Practice Tips

Part 51 is directed at the pitcher who has a pit or stake in the backyard and is constantly trying new ideas to improve their ringer average. This part is not a series of quick fix tips. It will take time and dedication to reap the rewards of some of what follows. There is nothing magical here, just a series of common sense techniques supported by a variety of helping aids.

This part actually began in 2007 when I first began to question methods to improve my pitching technique. Actually, I had no pitching technique. It was all new and I needed to start from scratch. As with many new pitchers, I thought there was a recommended location for pulling a string or cord at some height to throw over. I found one reference that said that the highest point was 60% downrange from my release location and 2 feet above my personal height. So, for 37 feet, a little over 23 feet from the foul line and just under 8 feet high. The 60% proved to be incorrect. The Physics Forum provided me with a formula to be used to calculate the high point location when the release point height and location was known.

This introduced a new problem. How do you actually know where you release the horseshoe. A simple electronic circuit consisting of a battery and LED attached to my pitching glove gave me the answer, 3 feet from the ground and 1.5 feet in front of the foul line. The banner at the top of each part, including this one, shows the actual plot. I ultimately had to prove the results with a slow motion video, now on Youtube. It further proved that I needed to make sure that what I said, was provable. Knowing where the highpoint is, provides no meaningful information, since you don’t have a way to know whether the horseshoe is going up, leveling out, or going down. So, it became a useless target. Actually, the highpoint of the center of gravity of a horseshoe never reaches the halfway point for 30 or 40 foot flights. It turns out that there are easier ways to monitor the more important issue of “Drop Angle”. I will start there.

Below is a compilation of a series of simple Practice Tips that I hope will help you get started in horseshoe pitching, try something new, or help to fix something you’ve been having problems with. I continue to use every tip or technique I mention here and all have been developed after lots of trial and error. I encourage you to develop your own tips to develop the muscle memory needed to be successful. Keep in mind that incorporating some of these suggestions will alter your horseshoe arrival, so, factor that in as you practice. I am including a number of images and photos previously used, but, included here to keep you from searching through the previous parts for examples.

I often suggest to new pitchers that they visit a NHPA tournament and witness the styles and techniques used by the Class A or B pitchers in their area of interest or class. It would not make much sense for a new Elder class pitcher to try to emulate a 40 foot pitcher using a 1-3/4 turn. It is also important to be aware that many of the pitchers are using unique techniques developed from a young age and now incorporated into their muscle memory. The tips described are simple and easy to use.

I start with what I consider as the Best Tip overall, whether practicing as a flip or turn pitcher…Keep A Journal.

Best Tip — Keep A Journal.

It is important to keep a record of your practice sessions. A little spiral bound notebook will do the trick. Each page should be titled and dated for the subject of your practice session. I created a form that I used to give me the record I needed to evaluate the results of my practice sessions. Below is a copy of the form. I would circle the appropriate “U” for arrival information relative to the arrival of the shoe at the stake. “BO” = bounce offs; “BB” = bounce backs; and, “WF” = wrong form.

To print this JPG form, double click the form and print whatever number of copies you wish.

It was the keeping of this journal and recording results that showed my tendency to miss left, hardly ever right. As my ringer average improved, I noted an increasing number of bounce backs, a perfectly thrown ringer that hit the stake and bounced straight back. I was able to correct the horseshoe arriving left by correcting my unruly left shoulder rotation. I was able to correct the number of bounce backs by switching to a 1-1/2 flip.

There is only one goal in horseshoe pitching…score 3 points for each ringer, and if not a ringer, then 1 point with each horseshoe not a ringer. You would think this fact is self evident, however, it seems that this is not the case. If you pitch in sand from time to time and watch your misses hit and slide to the backboard, Tip 1 is for you, whether pitching in sand OR clay. The first few examples will help you gain a few of those single points while improving your ringer average.

It is difficult to say one tip is more important than another, but, if you are a flip pitcher, then Tip 1 will prove to be the most valuable. It will prove to be the most valuable for accumulating single points if not a ringer, softer shoe arrival, staying within point range, requiring less effort to cover the distance and doing less damage to your horseshoes. If you are a turn pitcher and throw your horseshoe low and hard, check out Tip 1.

Tip 1 — Improve Your Drop Angle

The simplest way to improve your Drop Angle is to surround the stake with a 15″ used rubber tire (see image below). If not a rubber tire, then a length of 4×4 across the pit about 6″ in front of the stake. Calculations indicate that a horseshoe arriving at a Drop Angle of between 30 Degrees to 45 Degrees (see images below) will tend to stay within the 13″ scoring circle (see image below). Your goal is to drop the horseshoe onto the stake without hitting the sidewall or the 4×4 when arriving. The shoe will then arrive softer, which reduces rejection, and allows you to pitch the horseshoe with less effort the required distance. Remember, the higher you pitch the horseshoe, with the same initial velocity (speed), the greater the distance traveled (up to 45 degrees).

