The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 21

Singles Tournaments

My First Tournament — When I decided to enter my first tournament I contacted the tournament director to establish a ringer average. I was advised to get there about 1 hour prior to the event. I arrived at 8:00 a.m. and was assigned one of the tournament officials. I was to warmup and throw 50 horseshoes for my ringer average. I threw 11 ringers for a 22% ringer average. The ringer average would be used to make the appropriate class assignment. Next was to join the NHPA and pay the tournament fee.

Subsequent Tournaments — Participating in tournaments is the best way to validate your progress. There are basically two different registration processes. Some tournaments are walk-up registration and others are pre-registration. It is important to know the difference. There are pros and cons to each for the tournament director. If you are required to pre-register you may or may not have to include your registration fee with your registration. You will be notified when to report for the tournament. That’s good for you, but, sometimes means that registrants don’t show up. That’s bad for the director, meaning he must sometimes reset classes at the last minute. Walk-up registration allows the director to establish classes and participant based on actual registrants who sign up. That’s good for the director, but, sometimes bad for you. If there are too many signups you may have to wait until a later session. On accasion I have arrived at 8:00 a.m. and not started pitching until about 2:00 p.m. Makes for a long day. However, you can always keep score, make a couple of bucks for paying for your scorekeeper when you pitch later. Speaking of paying for your scorekeeper…the fee is usually established by the director and varies between $.50 and $1.00 per pitcher per game. In general, it is up to the scorekeeper if he keeps the money, but, each pitcher should offer it.

Tournament Preliminaries — When all registrants are known the tournament director will assign classes based on ringer average. He will complete individual scorecards for the various classes. In general, Class A pitchers have the highest ringer averages. If there are too many pitchers for the available pits, the director will hold a draw to determine the classes pitching the first session. The remainder will have to wait until the first session is finished. Prior to the distribution of scorecards, the director will broadcast the number of points and number of horseshoes pitched for each class. Typically, Class A and B matches will be based on 40 points and unlimited shoes. Classes C and below are usually restricted to 40 points or 50 shoes whichever comes first. Ties after 50 shoes are usually resolved by a “up and back” frame until a winner is determined. Below is the front and back of the individual player scorecard. In this case, mine. Select either for a larger view.

Front and Back of Tournament Scorecard

Scorecard inside Left and Right

The scorecard above contains the results of the session. The thing to note are the pit assignments (1 thru 4) and the number of competitors (9). You then go to the 9 competitor chart, mark pits 1 thru 4 over each column and circle your player number (1). You may have noticed that the scorecard says “Use the 7 Player Schedule.” After scorecard distribution, a change required a switch to the 9 Player Schedule. After each match the scorekeeper records the results on each competitors scorecard. I have blurred the competitors names on my last tournament scorecard. Individual scorecards are retained by each competitor for personal records. The scorekeeper then turns in the score sheet to the director for posting the results.

Score Keeping — It is important to learn how to keep score. Additionally, you will need to learn the local lingo. In general, the competitor winning the points will call them to the scorekeeper. Typical lingo might be something like this…”4 dead” — two ringers each, no points; “3 ringers 3″ — cancelled ringer for each player and 3 point ringer for the caller; “ringer each penny” — cancelled ringer each player and 1 point for the caller; “draw a line” — no points for either player. In addition to keeping the scoresheet, you will need to add points to the score board so that each competitor and the audience can follow the score. There are many occasions when there is no scorekeeper available. It will be up to you and your competitor to decide who keeps score. By tradition, one keeps score and the other calls the score and picks up the shoes. Below is an example of the NHPA approved scoring along with rules pertaining to scorekeeping…

Click for NHPA Score Sheet.

Competing in a Tournament — My tournament competition begins the previous day. On hot summer days I usually purchase two bottles of Gatorade. One goes into the refrigerator and one to the freezer. I get up early enough to get a good breakfast and don’t want to rush doing anything. In the morning I transfer the refrigerated bottle to my thermos and the frozen bottle to my carry along bag. I throw in my sun block and bug repellant. Before I start pitching I spray under the bill of my cap to keep the pesky bugs away. I make sure I lather on the sunblock when I arrive. I also carry along a folding chair with a cover if the location is predominantly in the sun. In my bag, I also include a metal file for burrs, along with a towel, a pair of horseshoes with a spare (you’ll be in trouble if you break a shoe without a spare), pitching gloves if you use them, a measuring device for ringers and points, my shoe retriever, and finally, a baster. Yep, a baster, sometimes you will find too much water in the pit from overnight rains. It’s about the only thing I’ve found to rapidly empty rain water. You simply channel all the water into a hole and suck out the water.

Maintaining Your Pits — If you are a flipper, you must maintain the clay properly. First, paint the stake. Next, water down each pit and bring the clay up to level. You never want to leave a depression in front of the stake. Your shoe will sometimes flip over backwards when you hit the base of the stake, if you leave the depression. After turning the clay, sprinkle a little additional water on the clay. I make it a point to check how solid the stake is. A loose stake will reject lots of shoes. If that is the case, concentrate on hitting the stake low, no higher than 7 inches above the ground. The photo below is an attempt to show an unwanted depression in front of the stake.

Depression in Front

The Match Begins — Once you’ve worked the clay and painted the stake, you’re ready to begin. Traditionally, each pitcher will do a “down and back.” This involves pitching two shoes down and pitching two shoes back, for practice. The match will begin after you decide who goes first. This usually involves flipping a shoe and have the competitor call “up or down”, or “head or tails”, or maybe “I’ll match you”, and each flip. The winner pitches first. Rules state you must wait behind the backboard while your competitor is pitching. Even there, make sure your shadow does not encroach into your competitors vision. Be courteous at all times. If you are pitching from 30 feet on the left approach, don’t step to the approach if a 40 foot pitcher is pitching to your immediate left. On many occasions it will be necessary to measure for a ringer. The tips of the horseshoe must be beyond the stake. If a straight edge touches each tip and the stake, it is NOT a ringer. It must be beyond the stake. Points are measured as non-ringers that are within 6 inches of the stake and closer than your competitors. Don’t make the mistake of measuring with the width of the horseshoe. NHPA rules state 6 inches. Single points are extremely important and may make the difference in a win or loss. Complement your competitor when called for. Shake hands to start and when finished.

Your Day Is Done — After you’re done, make sure you take the time to thank the volunteers. It takes tremendous effort on the part of the tournament committee to get everything ready. Complement them on the condition of the facility if appropriate. If you’ve collected a few extra bucks for scorekeeping, tip the refreshment folks. Consider buying items sponsored by the venue, i.e., shirts, shoe retriever, scorecards, horseshoes, etc. Finally, enjoy the experience.

