, who was 101 footer at the end of his junior year, and he threw 171 feet this year as a senior in high school. Well, if you notice his start, it's going to be very controlled and static, not super short. He's like 6'2", stocky, strong, fast kid. And then we had another thrower. So if we compare Joe, we're going to have our guy Sterling. Sterling improved, like you said, 20 feet, and Joe improved 70 feet. So what we had to do with Sterling is we kind of looked at like a Lars Riedel style where we see the arm. And if you look at Lars Riedel, you're going to notice how his windup was real controlled. And then when you look at Joe, we had more of a controlled start that we would say would be more like a Gerd Cantor. So we're looking at these things, but again, mechanically, we were trying to do the same thing, and that's what's really vital. And I think you'll see the same thing when you look at somebody like Durell Hill and Ryan Krauser and you look at them side by side. Again, we talked about they have different styles on how they wind, but what they're doing are very similar things. Their hips are in very similar positions. Their axes are in very similar positions. How they both sprint into the middle of the throw is very similar. Again, style differences, but mechanically, very much the same. And I think that's really important. So when you guys are looking through YouTube or you're watching our videos and you're looking at world-class throwers and you want to emulate people, that's often what a lot of throwers do. I'm going to try to throw like this guy. What you're really emulating is style because mechanically, the best throwers in the world are pretty much all doing the same thing. And so whether it's the rotational shot, the disc is for the glide. Again, we talk about three different start styles looking at Michewski versus Storal, looking at Michelle Carter versus Valerie Adams. You'll notice that all of these throwers have different styles, but mechanically, once you line them up into Power Spish, especially for the gliders, you're going to see that it's all pretty much the same thing at that point. You're going to see those things, but the start style is different, but how they're entering into the power position. So that's the key. One of the things I thought it was a good video to do and kind of talk about style and mechanics, don't get them confused, don't think you're doing something differently. They're all doing the same thing. And I think that's a really important note. So again, hopefully if you liked today's video, be sure to give us a thumbs up, subscribe, hit that share button, share it with some peeps. Thanks so much. Throw some comments below on videos you'd like to see in the future, and we will see you on the next video. Be sure to check out our next videos. Be sure to subscribe. Visit our website for free videos. Click the links below. We have links to our free mini course. Check out our websites for camps and different detailed information. Throw farther faster by understanding the science with the Throwing Chain Reaction System. Thanks so much for watching.