Using Tip 1 will not only help with your Drop Angle, but, direction and distance.

The image above displays the arrival of a horseshoe at 30 degrees.

The image above displays the arrival of a horseshoe at 45 degrees. Note that the greater drop angle gives you more potential for staying within the 13″ scoring circle and allows you to arrive at the stake a bit higher up.

The image above represents the use of a 15″ used tire for improving your arrival at the stake. The tire above left, shows a cutout that allows me to see the bottom of the stake from the approach. Removing the bottom sidewall makes the removal of the cutout easier. Your goal here is to throw the horseshoe high enough to clear the sidewall at arrival, and land within your scoring circle. This simple aid will immediately improve your “Drop Angle” arrival.

The 43″ tamper that I use to prepare my clay pit works great to position a target over my Line of Flight at a distance from the stake to improve my “Drop Angle.” This is a more effective way to provide a target over the previously mentioned string above.

The NHPA uses 6″ for measurement of a single point. The image above represents the scoring circle available to capture those single points in “Count All” or cancellation matches.

Tip 2 — Stand Tall

What does it mean to “stand tall”? It means that when you step to the approach and take your stance, you stand relaxed and upright and without a bend at the waist. The head is the heaviest part of the body. When you bend at the waist as you start your stride forward, your weight automatically shifts ahead of your feet. This causes your stride to be longer to catch up and support the balance of this weight shift. It lowers the hub of your swing and causes the horseshoe to arrive lower and harder to cover the same distance. This bend at the waist is not a natural method of walking. We don’t lean over, and step out to catch our balance. We normally keep our head relatively level as we stride forward and take a nice comfortable, balanced step forward. It is better to do what we normally do when we walk and incorporate that into your stride forward. Under normal circumstances the stride forward provides the forward impetus to carry the horseshoe to the stake. With a “stand tall” delivery, your natural stride can be shortened which will allow you to stand a little closer to the foul line. With this setup, stride and delivery, your shoulder will follow a straighter line to the stake and automatically allow your release to be higher above the ground and with the shoe automatically arriving from a higher drop angle.

Tip 3 — Strike A Pose

Strike A Pose is a great practice method to insure that you end up with the proper stance that is married to your release method. What you are trying to do is make sure that you finish your stride in a stable and balanced position. The best way to do that is to release the horseshoe and finish standing on your striding foot with your trailing foot off of the platform. Check out some of the photos on the NHPA website of some of our greatest pitchers and note that they finish their release by balancing themselves on their striding foot, trailing leg off the approach and releasing arm in a “handshake with the stake.” Including this “Strike A Pose” position during your practice will identify any tendency to lose your balance. There is no way to be accurate in your delivery if you end up losing your balance at some point during your delivery.

Tip 4 — Monitor Your Footwork

It is essential that you are accurate with your footwork. Setting your feet at address and locating your finishing stride location exactly, the same on every pitch, eliminates one more reason for a miss. The easiest way to monitor your footwork is to use a wet towel and place it just behind the approach. Make sure both feet step on the towel before placing your feet on the approach. As you step into your setup footwork and follow with your stride forward, you will be leaving your footwork on the approach. After a few pitches, your footwork outline will be visible on the approach. If a shoe goes left or right of the stake, you can check your striding foot plant and the ending location of the trailing foot to see if you planted your feet differently or accurately.

Tip 5 — Tame Your Left Shoulder

Our normal style of walking or stepping forward is to rotate your upper body in the direction of the step or stride. If you are right handed and stride forward, your right shoulder naturally rotates toward your left foot. The opposite for the right foot step/stride forward. This normal tendency to rotate the upper body leftward will rotate your swinging arm to the left. The majority of the pitchers I observe will miss left of the stake. The other reason, which we’ll cover later, is swinging offline. There are two ways to learn to control the left shoulder. First, place your left hand across your body and lock your index finger (if possible) into the belt loop to the right of your pants zipper. This will feel odd at first, but, will give you the feel for keeping the shoulder from rotating. If you feel the tug on your index finger during the left foot stride forward or backswing, you’ll know that your shoulders are attempting to rotate. In actual play and practice, you can monitor your left shoulder by setting up on the approach with your shoulder within your peripheral vision and your left hand is resting on the inside of your left thigh. Don’t allow your left hand to move away from your left thigh throughout your address, backswing and stride. If you miss left after stopping your shoulder rotation, then in all likelihood you are swinging offline, most likely during your backswing. Fix that with Tip 6.

Tip 6 — Swinging Offline

A very common problem that causes horseshoes to go left is swinging offline during the backswing. It makes more sense to keep your shoulder and arm going straight up, down, back and forward straight down the Line of Flight. That is a simple line drawn from the center of gravity of the horseshoe from the address position, is followed accurately from setup, address and delivery. There is absolutely nothing gained by bringing the horseshoe up to your eyes for sighting to the stake. That move immediately takes your horseshoe and arm off line. To be placed correctly back on line you must make a simulated figure 8 move to put your horseshoe, shoulder and arm back on line. Why do it? Secondly, if you raise the horseshoe up to your address position and align it with the stake, you are off line.