Doubles Tournaments

There are two categories of doubles tournaments, “Walking” and “Stationary.” The most common is stationary, meaning that partners pitch from opposite ends and do not change ends after each frame. However, it means that the same pair of horseshoes is used by each partner. In walking doubles, each partner uses their own horseshoes and switches ends after each frame. The scoresheet is slightly different having columns for each participant and columns for the combined partner score. By tradition, the two highest ringer average pitchers will pitch against each other at the same end and will be known as the Class A competitors. The two other lower average competitors will be Class B. The Class A competitors start the match.

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The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 20

My Current Pitching Method

If you have read any of my previous parts, you know that I am a strong advocate of the pendulum swing. I believe it offers the best chance of a repeating swing directly at the stake. So, below I describe each aspect of my setup, swing and release. During the 2009 pitching season I was forced to make a major swing change because of a knee problem. Actually, this was a blessing in disguise. It forced me to eliminate the deep knee bend that I was previously using. I will describe the change below.

The Setup

As I have mentioned before, there are some fixed locations which you can take advantage of. Fairly constant from site to site is the width of the approach. I use this fact for foot alignment purposes.

Placement of Feet

Starting Position — The photo is of my backyard approach. My left heel is placed at the edge of the approach with my left toe pointing directly at the end-up location. Note the string to the right that follows the center of gravity of the horseshoe as it hangs down at my side. The location of the line of flight string is derived by the location the horseshoe as it rests against my leg. I will explain why this is important a little later. Also note the red line that is parallel to the line of flight. This red line represents the direction of my step forward. This location insures that my right shoulder follows the line of flight. The toe outline at the end of the red line is where I want my left foot to end up, which is directly in line with right foot and insures balance during release.

Location of My Left Foot at Release

Left Foot at Release — It is imperative that my left foot end up precisely in line with my right foot. When I release the horseshoe, I always check the location of my left foot on the approach. Without fail, when I miss a bit right my left foot will have crossed over the end point. If my left foot goes too far to the right, my shoulder is sure to follow, thus, missing right.

Using the shoe retriever for distance.

Distance from Foul Line — Determining the left foot relationship to the foul line is easily determined with my shoe retriever. The photo below shows how I can measure my forward step using the retriever. My shoe retriever is NHPA approved and is 33″ long. Some tournament directors do not disapprove of marking your foot position with a chalk line. So, carry one in your bag in case you can mark the line. Otherwise, you’ll have to use some method to find your spot and use some point of reference on the approach or the grass. Eventually, you’ll have a feel for the proper distance and can easily pace it off. It’s a bit easier if you’re pitching from 40 feet. The stake is usually halfway between the backboard and foul line. So, use the stake or backboard as your reference point. Some tournament sites will mark the assumed stake location for 30 foot pitchers.

Shoe resting against my right leg

Settling In — Once I have taken my grip, positioned my feet, I extend my right arm until I feel a slight tightening of my tricep and rest the shoe against my right leg. I will sometimes tap the shoe against my leg to establish the mental relationship between the shoe and my right leg. This is an important aspect of my swing. Even though the photo doesn’t show it properly, the center of gravity of the shoe and my left thumb are directly over the line of flight. If I swing the shoe up to my visual alignment location to the right of the stake and pass it as close as possible to my right leg on the downswing, I know that I am swinging on the line of flight. This setup and swing virtually eliminates a shoe going to the right of the stake.

The Swing Cadence — When I am ready I begin a mental cadence or rhythm — 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and 2 and 3 and 4… I swing up to my visual alignment point and without stopping start the downswing, passing the shoe close to my right leg, and hit my backswing stop point. To this point I have not moved anything other than my arm. When I hit my backswing stop point, I step forward as I begin the forward swing, hit my end-point and release the shoe. When I start my step forward I try to move directly at the stake. I hold my release position until the shoe reaches the stake, look down and make a mental note of my left foot position. During the entire swing I am trying to remain in rhythm. I want the upswing, backswing and forward swing to be in time with the cadence. If the speed of the cadence is correct, the horseshoe will travel the correct distance.

Troubleshooting — I never want to think “What am I doing?”, when I miss a ringer. With the technique I have described I can immediately determine what caused the problem. Granted, it may be a couple of things, but, I will know which couple. Let’s assume the shoe arrives short and left. If my left foot is at the correct end-point at release, the “left” problem is the shoe passed too far to the right of my leg going back. If my cadence was normal, the “short” problem implies I released the shoe too early. If my cadence was too slow, I need to speed it up a bit. I have developed a little “flowchart” to indicate a problem and possible cause. Select the link below for a simple flowchart.

Flowchart for Troubleshooting

Swing Change (Old Method) — I mentioned above about making a major swing change. Prior to my knee problem I would swing my arm up to a stationary position parallel to the ground and pointing at my visual alignment point. I would start the backswing by bending my upper body forward directly the stake. That move would drop my arm downward and begin the backswing. That would also drop my body into a lower release position and cause the shoe to come in very low. What was disconcerting was when I held the arm stationary I could see how nervous I was. In addition, it would place a lot of pressure and weight on my left knee as I bent forward. I had to make a change.

Swing Change (New Method) — I decided if I wanted to emulate the pendulum then why not swing like one. I also wanted to eliminate the deep knee bend. After I have taken my stance and rested the horseshoe on my leg, I begin my mental rhythmic cadence. I swing the shoe up to my visual alignment point to the right of the stake and slightly higher than the top of the stake. Without pause I allow the shoe to drop into the downswing and carry it to my backswing stop point. Up to this point I have not moved anything except my arm…up, down, back. When I hit my backswing stop point I begin the step forward trying to remain in cadence. At the end of my forward swing I simply let the shoe go. It is important that when I start the forward swing I have not moved my right leg from it’s setup location. This insures that I can use my right leg as a directional aid both during downswing and forward swing. In the end, I want my arm to swing exactly as the pendulum of a clock, everything in time. So that’s it for now…I hope to make Part 21 my preparation for a tournament, the preparation of the pit between matches and keeping score.

Continue to Part 21

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The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 19

The 2009 Season — A Critique

This has been a very interesting 2009 pitching season. I had set my goal for the year to finish with a 60% ringer average. I didn’t quite make it, but, I’m happy with a 55.67% ringer average. I participated in every tournament in Maryland, with one more this coming Saturday.

