June | 2013 | Horseshoes My Way

The Search For My Perfect Swing — Part 45

Horseshoe Pitching With Precision

This is the title of my new book entitled, “Horseshoe Pitching With Precision”. It is printed 8-1/2″ x 11″ and spiral bound. It is slightly less than 100 pages. It is available now at TheBookPatch, a Print on Demand (POD) company. Their URL http://www.thebookpatch.com . As of 17 July the eReader versions were distributed to the various companies providing eReaders such as Amazon (Kindle), Barnes and Noble (Nook), iBookstore (Ipad/iPhone), Kobo, ReaderStore (Sony eReader), etc. See Part 46 for more information.

The book is designed to help both the beginner and non-beginner to take a look at their method of pitching from a little different perspective.

It is divided into three distinct sections. Section 0 is for the new pitcher interested in horseshoe pitching. It covers building a pit and pit material, practicing, flip versus turn, joining a league, etc. Section 1 describes 3 unique ways to pitch horseshoes based on exact positioning. Section 3 covers everything else related to any aspect of horseshoe pitching, i.e., practicing, NHPA and HP Pro Tour events, various grips for the flip or turn, horseshoe design and production, score keeping, 3D printing, etc.

For Section 1, I have broken down the act of pitching a horseshoe into individual pieces. Before I created a single arc, line, or circle geometrically, I looked at each phase of pitching a horseshoe. It is broken down into three phases. Phase 1 is the setup on the approach. Phase 2 is the address position. Phase 3 is the stride forward and release.

It is first based on a strong, balanced setup that positions your body and shoulders properly. Secondly, establishing a Line of Flight that is precise and directly at the stake from the moment you take your stance until the horseshoe leaves your hand. Finally, your head, eyes and stride move directly at the stake.

After establishing those 3 requirements, then the geometry was included to provide a pathway to satisfy those 3 requirements.

How you grip and release the horseshoe is your choice. Whether you turn, flip, flip-turn or any other release technique, will not be affected by these methods.

The book provides 3 different methods to achieve those goals.

Method 1 takes advantage of your natural human tendencies to swing your arms inward toward the center of your body. There is no attempt to change it, only to take advantage of that tendency.

Method 2 provides a method that will allow you to move the geometry to either approach and anywhere on either approach as long as you maintain the geometry properly.

Method 3 is directed at those horseshoe pitchers who cannot stride because of a physical restriction, i.e., back or leg problems, or perhaps using a prosthesis, and need to stand at the foul line.

The purpose of this book is to standardize each aspect of your technique based on constants or fixed points established during each of the three phases mentioned and to provide the reasons for a miss. Using these methods will provide you with the information necessary to correct a directional problem. These methods will take the horseshoe directly at the stake. It is your release technique that determines if it’s open when it arrives.

You cannot determine why you missed, unless you know why you didn’t. The key to the success of this method is repeatability. That means doing everything the same each time. It starts on the approach, and progresses to a precise address and a proper stride directly at the stake, while monitoring your shoulder positions.

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