Horseshoes My Way

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. 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

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Continue to Part 17

November 24, 2008
Categories: Sports, horseshoes . Tags: horseshoes, Sports . Author: photon713 . Comments: 1 Comment

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

October 5, 2008
Categories: Sports, horseshoes . Tags: horseshoes, Sports . Author: photon713 . Comments: Leave a Comment

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

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Continue to Part 15

October 1, 2008
Categories: Sports, horseshoes . Tags: horseshoes, Sports . Author: photon713 . Comments: Leave a Comment

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

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September 20, 2008
Categories: Sports, horseshoes . Tags: horseshoes, Sports . Author: photon713 . Comments: Leave a Comment

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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September 15, 2008
Categories: Sports, horseshoes . Tags: horseshoes, Sports . Author: photon713 . Comments: Leave a Comment

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 11

The Flight of My 1-1/2 Flip Horseshoe (Continued)

When I first started pitching horseshoes, I wanted to put some sort of reference at the highpoint of my shoe flight. Unfortunately, the only information I was able to find was a recommendation to throw the shoe approximately 2 feet above your height. For me, about 8 feet. The location of the reference point was declared to be at about 2/3 of the distance to the stake. This proved to be incorrect. The actual highpoint downrange never reaches halfway. The table below shows the downrange location for any selected highpoint from 4 feet to 14 feet. The table is based on a calculation of releasing the shoe 1.5 feet from the 30 foot foul line and 3 feet from the ground. My personal highpoint is actually at 6.75 feet (6.8 for the plot values in 1/100th of a second increments).

The plot at the top of this page was calculated in 1/40th second increments. To provide more accurate results, I changed the plot by increasing the values to 1/100th of a second increments. I used the frame mentioned earlier to determine my release point of 3.0 feet, 1.5 feet in front of the foul line and highpoint downrange of 6.75 feet reached at 10.75 feet downrange.There was an added bonus by finding my release point. I was able to determine that my horseshoe rotates 580 degrees. I can now find two downrange points from this information. The location when my shoe is flat and open to the stake and the location when my shoe is flat and pointing away from the stake. So, in addition to the highpoint and downrange location, I can also place a marker before and after the highpoint location when the center of gravity offers a flat shoe in flight. This is important when throwing a flipping shoe. Since I am trying to pass the center of gravity through the appropriate points, a flipping shoe could occupy 7+ inches as it rotates in space. A turning shoe does not have this problem. I am hoping to create an animated GIF of the flight of my shoe as it rotates toward the stake.

There were many formulae found to produce results regarding distance when trajectory is known, but, nothing that talked about calculations that provided results when you knew the distance, height and release point. I have written a Perl program that calculates the XY plot of a horseshoe in flight when the release point and highest point of flight is known. In addition, it calculates the initial launch speed, time of flight, initial launch angle and location of the highpoint downrange. Each point on the plot is in 1/40th of a second increments. I decided to calculate the shoe flight from 30 and 40 feet. I later calculated the same plots at 1/100th of a second increments.

The PDF file below extracts the information from each plot and places the results in table form for a distance of 25.5 feet (Elders pitching from 30 feet with a foul line at 27 feet). My release point is actually 1.5 feet ahead of the 27 foot foul line.

Table of Plots — 25.5 Feet

Click for PDF image of plots for 25.5 feet to the stake

Below is the plot of my shoe flight in 1/100th of a second increments. Double-click image for larger view. The number of plot points is equal to the time of flight X 100. My shoe flight plot contains 113 plot points.

Highpoint 6.8 Feet

The Plotted Rotation of My 1-1/2 Flip

The plot below shows the rotation of my shoe in flight. My shoe starts out 40 degrees below horizontal. It rotates 580 degrees total, i.e., 1-1/2 flips plus 40 degrees. I could now place markers downrange where the shoe is flat in flight. If you wanted to be adventurous you could place a post, rod or PVC pipe, etc. at the point where the shoe is perfectly open downward and vertical. That point is 5.57 feet downrange and 5.9 feet up. The flat shoe is just before the highpoint downrange and is located at 9.4 feet downrange and 6.7 feet up. Placing a string would best be placed where the shoe is horizontal open or closed. The shoe is flat in three places. The first at 1.7 feet downrange and 4.1 feet up. The second mentioned above and the third after the highpoint downrange. Placing more than one marker is more accurate than simply placing a string at the highpoint. The plot below is in 1/323rd second increments.