I’ve had a great tournament season, with some ups and some downs. As of this date, I have accumulated the most points in the Maryland Points Challenge, based on tournament finishing placement. This is a nice award developed by the Maryland Horseshoes Pitchers Association to encourage participation in sanctioned Maryland tournaments.

Three New Horseshoe Designs Ready for Production

I’ve spent a fair amount of time working on my horseshoe designs. Lots of testing, refining, retesting and I’ve finally completed three (3) additional designs. I’m hoping to send off the new designs to the NHPA for approval within the week. Presently, they will be called the “GrabIt”, “GrabIt PB” and “Cyclops”. All designs are going forward with copyright protection. I have recorded all three shoes with high speed video. The GrabIt and GrabIt PB have the same basic inner design as the Viking, but the outer perimeter is different. The Cyclops is unique, as it has absolutely no location on the inside of the shoe that is square to the line of flight and thus, cannot bounceback.

My goal has always been to provide a horseshoe that will reduce bounceback. However, I’ve always had the Elder, Youth and Woman pitcher in mind as I design. That’s where the “Grabit PB” comes in. I wanted to design a shoe that was light, less than 2 pounds 6 ounces, easily gripped with small fingers and perfectly balanced. The “PB” stands for “Perfect Balance”. The shoe is a little smaller, approximately the size of the Magnet, but, is perfectly balanced front to back. It looks like the smaller sibling to the GrabIt. As soon as I have the copyrights, I’ll publish the photos and the high speed video taken at 420 frames per second of all three.

Designing horseshoes is the easy part. Going into production is much more difficult and expensive. Each time I create a pattern and have it cast as a prototype it costs me $80. To bring the price down to an amount that the pitching public will pay is a much more difficult task. It starts with a master mold for the caster, which is created by a patternmaker, which costs about $1,000 per model. The caster than casts, cleans up, paints, boxes and ships to the customer. Factor in order taking, taxes, web development, etc. and you’ve just about eaten up any profit. Finally, the issue of liability comes into play. The only way you can protect yourself is by incorporating. Now you have to factor in the cost of incorporating, probably Subchapter S, business license, collecting and paying taxes, etc. I forgot to mention the $300 licensing fee paid to the NHPA for each design, for the first calendar year, for each design. Subsequent, years are $100 per design.

So, what to do is up in the air. I’m still trying to decide which way to go. Naturally, selling enough horseshoes to recoup expenses is the goal, in order to go into production. I may simply pay the $300 licensing fee, choose the design that best suits me and use my prototype pair. I’ve already had a number of requests for purchasing the Viking when available, but, I just don’t know. If I do decide to go into production, it will be to make one or more shoes available for the coming year. Thus, the licensing fee will cover 2010.

A Laser Based Pitching Aid

When practicing with the Viking, I noticed that my grip was a bit different over the Imperial Stingers. I had a tendency to exert too much influence by the middle, ring and little finger of my pitching hand. I needed an aid that would show what was happening during the swing. I also needed to insure that I was swinging down the target line directly at the stake. I want to find a laser that would generate a line that was horizontal and vertical. A web search for an inexpensive laser pointer that created a line directed me to a small laser distributed by PSI Woodworking. Amazon carried it for $15.95, plus shipping. It is identified as the PSI LLINEMS2 Laser Line/Dot Cutting Guide. I was not interested in the dot beam. I made a holder for it and mounted it on one of my Vikings. Works perfect. It has two mounting screws on the top that can be loosened and the laser beam can be projected either horizontal or vertical. A few minutes of practice and I could see what was happening. I was not keeping the horseshoe square to the line of flight. Secondly, moving to the vertical line, I was able to see exactly where the shoe should be aligned at address and how to make sure that I remained on the line of flight. I’ll be using this simple device during the winter months for indoor practice. Picture below.

Horizontal/Vertical Line Laser

Continue to Part 20

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The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 18

NHPA Approves The “Viking”

The “Viking” is a reality. After almost a year from concept to completion the new horseshoe can be pitched in all NHPA sanctioned tournaments. I will begin pitching the Viking on August 1st at the “Boss Hoss Cycle Toss” in Frederick, Maryland. The officers of the NHPA reviewed two of my horseshoes on July 26th just before the beginning of the World Finals in Springfield, Illinois.

In addition to the NHPA approval, I also received a U.S. government copyright for the design. I initially sent two different horseshoe designs to the NHPA. The Viking was accepted and the Cyclops was rejected. The Cyclops was rejected because it was 1/8″ too wide. An easily corrected problem, however, I was in the process of making a change to the hook caulks to add a little additional weight.

Herewith the Viking. You may notice that the name is the “Hammer.” The NHPA suggested that I change the name to avoid possible confusion since there was already a “Hummer.” Therefore, I renamed the horseshoe the “Viking.” The copyright was submitted under the name “Hilfling Viking.” Hilfling Horseshoes being the company name should I decide to go into production.

My goal has always been to design a horseshoe for the flip pitcher with design characteristics that reduce, if not eliminate bounceback. Secondly, I wanted to make a shoe that helped the Elder, Woman or Youth pitcher. That meant light, well balanced and easily gripped. So, the horseshoe weighs 2 pounds 6.5 ounces. The thumb caulk is pronounced and has a prominent thumb notch. The weight of the shoe is biased toward the hook caulks by 3/16″. This allows for early rotation, without requiring a flip move with the hand/wrist.

The Parabola

The mathematics of the Parabola was used to calculate the inner surface of the Viking, as with all of my designs. The mathematics of the parabola is used to design a satellite dish. No matter where the signal hits the inner surface of the dish, it will bounce to the same focal point. This is the same logic that is used to design the inside arc of the horseshoe. The theory is that when the horseshoe hits any location about 1″ above the hook caulk, on the inside of the horseshoe, will be deflected toward the two catches to the left and right of the ringer break. If you miss either side, the ringer break will also deflect the horseshoe left or right into the catches. Hitting the stake just above the hook caulk will cause the shoe to be rotated and grabbed by the hook.

The Wings

The tabs to the left and right of the ringer break perform two functions. First, they deflect the horseshoe to the left and right catches. Secondly, they are positioned so that they can support the index and middle finger of the gripping hand. This offers several possibilities for hands with small fingers. I happen to have small fingers and use the right catch for my index finger and the left catch for my middle finger. The ring and little finger supports the underside of the left shank. For added support, you can place the index finger under the right tab and the middle finger under the left tab, or, one or the other.

Gripping the Viking

Below is an example of the most traditional method of gripping the Viking. This grip will encourage an early rotation of the shoe and eliminates any flipping action on my part.