A very simple test to prove your off line position by using the stake for alignment. Ask someone to stand behind you and have you swing up and align to the stake. I will guarantee you that your address arm is aligned well left of the stake (if, right eye dominant and swinging with the right arm). Next, tell your spotter to adjust your arm and horseshoe to the right until he sees your arm and horseshoe aligned with the stake. You will probably see your horseshoe pointing 14 inches or more, to the right of the stake. I will also guarantee you that your horseshoe at this rightward alignment is directly over the Line of Flight. When your spotter tells you that your horseshoe is pointing at the stake, just look at where the horseshoe is aligned when looking down the left shank of the horseshoe and use that location as your “Visual Alignment Point”. For me personally, it is generally the right corner of the backboard.

So, how do you use this knowledge (Visual Alignment Point) to keep the horseshoe going down the “Line of Flight”. First, begin your setup by resting your horseshoe on your right leg with a fully extended arm. Next, swing up to your address position at your personal Visual Alignment Point (to the right of the stake). When you swing back, try to brush the horseshoe against your right pant leg. This insures that at this point, your swing is still on the Line of Flight (back where you started). If you don’t brush your pant leg, you will be swinging off line, and more than likely your horseshoe will go to the left of the stake at delivery. Naturally, this applies when you have not yet moved forward before the leg brush.

Tip 6 describes the steps to keep your horseshoe going straight, from setup to the stake following the straight Line of Flight with the center of the horseshoe going straight at the stake. If you miss left and right of the stake, you’ll need to work out some method to at least eliminate one side or the other. Resting the horseshoe against your pant leg and brushing it on the return swing will at least help, with ruling out one side or the other.

The photo below shows the Line of Flight (the cord on the approach); the Center of Gravity of the horseshoe directly over the Line of Flight (the plumb from horseshoe to Line of Flight); the horseshoe resting on my right leg with fully extended arm.

Tip 7 — Using the Horseshoes Effective Width

The actual width of the opening of a horseshoe is restricted by the NHPA to 3-1/2″ when the opening is measured at a point 3/4″ from the tips of the hooks. They permit an additional 1/8″ for used horseshoes. However, there is an “effective width”. That is the width that you should consider for pitching purposes. Using the 3-1/2″ above provides an effective width of 5-3/4″. How is that possible? The photo below describes the “effective width”.

The importance of using “effective width” is to give you a little fudge factor or correct an arrival problem. If your horseshoe is arriving a little to the left or right, use the “effective width” to pick your target a little left or right of normal to pick up a few more ringers. So, if you’re coming in a little left, move your target to the right a little. If you’re coming in a little right, move your target a little left. Normally, you try to throw the Center of Gravity of the horseshoe at the stake, but, in this case, use your fudge factor.

Tip 8 — A Horseshoe Blocks Your Way

There are instances where a horseshoe will block your way to the stake. This could be your first shoe or one of your competitors horseshoes. The goal is to hit higher on the stake. There are at least 4 easy ways to clear the propped horseshoe. Remember that the highpoint of flight to the stake is a function of the distance to the stake and release point from the ground. Using your normal swing speed and using one of the techniques below, will cause the horseshoe to arrive higher on the stake. You’ll need to experiment with which of the techniques works best for you.

1. Using your normal arm swing speed, release the horseshoe a little later in the upswing. Again, there is no need to increase your arm swing speed. Using this technique will cause the shoe to go higher and carry farther, thus hitting higher on the stake.

2. Raise the hub of your swing. The hub of your swing is your shoulder. Raising the hub (shoulder) will cause the shoe to be released higher from the ground which increases height of the arc, and carries the shoe higher at arrival. Remember, the highpoint of flight is dictated by the distance from the stake and the height from the ground of the horseshoe when released. Raising your hub increases the release height from the ground. This requires you to raise your shoulder at setup and keep it raised through delivery.

3. Move a little closer to the foul line and use your normal release. In this case, you are releasing the horseshoe at the same location relative to the ground, but closer to the stake. Thus, your high point is closer to the stake.

4. When you take your stance on the approach, lean back a little and put more weight on your trailing foot. Without changing your release point relative to your normal swing, will allow the horseshoe to be released higher, thus carrying the horseshoe higher. This is different than number 1. above, since you’re not releasing later, just higher.

Tip 9 — Reading the Stake

Making note of the condition of any stake is important. If you are a flip pitcher and a stake hitter, (you know who you are), you’ll need to pay particular attention to the condition of any stake. When you arrive at the venue, take a look at the alignment of the stakes down through all of the pits and make sure they all have the proper lean. If you see one or more stakes that are not leaning properly, you may have to deal with a broken or loose stake. Keep it in mind. Making your target the bottom of the stake is a good idea under all circumstances, but, particularly in the case of a loose stake. Keeping your horseshoe in single point range is important.

