World Championships: How faster arm speed is helping Neeraj Chopra throw further

For no fault of his, the javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has been forced to behave like a student in a race against time. He’s had to rush through a year’s syllabus in about six months. The extended felicitation post his Olympic gold robbed him of precious time to prepare for the World Championships. Losing weight, regaining athletic fitness, building strength, regaining flexibility, starting throwing drills, and polishing technique must be done step-by-step.

A rushed job is not advisable in an injury-prone sport. Yet Chopra has been able to pass with flying colours. A gold, a silver, a second-place finish in the Diamond League and breaking the national record twice shines on his report card since returning to competition at the Paavo Nurmi Games in June. Two 89-metre plus throws this season and the third best throw of the year make him a favourite at the World Championships in Eugene. Being short on time has also taught Chopra to prepare smartly. The 24-year-old says he isn’t as strong as he was at the Tokyo Olympics. Improved arm speed and focus on technique has helped him reach within touching distance of 90 metres.

Before going to Tokyo we were in Bhubaneshwar (the throwers camp was moved to the Odisha capital from Patiala). Back then my strength was more compared to today. When it comes to lifting or jumps and all, I was stronger. If I talk about my strength in Tokyo, my full squat was 160 kilograms to 170 kilograms. Now I have done upto 140 kilograms because of the lack of time to build strength. This time the focus is on the technique. My strength is at a good level but the technique in throws is important, like the angle of the throw and that is helping me.

Chopra’s biggest strength is his athleticism. He might as well have been a decathlete because he is good at sprinting, jumping and lifting. He is also blessed with elasticity, flexibility and a natural arm speed which has gotten better.

I feel my arm speed is faster now. How fast your arm is an important aspect and that is helping me a lot. When it comes to technique there is always scope for improvement. One of the methods Chopra has used to improve his arm speed is to throw with a lighter javelin in practice. The standard javelin used in the men’s event weighs 800 grams and Chopra uses one which is 100 grams lighter to work on arm speed.

It is not easy to improve it (arm speed). My natural arm speed is good. We can’t do too much exercise (to improve arm speed), but we can throw with light javelin. In practice after throwing with 800 grams javelin, I throw with a 700 gram javelin to see how fast the arm is. It is lighter and the arm will go faster. The angle of the javelin needs to be good (34 to 36 degrees) and the arm speed too. If arm speed is fast, the force will be transferred to the javelin, Chopra said.