The grip below adds additional support by bracing the shoe with the index finger supporting the shoe on the right tab. You can also support the shoe with the middle finger under the left tab. Either grip will cause the rotation to slow down, which helps for single flips from longer distances.

The grip below adds the maximum support with the index finger under the right tab and the middle finger under the left tab. This grip creates the slowest rotation of the available grips. This grip will help when throwing from 40 feet.

Turning the Viking

Even though I designed this shoe for flipping, several of my Monday night league members have successfully turned the Viking. Traditionally, shoes designed for turning have all caulks on one side. Interestingly, each turned differently, one 3/4, one 1-1/4, and one 1-3/4.

I have just completed the purchase of the Casio FC100, a high speed camera with a built in slow motion and 1,000 frame per second recording speed. I intend to study the reaction of the standard horseshoe against any of my designs, in high speed slow motion. It’s one thing to make claims, it’s another to prove them. I’ll be placing the results on YouTube.

A new video showing the Hilfling Viking is now posted on YouTube. Check it out.

The Hilfling Viking on YouTube recorded at 420 frames per second. Watch how the stake is deflected at impact. Notice how the tab deflects the stake and rebounds into the catch.
Check out Part 2 at 420fps.

NOTE: Two more prototypes have been released for casting. I am expecting the cast versions to be delivered the week of 17 August. Both will undergo high speed camera testing.

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Continue to Part 19

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 17

80% and A New Horseshoe is Born

 
This has been an exciting winter on two fronts. First, I am averaging a consistent 80% ringer average in my backyard blue clay pit. Secondly, I’ve begun to design horseshoes that are specifically designed to reduce or stop bounceback. I will describe the horseshoe creation process first.

While recording the result of each horseshoe thrown, I noticed an unacceptable number of bouncebacks. These were good ringers that bounced off the stake. It was this revelation that was the genesis of my search for a horseshoe that reduced or stopped bounceback. I had no idea what I was getting into.

Why a New Horseshoe?

As I have mentioned before, I was not happy with the number of bouncebacks that should have been ringers, but, bounced off the stake. I had also heard that there had never been a world champion that flipped the horseshoe. Frankly, I don’t know if that’s true, but, it became a challenge to see if I could improve on the odds. I calculated that using a standard “U” shaped horseshoe, without ringer break, provided 3-3/4″ of surface at the back of the shoe that could produce a bounceback. I also surmised that a turner has the advantage of hitting the stake a glancing blow and widens the 3-1/2″ opening by it’s rotation. It was also apparent that back of the horseshoe absorbed the total impact of a flipping shoe. So, was it possible to reduce the speed at impact and reduce the potential of bounceback?

The first problem was developing a prototype that worked, but, also conformed to the specifications established by the NHPA. Weight became the biggest challenge. Trying to add design features and stay within the 2 pounds 10 ounce limit was difficult. Next, trying to find a foundry willing to cast a single prototype at an affordable price was the next challenge. Submitting a pattern that the caster could work with was next.

It was particularly rewarding, then, that on Friday I received Prototype #3. I am particularly excited that it deals with both bounceback and impact speed. Prototype #3 does not completely eliminate bounceback, but, it reduces the potential from 3-3/4″ to 1/8″. It weighs in at 2 pounds 7 ounces. I am now going through the copyright process. Last Wednesday, I sent off Prototype #8 which will not bounceback.

A Horseshoe is Born

First, I was not familiar with the foundry process, i.e., metals, patterns, molding, NHPA specifications, etc. I had an idea for a particular design and turned to the web for help. I joined lots of forums dealing with mathematics, physics, metallurgy, backyard foundries, CNC, RFQ’s, etc., and posted lots of questions, some answered, some not. Thanks to Marcellus Metalcasters of Marcellus, Michigan I have seen the birth of a new horseshoe. Two weeks ago I received the first casting of Prototype #3. It is 2 ounces too heavy, but, I had included provisions for weight reduction and will be receiving a lighter version next week. The weight restriction of 2 pounds 10 ounces significantly restricts any added design features, but, I believe next weeks version will be under the weight restriction.

The heavier pair that I received works exactly as I had hoped. I have been testing this shoe and believe it will reduce bounceback due to it’s shape. The only time I’ve seen a bounceback is when the shoe is over-rotated and hits high on the stake. The shoe is unfinished, no name, and unpainted, but, it works exactly as I had hoped.

During the initial design phase I made contact with one of the major horseshoe manufacturers and received many emails of encouragement and welcomed suggestions. I had considered a royalty arrangement because I didn’t want to go into the horseshoe business. Unfortunately, due to the economic downturn the offer was withdrawn after 4 months. So, right now I’m limited to paying the NHPA licensing fee and pitching them myself.

I am presently working on a very unique design that will absolutely do away with bounceback. My only concern is how it will flip.

UPDATE — My Prototype #3 is back and weighs in at slightly under 2 pounds 8 ounces. The pronounced thumb notch fits my thumb perfectly. I practiced with them for about an hour and became accustomed to them quickly. I had one stretch of 15 ringers in a row. This may be the shoe that I send forward to the NHPA for approval. However, I will await the arrival and testing of my latest shoe.

How I Reached 80%

I continue to follow the belief that the pendulum swing down the target line is my best hope of consistency. It is the only way that I’ve found that permits me to spot and correct mistakes. Below is my method.

The Horseshoe

I am presently using the Imperial Stinger. I will probably switch to the new Snyder Flip-Grip now that it has a thumb notch. I feel that the thumb notch on the Stinger gives me a bit more control. If I pay the licensing fee to the NHPA, I will use my own.

The Setup

I have moved to the left side of the approach and take a single stride. My stance is relaxed and natural with my left foot slightly ahead of the right at about 10 degrees rightward. My right foot is turned at about 35 degrees rightward. This places more weight on my right foot and allows my body to lean rightward slightly. When the horseshoe hangs naturally at my side I want the left edge to point at the edge of the approach. Both points of the horseshoe are parallel to the ground, with the center of gravity of the horseshoe directly over the target line and the horseshoe parallel to the front of the pit. I focus my eyes on a spot at the stake at a point 4″ above the base of the stake and don’t allow my eyes to leave that spot until I hit it with the shoe.

For practice purposes I cover the stake with a black rubber hose with a notch cut out 4″ above the base of the stake. This procedure provides several benefits. One, it saves wear and tear on the stake and horseshoe. Second, it makes you concentrate on the target. Third, if you hit the spot precisely, you get immediate feedback by the sound of metal against metal. Finally, it respects your neighbors peace and quiet. I’ve attached a photo showing this practice aid.