It is not unusual to find a stake a little loose, which will definitely affect your impact results. If pitching in clay, and before turning it, look at the base of the stake. All stakes will move backwards and rebound slightly during the course of a match. If you see a gap between the back of the stake and the clay of 1″ or more, check the stake. First, reach down and grab it in hand and see if it feels loose. Next, tap it with your horseshoe and see if has a “clunk” sound, instead of a normal “ring”. If it’s too loose, call it to the attention of the venue official. You may have to move to another court. If not really bad, just make allowances for the condition. A loose stake will tend to rebound stronger like a trampoline effect when hit, thus, throwing horseshoes back at you. Your best solution when dealing with a loose stake, is to concentrate on hitting the stake no higher than 6″ above the clay or sand surface. The mounting employed during installation is an important factor in the reaction of any stake when and where hit.

Tip 10 — Marking the Approach

There has always been a little controversy about marking the approach. If you can do it, do so. Carry along a tailor’s tape, the kind that can be rolled up and a little piece of chalk, colored if you like, to mark the approach. If you are unsure, check with the TD. Naturally, you’ll need to know your approach measurements before you arrive. Just be prudent when making your mark. Just a small line should suffice. In all of the tournaments I’ve pitched in, there has never been an objection to doing so. In my first Pro Tour event I saw this for the first time and there was no objection raised. It’s a good idea if you can do it. I don’t normally mark the approach as I know where to position my feet relative to the left edge and right corner of the approach. In one case, however, it was necessary when there was no approach marking and right corner was not indicated for 30 foot pitching. In this case, I used my horseshoe to mark the indicators.

Tip 11 — Developing a Swing Cadence

A swing cadence is a good way to direct your concentration on your pitching and deal with any distractions around the pits. Finding a smooth rhythm/cadence is important. I have tried the metronome, but, it is not something you can take along to a tournament. Normally, a cadence or rhythm is worthwhile if you use the rhythm to swing up, back and forward to release in continuous movement. It is more difficult if you normally start with a stationary address position. If you choose to use a cadence, then either use a count, i.e., 1 and 2 and 3, for “1 and” up, “2 and” back and “3 and” release. Or, you might want to use a song such as the “Skater’s Waltz” for the smooth mental rhythm it invokes. I have found during tournaments that there are many distractions behind the pits. It would be helpful if you concentrated visually on the base of the stake AND use a count mentally. That’s a good way to blot out all of the distractions. Setting my Visual Alignment Point above the activity sometimes works for me. You really need two ways to blot out distractions, one to take care of your mind and the other your eyes.

Tip 12 — Using the non-dominant eye.

During your next practice, try using your non-dominant eye for setup and alignment. Close your dominant eye and view the stake with your non-dominant eye. Without opening your dominant eye, try pitching at the stake. You should feel a strange feeling in your delivery. Did you hit the stake? Try again. Did your horseshoe go at the stake? Do this with your first 5 or 10 pitches. Next time, stop at your address position and open your dominant eye. You should see your address position is way to the left of the stake. How can you explain that your address position was way to the left of the stake and yet you hit it every time you released the horseshoe?

You are basically re-routing your arm swing and forcing yourself to swing out to the right. You might want to use a different address position in the future. I will use this revelation to offer another option as a Method in the future.

I am adding the following comments on the 16th of August. After you have tested the ability to hit the stake using the non-dominant eye, give the following a test. Now that you’ve tested the non-dominant eye, try the dominant eye. This time go through the same process as with the non-dominant eye, but, use the dominant eye only. Were you able to hit the stake using the dominant eye only repeatedly? Yes? So far, so good.

Now, use both eyes open and try releasing at the stake. Are you missing consistently to one side? Yes? Check out binocular vision. You may need to alter your aim point. I regret I cannot remember who made the comment, possibly Ted Allen or Carl Steinfeldt, that their aim point was 2-1/2 inches to the right of the stake. Try placing a secondary stake to the left or right of the primary stake at the back of the pit and a couple of inches either way to the opposite side of the stake. For instance, if you consistently miss left, try placing your secondary stake to the right of the stake. I paint mine OSHA yellow and use it as my aim point. Good Luck

Tip 13 — Consistent Body Alignment

Establishing and maintaining correct body alignment is the best way to insure your delivery and release is the same every time. Most pitchers are pretty good at placing their feet about the same each time, but, how about your upper body alignment? Are your shoulders oriented the same each time? If you miss the stake to the left or right without explanation, perhaps your shoulder alignment is not the same every time. Try this little tip when practicing. Buy yourself a nice shirt that has a vertical line running from your adam’s apple to your navel. When you position your feet on the approach make sure the middle of your body is consistently the same each time. Experiment to see what upper body rotation works best for you relative to your feet and your vertical line. Remember you are only working with about 1 degree of misalignment to miss the stake completely.

