Over the years we’ve received many reports of some of the best coaches in the world using the Finnflier® to train their athletes, from youth to world class throwers. National champions, Olympic Trials finalists, and other world ranked throwers include the Finnflier® in their training.
Many have said that they use it for injury recovery, injury avoidance, flight training, fun, and to allow many more throws in practice than would be otherwise possible with full weight javelins.
The coach’s quotes range from, “Of course it’s better. If my athlete had thrown a 600g javelin on that awful sidearm throw, she would have hurt her elbow” to “The one mistake I’ve made with the Finnflier® is that I didn’t get more of them sooner”.
In Germany, 2016 Olympic Javelin Gold Medallist Thomas Rohler uses the Finnflier® in his training sessions at his Jena Javelin facility. Check out the video!
Independent coaches here in the US have been using the Finnflier® for years, with great success. There are different patterns of use – some use it for Fall training only, some year round. Some throw three Finns, then two competition weight javelins in a session, while others will throw the Finns for 25 throws then competition weight javelins. Most leave it up to the athletes, who can tell what feels best. We see the best results when the athletes use them year round. They get good at throwing far!
Youth throwers throw the Finnflier® for the whole session, but again, more throws are possible and the learning is good. The Finnflier®’s dual safety features, of protection from a throwing injury and from impact, are much appreciated. Plus being able to throw on turf fields helps practice logistics.