Stake Marker

The Address

I perform a little mini swing to try to maintain a relaxed swing. I swing the horseshoe up until my right arm is parallel to the ground and the left shank of the horseshoe peripherally pointing at a spot 22″ to the right of the stake. This places the center of gravity directly over the line of flight. I pause for just a second.

The Backswing

I release my shoulder and allow the shoe to fall naturally without muscular action. At the same time I start to bend my body forward keeping my eyes focused on the spot and start forward. It is imperative that my head moves directly at the stake. During my practice, I will sometimes focus my eyes on a spot behind the top of the stake and slightly to the left. I want to make sure that my head/eyes move directly at the stake. This insures that my right shoulder follows the target line. As I plant my left foot I release the shoe and do not allow my right toe to leave it’s original position. I have found that I feel more balanced at release if my left foot is planted when the shoe is released. Keeping my right toe planted does two things. First, it establishes my stride and, secondly, naturally slows down the stride forward. It also makes sure you don’t foul. When I finish I have the distinct feeling that I could have released a bowling ball.

That’s it. My American Legion Post 7 league starts on April 20th. I’ll be moving up to 30 feet. It’s a bit awkward at 30 feet since you’re standing in the grass. The first tournament is slated for May 2.

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Continue to Part 18

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 16

Catching Up

It’s been over a month since the completion of Part 15. The weather here in Maryland is slowly getting colder, but, most days I can get in a couple of hours of practice. There has been a major change in my setup, grip and release during this month. I am extremely excited about the coming season. Below is a synopsis of the highlights of the past month.

An Unexpected Award. Shortly after the end of the pitching season, I was notified that I had won a Second Place award from the Maryland Horseshoe Pitching Association. This was an award that was based on points accumulated during sanctioned events held in Maryland. I received a very nice cash award. I will certainly keep this award in mind during next season.

Testing New Shoes. On a recent visit to Fenwick Island, Delaware, I was able to drive up to Dover to visit with Wayne of the Doowop Pro Horseshoe Shop. Wayne has a huge inventory of horseshoes, both used and new. Wayne does not have a website, but, can be reached by email at doowopone@aol.com. I was interested in testing and possibly purchasing some new Mr. D horseshoes. Unfortunately, he only had his personal pair, without ringer break. I was able to test a variety of shoes, both used and new on his side yard. I had been working on a 1/4 clockwise turn and wanted to find a shoe that was more balanced, i.e., not tip heavy. I ended up with a new pair of Big Foots. Before leaving, I was able to sell my pair of Steinfeldts and M&Ms. We pretty much broke even. Anyone interested in a new or used pair of shoes should contact Wayne at his email address above.

New Pit Material — Blue Clay. It became apparent that my Kitty Litter pit material was taking too much maintenance. I was having to add sand after each watering. So, I decided to try to find some Blue Clay in the Baltimore area. Thanks to the Frederick Horseshoe Pitching Assn., I was able to locate Harford Industrial Minerals in Joppa, Maryland. You can reach them at URL http://www.harfordminerals.net/html/contact.html. Their website does not mention Blue Clay, but, they have a fairly large supply. Price for 1/2 yard of Blue Clay was $15.00. I drove up, picked up 1/2 a yard and wobbled my way home. I emptied my pit, added layers of Blue Clay and water, until filled level. Within two days the pit was ready. A little water after each use and it’s ready to go the next day. I was also able to save about 6 small bags for future use. I have always been concerned with the noise of a shoe hitting the stake, for the sake of the neighbors. So, I added a length of 1″ ID rubber well pipe, a soft black material, and slipped it over the stake. Not only did it reduce the noise, but, it adds protection to the stake and saves the ringer break on each shoe. As an added bonus, as the sleeve wears it shows where the majority of the shoes hit the stake.

A New Website to Swap/Sell/Trade Shoes. NOTE: THIS SWAP/SELL/TRADE WEBSITE IS NO LONGER ACTIVE (Change entered 23 August 2009 — Please ignore this entry). I became aware of a fairly new website for the purpose of swapping, selling or trading horseshoes. The URL for Horseshoe S.S.T is: http://www.ihdahorseshoesales.com/trader/forumdisplay.php?fid=2. I posted a request to swap what I had for Snyder EZ Flips. I was able to successfully swap one pair of Six Shooters for a fairly new pair of Snyder EZ Flip IIs. I’ll be using this website again, to swap for Imperial Stingers, if available. More about that later.

Pro Horseshoe League. Today, I received an email from White Distributors discussing their new shoes. Also included was a reference to the 2009 season for the Professional Horseshoe League. URL http://www.horseshoeprotour.com/. I joined the forum and await the acceptance by the admin for my account. I have a couple of questions regarding membership in the league. Essentially, you need to have a 50% ringer average. My question is whether you can join the league if you have a 50% ringer average in the first sanctioned event of 2009? You can also qualify if you manage a 50% ringer average after pitching 300 shoes in front of a qualified official. My question is, who qualifies as an official? Does an officer of any of the Maryland organizations qualify?

The HP Pro Tour has added a second division. Division II permits membership if you’ve never achieved a 50% ringer average. The website mentioned above provides answers to questions regarding the new division and an application for joining.

Is this my Perfect Swing? Recently I viewed an interview with the great Alan Francis. He spoke about the importance of using the body during the delivery. I had wanted to eliminate this part of the delivery as a constant from 30 feet. As previously mentioned, the late great Carl Steinfeldt felt that 15% of misses was caused by a faulty approach. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to improve my ringer percentage with a short step on the approach. From 30 feet and a stationary stance, I was never able to flip the shoe just once. However, I was able to flip once with this short step. Unfortunately, I never felt I had the shoe securely in my grip with the normal thumb caulk. So, I went through my pile of shoes and found that the Imperial Stinger with it’s thumb notch felt like a perfect fit. Secondly, it has skid pads on both sides of the shoe. I have been practicing this week with this new grip, approach and release. Today, I threw 25 ringers in a row. I digress.

From the age of 5 to 16 I bowled duckpins at the Old Alexandria Bowling Lanes in Alexandria, Virginia. I was a pin bowler, which meant I threw the ball at the headpin with a slight clockwise rotation. I mention this because I decided to use my old bowling stance and approach with a single flip using the Imperial Stinger. It worked immediately. I also discovered that if I grip the shoe with my thumb slightly left of the thumb indentation, the shoe arrives at the stake slightly open. Held slightly right of the indentation, the shoe arrives at the stake slightly closed. This has become important when trying to retard bounceback.