Tip 14 — Is your back swing too long?

Is it better to be accelerating or decelerating your forward swing? Remember the old adage, “if you don’t have to move it, don’t, if you do need to move it, make it as little as possible.” It is possible that you may be able to reduce misses if you only move your arm the necessary distance during the address, backswing and delivery. In most sporting events that involves throwing something, it is necessary to involve the momentum of the body. If you stand at the foul line and try to throw your horseshoe 27 or 37 feet, you will immediately feel your body wanting to add the effort necessary to get the horseshoe the required distance. The question is — how much effort do you actually need?

During your next practice session try altering how much you raise the arm during the address position. Start by raising the horseshoe aligned to the front of the approach during the address and begin the backswing from that position. In this instance, it is helpful to start the downswing with a bend at the waist. Take your normal stride forward and see how far the horseshoe travels. Don’t give up too quickly, just add a little later release to get the horseshoe to the stake. Continue creeping your alignment point forward by 3-4″, until you find the alignment point that gives you a short ringer and consider that alignment point #1. Continue creeping forward with the alignment point until hitting midway up the stake and consider that point #3. The alignment point halfway between points #1 and #3 should be considered as your alignment point. That will give you a point that permits your arriving a little short and a little long as a happy medium and still gives you a choice for clearing propped shoes. An added bonus will be your discovery of a technique that requires less effort, more accuracy and softer landing.

E-mail me if you have questions.

Table of Contents

May 8, 2015
Categories: horseshoes, Sports . Tags: Hilfling, horseshoes, Sports . Author: photon713 . Comments: 1 Comment

My Better Way

Part 50 is available as a PDF download from box.com at URL https://app.box.com/s/h84jw77pfb1zbour84yg

It is my belief that anyone using proper technique from 30 feet should be able to throw a ringer every time.

This was a comment I made in Part 4 of my blog on August 13, 2008. I would like to qualify that statement by saying, “it’s one thing to throw a ringer, it’s another to keep it.”

Constant 6 — The Stride. None! If you are a 30 foot pitcher there should be no reason to stride.

This constant was the toughest to solve. The difficulty was being able to pitch a horseshoe under control, without a stride. It was apparent that I needed to strengthen my shoulder, legs and core to eliminate the stride and maintain my balance throughout the delivery from a stationary stance.

Some History

In 2008 I began this blog. It was an effort to chronicle my struggle to find “My Way”. It started with a frustrating first night of pitching horseshoes in an American Legion league. I had zero ringers in three games with 108 attempts at throwing one. My blog now covers 8 years of the search. It has been a fruitful, yet, sometimes frustrating search. My goal has always been, “constant” improvement. Sometimes there are obstacles that interfere with this goal. I’ll cover those as we proceed through this paper. This article, which will become Part 50 of my blog, will describe a method that I don’t think I can improve on, and eliminates those obstacles.

As a computer programmer for 35 years, I felt the key to success was the establishment of constants, and the reduction of variables by changing them to constants. In simple terms, it would be like taking my left foot position at a precise location on the approach every time. As an example, I cited the use of dots on a bowling approach which are used to set your feet properly, prior to striding forward. This would be considered your constant. You would “constantly” set to this dot every first ball.

So, I set out to change every variable to a constant. I broke down the art of pitching horseshoes into it’s various parts. The result was Part 4 of my blog. I ultimately established the Line of Flight (LOF), Visual Alignment Point (VAP), Pendulum Swing, Drop Angle, Launch Angle, Back Swing Stop Point (BSSP), Alignment Point (AP), High Point of Flight, and the use of the Center of Gravity of the horseshoe. All described and referenced many times in my blog.

At the beginning in 2008, I pitched a single turn from 40 feet. Actually, a single turn or rotation was “natural” for me, as a carryover of my method of bowling as a young duckpin bowler. I would take the typical flip grip and turn the horseshoe one complete revolution. I was not yet pitching from 30 feet, but, the time was coming, sooner than I expected. A knee injury made the decision for me and my 70th birthday in December qualified me to switch to the Elder Class and pitch from 30 feet. This move up to 30 feet became both a blessing and a curse. I caution those considering the move up to 30 feet to understand all that that entails, both pro and con. Women pitching from 30 feet already face some of these challenges. I will cover some of them throughout this paper. A couple of photos later will help to define those obstacles and a little additional information finishes this paper.

I had noted that 40 foot turn pitchers, when moving up to 30 feet, did not move all the way up on the approach. I personally couldn’t see giving up distance just to continue turning the horseshoe. Perhaps if I had been throwing the turn for 10 or 15 years I would have been reluctant to make the change. I tried a variety of flips and turns, i.e., 1/3 turn, 3/4 turn, 3/4 reverse, 1-1/2 flip, flip-turn, and single flip. I settled on the single flip with Snyder EZ Flips and took full advantage of the 30 foot shorter distance. By the end of 2010, my ringer average had reached a tad under 60%. I began pitching in the Pro Tour events along with most of the NHPA tournaments in Maryland.

