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 [...]
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 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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