Horseshoes Rotated Every 90 Degrees

I couldn’t resist. I’ve animated the image below. Put the cursor in the image below and mouse click. The animated flight of my horseshoe is shown (it loops 4 times and stops).

My Shoe Flight Animated

I will be providing a table and plot for 40 foot pitchers at this point later.

Your Personal Plot

If you would like a plot of your personal shoe flight, please provide three values. 1) Distance to the stake from your horizontal release point (how far to the stake); 2) Distance from the ground when shoe is released; 3) Your highpoint, if known, if not, provide a height range, i.e., 6.0 to 8.0 feet. I’ll run the plot software and generate the results as shown in the plot above with your highpoint/downrange locations. Email me with the three values to: bobrass at verizon dot net

Continue to Part 12

Table of Contents

September 6, 2008
Categories: Sports, horseshoes . Tags: horseshoes, Sports . Author: photon713 . Comments: Leave a Comment

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 10

The Maryland State Tournament of Champions

This tournament was scheduled for Saturday, August 30. It was sponsored by the Baltimore Metro Horseshoe Club with 12 pits located in Essex, Maryland. I pre-registered as an Elder and received an email notification that I was to pitch at 6:00 p.m. I didn’t know whether I would be pitching in a class based on ringer average or with other Elders. When I arrived I discovered that I would be pitching in the Elder class and there would be four of us pitching. There were two 20% Elders, myself at 30% and one 60% Elder. Plan was 40 points or 40 shoes whichever came first, two rounds.

The afternoon classes were still pitching and looked like the start would be later than 6:00 p.m. Finally, about 7:00 we were able to start. My schedule was to pitch the 3rd, 4th and 1st rated pitchers. I won my first match with a 53.8% ringer average with 14 ringers, 26 shoes. I won my second match with a 46.6% ringer average with 14 ringers, 30 shoes. I lost my third match to the 60% pitcher, but, had a 38.8% ringer average with 14 ringers, 36 shoes. During the middle of the third match we began to hear thunder and finally lightening. It was decided to terminate the session. The 60% pitcher won the first place trophy and I won a beautiful second place trophy. My ringer average for the three matches 45.6% with 42 ringers in 92 shoes and 10 double ringers.

I marvel at professionalism shown by each of the organizers of the tournaments that I have participated in. Each tournament location has been well prepared for the event to come. Each has a concession stand with hotdogs, hamburgers, drinks, restroom facilities and a selection of horseshoes and shirts. Many of the workers from other horseshoe clubs show up to help out with recording stats and keeping score. The secretary of the Frederick Horseshoe Pitching Association drove from Pennsylvania to help with the scorekeeping in Lusby and Essex, Maryland. I try to make it a point to stop and thank the organizers and helpers.

I was extremely happy with my showing, albeit, a short one. I am hoping that my next tournament will have me placed in a class with like average pitchers. Further, I hope to end the season with a 50% ringer average from 30 feet. I am beginning to make plans for my winter practice.

Continue to Part 11 — The Flight of My 1-1/2 Flip Horseshoe (Continued)

Table of Contents

August 31, 2008
Categories: Sports, horseshoes . Tags: horseshoes, Sports . Author: photon713 . Comments: Leave a Comment

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 9

The Flight of My 1-1/2 Flip Horseshoe

As promised, I setup the release and highpoint frame previously put together. I hoped that my Canon S230 would provide a series of images that would show the release point and highpoint. Unfortunately, the camera was only capable of capturing three images of the shoe in flight. I am showing the two sets of photographs below. The plot shown at the top of this page represents the flight as seen. The shoe is released 3 feet from the ground and 25-1/2 feet from the stake. Each shoe reaches a high point of 6 feet 9 inches at 10 feet 9 inches downrange.

Each line vertically and horizontally is divided into 3 inch squares. The base of the frame is 2 feet above the ground. The last vertical string to the right end is located at 10 feet from the foul line. The highest horizontal string is located 7 feet above the ground.