Continued improvement has always been my goal and I was not continuing to improve. I am basically at the same ringer average as I reached in 2010.

It didn’t take long before I realized that there were many times when I simply could “not” use my normal constants on the approach, such as the positions for my feet, or taking a normal stride. I simply had to find, “My Better Way”. It has been a fruitful, yet, sometimes frustrating search. As mentioned, my goal has always been, “constant” improvement, both literally and figuratively.

The one constant that seemed to elude me, which I mentioned above, was the “no stride” delivery. I tried a variety of stances, left foot forward, martial arts stance, feet parallel to the stake, using the left approach or right approach. I just didn’t seem able to maintain my balance when swinging from address to back swing and forward swing to release. I simply needed the stride to give me the impetus to throw the shoe under control the 27+ feet.

I continued to visit my local gym 2-3 times per week and decided to try to strengthen the muscles of my shoulders, specifically for pitching horseshoes. I threw in a couple of exercises at the cable deck that simulated the swing forward from back to front. During this time I was continuing to design horseshoes, primarily for the flip pitcher. I was able to design horseshoes that had symmetrical hook caulks that permitted the horseshoe to be turned or flipped with thumb caulk up or down. One such horseshoe was the Patriot.

In August this year, I began experimenting again with the 1-1/2 flip with the Patriot and much to my surprise…it worked. I had used the 1-1/2 flip with Snyder EZ Flips in 2008 for a short time. I switched full time to the 1-1/2 flip with the Patriot prior to the Maryland State Singles. I had a couple of games in the 72% percent range and won a second place in the Elder Class. I also used the 1-1/2 flip to win the Maryland Senior Olympics in my age group. My ringer percentage was even better in that event. I was using my normal stride in both events, as they both had permanent concrete approaches.

Recently, I had a case of shin splints, swollen ankles and a bone spur that made it painful to stride forward on the approach. My only option…the no stride or stationary stance. This gave me an opportunity to combine changes in setup, alignment and grip to produce what I consider the “proper technique” for me, which I mentioned in Part 4 written back in 2008, and mentioned in the first sentence of this article above.

There are 3 aspects to this method. They are the grip, stance and body alignment while standing at the 27 foot foul line.

It all starts with the Pendulum Swing which swings down an imaginary line called the “Line Of Flight”. The LOF defines the directional line which the horseshoe needs to follow to insure a straight line flight at the stake at release. When practicing, it is a stretchable cord that goes from the stake to the approach. When I take my stance, I want the Center of Gravity of my horseshoe to be directly over that LOF. The LOF, Pendulum Swing and Center of Gravity are all constants. Let’s start by defining the Pendulum Swing.

The Pendulum Swing

You can think of the Pendulum Swing as swinging your arm like the pendulum of a grandfather clock. In general, the pendulum is a straight shaft without joints and terminated with a weight. It swings in a straight line from left to right without deviation. Further, at rest it hangs straight down vertically and perpendicular to the ground. Can you swing your arm like a pendulum? Absolutely. See Image 1 below. Think of the hub as your shoulder, the shaft as a fully extended arm, and the weight as the horseshoe.

Image 1

It is fairly easy to determine when your arm is hanging vertically downward. First, extend your arm fully without bend at the elbow. Step to a door jamb and touch your shoulder to the jamb and also touch the back of your hand to the same jamb. When they’re both touching, it’s vertical. From this position pay attention to how far the hand is away from the leg. You’ll use this hand location when we discuss the Natural Grip.

The wheel on the right in Image 2 below, demonstrates that a horseshoe released early or late is still on line if your arm swing is down the line. The wheel on the left, which is rotated off line slightly, demonstrates that a horseshoe that is released off line early, may be to the right while a horseshoe released late, may go left. Please note the implication of this graphic. The wheel is turning at a constant rate. A horseshoe released early goes shorter than a shoe released later if the rotational speed is constant. If a horseshoe is blocking your way, it is only necessary to release later, without additional effort using your normal arm speed. There is no need to throw the horseshoe harder to arrive higher.

Image 2

The Natural Grip

The Natural Grip begins from a normal stance. Photo 1 below shows my normal stance with right arm relaxed with my thumbs turned in toward the leg. The distance your hands hang naturally relative to your leg, is dependent on the width of your shoulders. The size of your lats and triceps will also play a role in how your arms hang. The Natural Grip is a grip that can be taken that maintains your normal arm hang. The typical flip grip doesn’t do it.

Photo 2 below shows that the relaxed arm when fully extended, continues straight down and does not swing out away from the body. The act of swinging a weight (horseshoe) will cause the arm to straighten slightly by way of centrifugal force. It is important that the swing arc does not deviate by swinging off line. A pendulum swing offers the best method to remain on the Line of Flight and remain close to the body and vertical.