A little mathematical evaluation, indicates that the standard horseshoe with an opening of 3-1/2 inches can be rotated at impact, up to 30 degrees to the left or right and only reduce the opening by 1/2 inch. If the shoe is thrown from the left approach and opens squarely at the stake, you run the risk of bouncing the shoe directly back off the stake. A tree root keeps me from using the right side approach.

My setup now is standing back about 2-1/2 feet, left foot pointing parallel to the line of flight, right foot touching the left. Tilt my body slightly rightward, to clear my arm from my lat, swing the shoe up with my arm extended and aligning the left shank on the stake, start the downswing and step forward as if I’m slideing to the foul line and release the shoe directly at the stake with a balanced finish. It feels just like throwing a duckpin ball directly at the headpin.

E-mail me with any questions

Table of Contents

Continue to Part 17

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 15

My Final Sanctioned Tournament of 2008

The final tournament in the area was the Fall Classic sponsored by Days Inn of Frederick in Frederick, Maryland. The Frederick Horseshoe Pitching Association held this tournament. It was an absolutely perfect weather day, cool in the morning and warming up by noon.The pits were in perfect condition. It looked like the FHPA had gone out of their way to make this final tournament a memorable event. Everything was set up, clay uncovered and ready, grass nicely groomed, stakes painted, registration underway, horseshoe table completely full with brand new shoes and free breakfast sandwiches delivered hot and delicious. Naturally, I wanted to support the organization, so, I purchased a new pair of Magnet shoes. I have a theory about bounceback, and felt that the Magnets might help. I am hoping that during the winter months I will be able to check out the problem of bounceback with high speed video.

The tournament began promptly at 10:00 a.m. There were 4 classes. Class C consisted of 8 competitors covering 4 pits. This was a cancellation tourney with the match ending with the first competitor reaching 40 points, no shoe limit. I had decided to use the Snyder EZ Flips, held caulks down. I was anxious to try something that I had been working on for a day or so. More about that later. I was the 4th seed, based on ringer average within the Class.

It was my best tournament yet. I went 7-0, won my Class and received a first place class patch. I had hoped that I would finish this tournament with a 50% ringer average. I ended up with a 41% average for the tournament. I experienced many more bouncebacks than usual. My shoe was coming into the stake too directly, even though I was pitching from the right side. It was not until late in the tournament that I realized why. I had made a slight change in my Pre-Release setup that caused this problem. See below.

A Newly Found Secret

I consider this new change to be the most important of all. It is so simple, I don’t know why I haven’t thought of it before.

As you can see from my previous parts, I have been experimenting with various stances on the approach. I had discovered that an open stance retards the ability to throw to the right of the stake, if the shoe is passed close by the right leg on the way back. If the shoe was going right you would end up hitting the back of your right leg on the forward swing.

When you are practicing, you can use any number of helpful aids. For instance, the line of flight string, the plumb, a string at the highpoint, etc. When you participate in competition there are no provisions for helping aids. You are limited to a few built-in aids at the court and, of course, your own personal built-in aids. At each court, there is a foul line at 27 feet, an approach, generally about 18 inches wide, and the distant stake. By rule, you are not allowed to place either foot off of the approach. If you’re pitching from 40 feet, you also have the stake to the right or left of the approach.

Previously, I used the foul line for my foot alignment and the distant stake for shoe alignment during my pre-swing rehearsal. I would try to drop the shoe and swing along the perceived line of flight to my backswing stop point, swing forward and release the shoe. If everything went correctly I would get a ringer, bounceback or bounceoff.

While experimenting with my foot placement and the open stance, I noted a link to the flight of the shoe as it passed by my right leg. If I kept the shoe close as it passed my leg, sometimes ticking my pant leg, the shoe would go directly at the stake. However, the open stance places me further from the distant stake. When my right foot is forward, my release point is 25-1/2 feet from the stake. With my right foot back, I added another 1-1/2 to 2 feet to the distance. So, I kept reverting back to the right foot forward position.

After I position my feet at the foul line, right foot forward, I take the grip on the shoe, drop my arm straight down, stand as erect as necesssary until the shoe rests on my right leg. I touch the shoe on my leg. I swing the shoe up to my aim point, just to the right of the stake, and try to pass the shoe as close to my right leg as possible as I swing back. This insures that I remain on the line of flight back and through. For some reason, my brain seems to know exactly where my right leg is. What I didn’t realize until late, was that as I bounced the shoe against my right leg, I was inadvertently rotating and straightening the shoe in my grip, producing a squarer flight. I need to make sure that I retain my grip after taken, and not permit the shoe to rotate in my grip.

E-mail me with any questions

Table of Contents

Continue to Part 16

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 14

A Few Random Comments

A Slight Stance Change
I have modified the stance shown in Part 13. I have moved my right foot further back in the stance and along the right edge of the right approach. I do think I have a little more insight into why this stance change seems to work for me. In 1976, Lee Trevino wrote a book entitled, “Groove Your Golf Swing My Way.” Of interest, was his unusual stance and the reason and apparent result. He felt that he was able to swing down the flight line further than any other golfer.

What became apparent to me almost immediately, was that if I missed the stake, the shoe passed the stake on the left. It was almost impossible for me to throw the shoe to the right of the stake. The instantaneous feedback was that if the shoe went to the left, I had allowed the shoe to pass too far away from my right leg on the backswing. When I concentrated on passing the shoe very close to my right leg, the shoe would go directly at the stake. Sliding my right foot back further, also gives me better balance control. This stance is in keeping with the centered and balanced stance normally found in martial arts classes.

Modified Stance

Making the Most of My Practice

I try to practice every weekday weather permitting. I try to avoid practicing on the weekends so as not to disturb my neighbors with the constant clanging of horseshoes.

I practice as if I am in a tournament. I try to make every shoe count. I keep score.

I keep the pit in tournament condition. I don’t practice on a hard surface. It becomes frustrating watching shoes jump all over the place.

I knock off the major clods of clay, but, clean off only my gripping area.

If my first shoe is a ringer, I throw the second while maintaining my position. If my first shoe is not a ringer, I make a mental note as to why, step off the approach and reset.

I sometimes throw four shoes and consider the first two as my opponents and try to match or best the first two shoes.

I make my practice a competition with myself. This encourages pressure to succeed.

While pitching in clay, and my opponent is a flipper, there are times when the opponents shoe will block the arrival of an incoming shoe. You have two choices, try to pass the shoe between the shanks of the opponents shoe, or, hit the stake above the propped shoe. My practice now includes proppring a shoe against the stake and trying to hit the stake higher.

I throw 50 shoes, check the scoresheet, look for trends, take a break and start over.