Release Point

Photo 1 Frame 1 of 3

Photo 1 Frame 2 of 3

Photo 1 Frame 3 of 3

Photo 2 Frame 1 of 3

Photo 2 Frame 2 of 3

Photo 2 Frame 3 of 3

I later borrowed a Sony DR-TRV140 Video Camera and taped the flight of the horseshoe. I transferred the Sony video to a VHS tape. I then played the VHS tape through a GE VCR, through a GrabIt Pro video capture device and stopped each individual frame on tape with my VCR. Unfortunately, the recording speed of the Sony video camera was not fast enough to provide very much additional information. I need to use a faster frame per second video camera. The horseshoe travels through the 10 foot frame in less than 1/2 second.

The continuation of Part 9 continues on Part 11. Part 11 will discuss the importance of knowing the various mathematical values of the flight of a horseshoe.

Continue to Part 10 — The Maryland State Tournament of Champions
Continue to Part 11 — The Flight of My 1-1/2 Flip Horseshoe (Continued)

Table of Contents

August 30, 2008
Categories: Sports, horseshoes . Tags: horseshoes, Sports . Author: photon713 . Comments: Leave a Comment

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 8

I Found My Grip!

Originally, I was going to use Part 8 to discuss the release, highpoint and calculations. I tried to use my Canon S230 to record the Release Point and Highpoint and apply the results to the software that shows the flight of the horseshoe, speed, etc. Unfortunately, my Canon was only able to capture two images of the shoe in flight. In general, a horseshoe travels from release to stake in about 1 second. However, I did calculate the locations that I photographed and applied them to the header of this blog (XY plot above). I have since borrowed a video camera, installed video capture equipment and loaded the video capture software. I am hoping that the video camera will provide more definitive results.

In the meantime, one of the items I had completely overlooked, was my log book. As I practiced, I would make notes about experiments and the results. I had noted that when I extended my arm fully and released the shoe, the shoe would not flip as quickly. I was not happy that I had begun to add a little flip movement to the horseshoe during the release. That is not consistent with a Constant. Reading through my log book, I realized that I had worked on this sometime earlier. I discovered that if I held the shoe with caulks-up and allowed the shoe to be held naturally by the caulk, the shoe would droop when my arm was parallel to the ground. (See photo below) I wondered if this natural droop could replace the added, but, unwelcomed flip movement.

Drooping Flip Grip

This morning, I grabbed three sets of shoes, stepped up to the foul line, took the caulks-up flip grip, raised my arm fully extended, parallel to the ground, let the shoe droop naturally, locked it in that position throughout the swing and released it without any added flipping action. The shoe flipped perfectly 1-1/2 turns — ringer! I repeated the same process 11 more times and threw 12 consecutive ringers. I had had temporary success before. Time to take a break and try again later.

I stopped, had some lunch, and returned to go through the same routine again. This time 8 more ringers in a row. I continued for an hour and threw ringers every time I was on plane and line of flight. I now believe I have a grip that I can rely on.

Continue to Part 9
Table of Contents

August 24, 2008
Categories: Sports, horseshoes . Tags: horseshoes, Sports . Author: photon713 . Comments: Leave a Comment

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The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 17

80% and A New Horseshoe is Born

Why a New Horseshoe?

A Horseshoe is Born

How I Reached 80%

The Horseshoe

The Setup

The Address

The Backswing

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 16

Catching Up

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 15

My Final Sanctioned Tournament of 2008

A Newly Found Secret

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 14

A Few Random Comments

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 13

It’s Debug Time

It Looks Like My Search May Be Over

Future Plans

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 12

Saturday’s Tournament and the Metronome

Using a Metronome

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 11

The Flight of My 1-1/2 Flip Horseshoe (Continued)

Table of Plots — 25.5 Feet

The Plotted Rotation of My 1-1/2 Flip

Your Personal Plot

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 10

The Maryland State Tournament of Champions

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 9

The Flight of My 1-1/2 Flip Horseshoe

The Search for My Perfect Swing — Part 8

I Found My Grip!

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