In Photo 3 above, the horseshoe is gripped with the typical flip grip. Normally, the hand is rotated clockwise and the thumb is about 3-1/2 inches to the right of the leg. The rotation of the palm clockwise causes the right elbow to turn inward toward the body and the hand moves away from the leg. As the arm extends due to centrifugal force the straightening of the arm pushes the horseshoe even further to the right. Your arm is no longer in a straight line and vertical.

It is difficult to keep a horseshoe going straight down the LOF, if your arm is not hanging straight down and vertical. The tilted arc that occurs, will produce erratic results depending on where the horseshoe is when released. Think of how difficult it is to hit a golf ball straight down the middle when swinging the club on a tilted plane. If you hit the ball early, it’s leaving to the right, hitting late leaves to the left, either generally with an unwanted spin.

If your swing arc is vertical and down the LOF, the worst that can happen is the horseshoe will arrive too short or too long. However, your direction will be correct. You only have about 5-3/4 inches to work with, relative to the stake, to throw a ringer. You only need to be about 3” to the left or right to miss a ringer.

If you take the typical flip grip and rotate your hands all the way into the palms up position, it is virtually impossible to dangle your arm in a straight line and vertical. The problem is the rotation into that position causes the elbow to rotate further inward toward the body and causes a larger angle and tilted plane away from the body. Unfortunately, it’s just the way your arms normally work.

The 1-1/2 Flip and Grip

Photo 4 above shows the 1-1/2 flip grip with fully extended arm. Note the similarity between the relaxed and extended arm in Photo 2. Basically, this grip does not alter the location of the hands and horseshoe from the relaxed position without horseshoe. Now, compare this hand position relative to the leg that is shown in Photo 3 when taking the flip grip. There is no unnatural arm rotation with the 1-1/2 flip grip as compared to the arm rotation needed with the normal flip grip.

In Photo 4, I am gripping the Patriot. The Patriot has neutral hook caulks which are symmetrical on both sides. I prefer to use the 1-1/2 grip with the thumb caulk up. This causes the thumb calk to hit the ground first, as I normally over-rotate the shoe slightly and hit the back end first. This tends to slow down the forward movement of the horseshoes as it arrives at the stake. I would rather have the back end hit first and scoot forward rather than hitting the hooks first. It really is a personal choice, you can just as easily grip with the thumb caulk down.

The arrow shown in Photo 4 passes through the Center of Gravity when the horseshoe is dangled from the hook caulk. The horseshoe will try to rotate back to it’s normal rotation, around the center of gravity. This adds a little additional rotational force when it hits the stake. This is similar to a turning shoe. This unsquare and rotational arrival helps reduce the loss of ringers when coming in too square and bouncing straight back.

When I used the traditional flip grip and release, I was always fighting an early release and short shoe as the traditional flip grip is more of a pinch grip between thumb and finger. If you try the hook caulk grip you will immediately feel you have much better control and feedback for the proper release. There is “no” slipping out of the fingers during the forward swing, as happens when the thumb caulk is slippery when pitching in wet clay. You will find that it is much easier to clean off the single hook caulk, as opposed to cleaning the thumb caulk area.

Photo 4 shows the horseshoe perpendicular to the leg at setup, which should continue to horizontal at address, and back to perpendicular to the leg as it passes on the way back to the Back Swing Stop Point. The orientation of the horseshoes should not change throughout the swing back and forward to release. Rotating the horseshoe very slightly clockwise when resting against the leg seems to give me a bit stronger grip feeling, but, I must concentrate to maintain that slight rotation throughout the swing. When I raise the horseshoe to the address position with that slight rotation has the left shank of the shoe slightly higher then the right. This slight rotation seems to extend my arm further and retains the extended arm fully.

Photo 5 above shows the horseshoe dangling from the hook caulk. I pitch with gloves and I am showing the grip positions without gloves for clarity. The grip is taken by simply placing the thumb on top, closing the index finger and wrapping the middle finger behind the hook with the tip of the middle finger locking onto the back of the hook caulk on the underside of the shoe. The point of the hook caulk is supported and locked into the area at the base of the thumb. See Photo 6 and 7.

Photo 6 shows the completed grip. Check out Photo 4 to show the grip taken showing the normal setup position with the horseshoe against the leg.

Resting the horseshoe against the leg is an important constant with this method. Not only is it the starting position, but, it’s the position to be repeated as the horseshoe is returned during the back swing and actually ticks the pant leg going by. This is also an audible constant and confirms that the horseshoe is still over the LOF.

Photo 7 above shows the side view of the completed grip. Note the location of the middle finger behind the back side of the hook caulk. Also note the location of the point of the hook caulk at the base of the thumb. The ring and little finger adds additional support on the underside of the hook.

Photo 8 shows the grip from the backside.

The Stance

The stance for this method is fairly unique. First, the stance is stationary without any stride. The right foot is placed into the right corner of the left approach. The left foot is to the left of the right and slightly behind. Photo 9 below shows the foot positioning for this method.