If I’m quitting for the day, I continue until I throw a double and quit.

Practicing propped shoe

Staying in Shape
It became apparent that anyone anticipating tournament competition and the practice necessary needs to be in good physical shape. Pitching horseshoes, whether from 30 or 40 feet stresses my knees, hips, back, arms and shoulders. I’ve found that working out at the gym is the best regimen for maintaining good physical condition. On Monday and Wednesday, I perform my usual routine(s). The Friday before a tournament, I concentrate on exercising my core muscles and stretching out the connective tissue in my shoulders. Building finger strength, i.e., concentrating on pinch grip strength is definitely a plus. Carrying 25 or 45 pound plates with thumb and fingers handles this problem nicely.

E-mail me with any questions

Table of Contents

Continue to Part 15

 

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 13

It’s Debug Time

As the season is winding down, it’s time to review my progress and define a plan for the winter. I decided to begin to use the printed form that I developed to monitor the status of each shoe thrown. In addition, I critiqued my last tournament. A number of issues jumped to the forefront. So, I thought I would tackle each one, in no particular order.

Grip Changed
In my first match on Saturday I decided to use the Snyder EZ Flips as I had warmed up well with them before the matches began. I found the driest pits I could, for practice. When I flip with caulks up, my thumb rests on the angle of the caulk. This permits a 40 degree droop of the shoe at release, which I need in order to get the shoe flat and open to the stake. This requires a pretty sturdy pinch grip. Unfortunately, the majority of the pits were still wet from previous rains. In my first match I was having trouble maintaining my grip throughout the backswing and release due to wet slippery shoes and glove. Since Monday, I have turned the shoe over, i.e., Caulks Down, which permits me to have a much firmer hold on the shoe throughout the swing. See Part 7 for Grip with Caulks Up and Grip with Caulks Down. The Snyder EZ Flip shoe has a perfectly designed caulk for my short fingers. My index finger locks into the hook and my middle finger locks into the back of the caulk. This however, created an additional problem, no droop. The shoe was now only rotating 540 degrees instead of 580, thus, the shoe was over-rotating. I decided to experiment a little and ended up changing my stance.

Stance Changed
My normal stance had me standing on the approach with my right foot in the right hand corner of the approach at 27 feet. My left foot was behind the right and raised to permit a slight tilt to put me closer to the line of flight. However, I had to guard against the tendancy to lose my balance on the forward swing. I decided to switch my stance to the left foot forward, which allowed me to naturally brace myself against the forward swing. This puts me into a much more balanced stance and is in keeping with martial arts positions (I took Aikido classes when younger.) Normally, this stance places the left foot at 35 degrees and the right foot at 10 degrees. I kept experimenting until I ended up with the stance as pictured. With right foot forward the shoe was dangling 9 inches from the foul line when my arm was hanging straight down. With the new stance the shoe is 18 inches behind the foul line. The paragraph, “Tightened Line of Flight”, describes an added and welcomed bonus. The photo below shows my new stance. I know this looks odd, but, it works for me. It felt odd at first, however, that is precisely why it works. It significantly reduced any sloppiness in the swing.

Here is a little test that was revealing to me, and may explain why this swing alignment seems to work. If you stand facing forward and swing both arms up in front of you and touch the tips of your index fingers together, you will notice that your arms seem to naturally swing across in front of you and come together in the center of your chest. If you slowly rotate your body to the right (clockwise), continuing to swing to the front, you will reach a point where the arm would be swinging down the line of flight. As a matter of fact, if you simply face forward and raise your arms up and touch fingers, you can hold that position as you slowly rotate you body right. When your right arm points down the line of flight, stop. Check your feet. Now, next time you step on the approach place your feet into that final position. I think you’ll find it is very much like the photo of my feet below.

New Stance

Tightened Line of Flight
Prior to my stance change, I recorded the status of every shoe thrown. My ringer average with both sets of Six Shooters was about 50%. However, my misses tended to be left with the medium weighted shoes and right with the heavier shoes. Secondly, my bounceback and bounceoff stat indicated 0 on the medium weighted shoes and 6 of the heavier shoes per 26 shoes. When I switched my stance and grip and began using the EZ Flips, my recorded ringer average jumped to 70%. Every shoe that I threw after the stance change was either a ringer or hit the stake a glancing blow. My only explanation for this is that this new stance seems to change the pendulum to act more like the pendulum on a grandfather clock instead of free swinging like the Foucault Pendulum.

The Foucault Pendulum, was on display at the History Museum at the Smithsonian Institution to show the effect of the earth’s rotation. However, the pendulum was free to move in any direction, and did. Normally, the shoulder acts more like the Foucault Pendulum over the locked hub of the grandfather clock. I have also discovered that I am much more accurate if I rehearse the swing prior to release. See paragraph “Pre-Release Rehearsal,” below. Perhaps if I were a kinesiologist I could explain why the backswing and forward swing seems to stay on line more accurately with this adjusted stance. IMPORTANT — After you take your stance, rotate your upper body as far to the left as possible. Perform your Pre-Release Rehearsal and concentrate on passing the shoe close to the right leg on the way back. In this swing it is imperative that only the arm swings and there is no body movement of any kind.

Pre-Release Rehearsal
I had noticed during the last tournament that when I brought the shoe up to eye level, prior to my backswing and release, the shoe was quivering. It was either from nerves or tension. Either way, it was not a visual I wanted everytime I went to drop the shoe into the backswing. With my new stance, I’ve also changed my Pre-Release Rehearsal. I start the final forward swing by swinging the shoe up to eye level with the left edge of the shoe passing up the stake to a point several inches above the top of the stake. I don’t allow it to hover, but, immediately drop it into the backswing. This permits me to monitor my swing speed and eliminate the tension caused by holding the shoe in a stationary position. I also try to pass the shoe fairly close to my right leg since the center of gravity of the shoe passes over the line of flight when close to my right leg. What is very interesting is that when the left edge of the shoe is too far to the left, the shoe will go left and vice versa to the right. I have decided that it would be better if I didn’t release the shoe on the forward swing when it is off line, but, go through another pre-release upswing until the alignment to the stake was correct. I’m finding that easier said, then done.

It Looks Like My Search May Be Over

I have been reluctant to put this title on this section. It has only been a week since I made the grip, stance and pre-swing adjustment. So, I’ve left a little fudge factor (May Be Over) in the title. My personal test has always been to see how long it takes when I first start, to get my release, distance and direction correct. So, I deliberately stop after about 1/2 hour, and come back later and practice again. So far I’ve not gone beyond 4 shoes before my first ringer. Sometimes it’s the first shoe. An added bonus is that my left hip, the reason for my switch to 30 feet, does not bother me, even after many hours of practice.

I still throw from 40 feet and stride forward during my Monday night league. After three games my hip is killing me. With the permission of the league, I should be able to move up to 30 feet, next year.

Future Plans

There are several areas that I wish to investigate when time and funds permit. I want to know when and why a shoe bounces back? Does a wobbling shoe have a better chance of a ringer? Should I sacrifice a little width of the shoe when it arrives at the stake, to reduce bounceback? What is the best angle of a dropping shoe? Is a concave ringer break better than a convex one? I want to see if I can modify a one-time use camera to flash when I release the shoe? I have my eye on a digital camera that has a 1,200 frame per second burst speed to capture the impact of the shoe at the stake. So, you can see that my search continues and the coming winter gives me lots of time to experiment.

Finally, I have one or two more tournaments coming up. If anything changes I’ll be adding a further Part 14 to this blog. I hope that something that I have mentioned can find it’s way into your personal search. Until then…Good Luck and keep chuckin’

E-mail me with any questions

Continue to Part 14

Table of Contents

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 12

Saturday’s Tournament and the Metronome

I was looking forward to this tournament after my second place finish in the Maryland State Tournament. Boss Hoss Motorocycles sponsored this tournament in Frederick, Maryland. I arrived at the tournament about 8:00 a.m. and noticed the tournament volunteers busy setting up. The pits were a bit wet from previous rains and two volunteers were busy vacuuming out the excess water, while others were readying the bathrooms, bringing out chairs, scoreboards, paint racks, horseshoe table, etc. The local club volunteers do a fantastic job for each tournament. One of the club members was busy cooking sausage, egg and cheese sandwiches free for breakfast, an unexpected bonus. Classes were assigned based on ringer average and scorecards distributed.

The tournament began with a Pledge to the Flag and Tribute to our Troops. I was to pitch in Class B with 5 other pitchers. This was a cancellation tournament with 40 points or 50 shoes. I had warmed up with both Snyder EZ Flips and Six Shooters, both shoes that worked well with my flip. I decided on the EZ Flips for the first match. I was holding my own until my competitor announced I was ahead 35 to 32 with 4 shoes left. I choked, I didn’t score another point and lost 35 to 38 with 14 ringers, 3 doubles for 50 shoes, a 28% ringer average. I decided to switch to my Six Shooters. A good choice. I won the second match 40 to 7 with 15 ringers, 3 doubles for 28 shoes, a 53.6% average. Won the third, 41 to 21 with 18 ringers, 4 doubles for 40 shoes, a 45% average. The fourth match was against the #1 seed. I was winning easily with 8 shoes left, 37 to 27, when my competitor announced the score. Again, I choked and didn’t score another point with my remaining 8 shoes, 37 to 43 for 50 shoes, 20 ringers, 6 doubles and a 40% ringer average. I won my last match 43 to 1, with 14 ringers, 4 doubles in 24 shoes, a 58.3% ringer average. My final average with my Six Shooters was 50.7%, pretty respectable I thought.

I finished third and received my entry money back. I was happy that I had increased my average by 20% for the last 4 matches, but, disappointed that I had allowed myself to lose the two other matches when I tried to win the match instead of continuing with what had been working. A valuable lesson learned.

The season is winding down and my goal of a 50% ringer average is in sight. There are two more sanctioned tournaments remaining.

I have developed a printed form that I’ve begun to use that records the results of every shoe thrown. It keeps track of shoe type, ringers, bouncebacks, bounceoffs, location of misses (left, right, short, long) and whether shoe was flipping properly. This should provide the information needed to work on direction, distance and flip. Unless I loosen the grip on my shoe or try to add a little added flip, my release is working well. I use the form below as follows. First I mark the shoe(s) that I am throwing under “Type.” If the shoe is a ringer, I circle the “O”. If the shoe is a ringer and bounces back, I circle the “BB.” If the shoe is a ringer and bounces off, I circle the “BO.” If the shoe is open when it arrives at the stake, but is not a ringer, I circle the “U” that corresponds to where it lands. If the shoe is not open when it arrives, I circle the “WF,” wrong flight. I keep score and mark anything that is pertinent in the “Comments” column.

At the end of 50 shoes (normal tournament limit), I analyze the results for tendancies. Am I getting too many bouncebacks, or bounceoffs? Perhaps I’m missing left or right, or, perhaps too long or short? I am hoping that charting my practice, I can determine what I might need to change. The results might indicate that I need to change my grip slightly to reduce bouncebacks, or perhaps changing the height of flight, etc. Hopefully, it’s worth the effort.

Click for Horseshoe Flight Evaluation Form

For practice this winter, I have decided to purchase a 2-1/2 pound cannonball sinker mold and cast a number of sinkers for indoor practice purposes. Since I have the plot of the location of my shoe in flight by incremental height and incremental distance, I can set up a target to throw to, at the precise location of some point in flight. For instance, I can select a practical height, say, 4 feet and find where in the climb of the shoe, it reaches 4 feet. I have a couple of ideas of what the target will be to absorb the impact and muffle the sound.

Using a Metronome

I am also creating a table of calculations of the speed of the forward arm swing to go from the start of the forward swing to release point. For example, if I wanted to know the time it would take to reach the initial velocity speed when the shoe was released, I would be be able to calculate the speed of my arm swing from the beginning of my forward swing to release. I would do the following…check the table for 25.5 foot release for 6.8 foot highpoint. The initial velocity is 27.37 feet per second. My forward swing length is 4.5 feet. Using these figures, the formula indicates that you must go from 0 to 27.37 feet per second in .3288 seconds or roughly 1/3rd (.3288) of a second. If I were using a metronome I could set the beats per minute to 180 (i.e., 60 beats per minute is 1 beat per second, 1/3rd is 3 x 60 or 180).

It is unfortunate that metronomes don’t have the ability to set a backswing beat and a forward swing beat. Most horseshoe pitchers, including myself, swing slower in the backswing than the forward swing. However, if you were to start your backswing at the release point, you could easily have a backswing and forward swing happen in two 1/3rd second beats. That is, 1/3rd back and 1/3rd forward. I will be adding the forward swing speed to the form in Part 11. Click for PDF image of plots for 25.5 feet to the stake

If I really find the need to have a backswing beat and a different forward swing beat, I can certainly generate an audio file with the proper two distinct beat times and play them back in my headset. I and other musicians use this technique when practicing the bass guitar or drums.

Continue to Part 13

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