Photo 9 above shows the positioning of the left and right feet. However, I’m showing this foot positioning on the 37 foot foul line. There is no platform for the 30 foot pitchers at this venue. Photo 10 shows my actual foot positioning at the 27 foot foul line.

This is the 27 foot foul line. How do I know I’m at the right edge of the left approach? Look carefully, you’ll see the head of a nail in front of my right toe, nailed into the board. I put it there last year on each of the 27 foot foul line boards on 8 courts. I also nailed the right approach as well. If you are considering moving up to 30 feet, consider the condition of the courts you pitch on. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to setup constants on an approach when you don’t have a permanent one. This stance helps to deal with the lack of a permanent approach.

Unfortunately, this is not unusual. Many horseshoe pitching facilities suffer from this lack of 30 foot platforms.

Two years ago I pitched in the Maryland Senior Olympics at another location. There was no defined location for the 30 foot pitchers to pitch from. There was nothing. You did the best you could to pace off the 10 feet from the 37 foot foul line and try to visualize where the edges of the approach actually were located. I didn’t pitch at that facility the following year. Fortunately, it was relocated to the Elks facility on Kent Island, Maryland in 2014.

Here is another left hand approach. The foul line disappears underground to the right. It made no sense to have a setup and delivery with a stride for permanent approaches, and one trying to find a setup and stride with the issues cited without an approach. So, based on these approach issues, I decided to go to the stationary stance without a stride for future pitching. Fortunately, it has become an improvement rather than a hindrance.

The Setup and Delivery

From the stance above, I shift “all” of my weight to my right foot. With all of the weight on my right foot, my left foot is raised slightly, so the toe barely touches the ground. Every bit of weight is now resting on my right foot. This causes my body to naturally tilt to the right, placing my head very close to looking straight down the line. While practicing, I use the over and under cords, on and over the Line of Flight.

I have found that I can fine tune my setup by moving my left foot forward or back depending on how my balance feels at setup.

The address starts with the horseshoe resting against my right leg with a fully extended arm. My left arm is resting comfortably inside my left thigh. I swing up to my Visual Alignment Point (VAP). My VAP is correct when the left shank of the horseshoe is visually above the right edge of the stake and when my arm is horizontal to the ground.

When I feel perfectly balanced on the my right foot/leg, I start the downswing, and tick my pant leg going by, and carry the horseshoe to my Back Swing Stop Point (where the horseshoe naturally stops it’s backward swing). I like to start my flip rotation as I begin my forward swing. I concentrate on a nice soft flight and landing, concentrating on maintaining my balance. It really surprises me that it is fairly easy to maintain my balance throughout the entire swing.

The technique is effective because it eliminates the cause of many misses…the stride. Think about all of the things that can go wrong when you are making a stride forward. For example, your arm swing, stride forward and foot plant are not synchronized; or, you move forward too slowly or quickly; or, you stride off line; or dip your head and release too low; or, allow your shoulder to rotate counter-clockwise when you step forward with the opposite leg. The no stride method can eliminate all of these potential problems.

Furthermore, the stationary stance produces a circular swing arc without backward or forward movement. It couldn’t get simpler.

The 30 Foot Pitcher

If you are considering moving up to 30 feet, make sure you have plenty of other 30 foot pitchers to pitch against. If you intend to pitch in NHPA sanctioned tournaments, be aware of the tournament guidelines. The NHPA allows the Tournament Directors the right to set the rules for their local tournaments. If the TD’s set a no Class mixing policy, you may find you have no one to pitch against. This generally means that 30 foot Elder Class A pitchers cannot pitch against Class A 40 foot pitchers, regardless of ringer average. There are a number of informal clubs in my area that will not permit 30 foot pitchers of any kind, either male or female.

Perhaps one day the NHPA will take a good hard look at the issue of 30 foot and 40 foot pitchers competing. It is an issue that needs to be solved for the sake of horseshoe pitching in general.

The horseshoe court images I presented earlier are indicative of the challenges you may face when moving up. Keep in mind, the method I’ve described gives you an option for overcoming poor pit conditions and also gives you an opportunity to improve your ringer average. Eliminating the stride converts one more major variable to a constant. Actually, there are a number of potential errors committed during the stride and release that are eliminated with the stationary stance.

The method described above is an excellent method to try if you’re having leg problems or if wearing a leg brace or prosthesis. If you are able to use a traditional grip for the flip or turn, give the stationary stance a try. However, check out that 1-1/2 flip, it may just work, but, not every horseshoe is a candidate for the 1-1/2 flip grip. Good Luck

I’m looking forward to the 2015 pitching season.

E-mail me if you have questions.

Table of Contents

October 26, 2014
Categories: horseshoes, Sports . Tags: Hilfling, horseshoes, Sports . Author: photon713 . Comments: Leave a comment

Method 5 — Down the Line