- You're probably at least familiar with the shot put.
It's a perennial favorite at the Olympics,
where the best shot putters in the world make it look easy.
But it is way more difficult than you might think.
That things weighs 16 pounds, right?
- 16 pounds.
- Which is the, that's the mass of a bowling ball
in something the size of like, a grapefruit.
So you can't really throw it.
Instead, you have to kind of shove it from your shoulder,
or rather, put it.
And most people just aren't strong or coordinated enough
to put a shot more than a few feet.
But the pros?
They can send a shot flying 50, 60, 70 feet or more.
In 1990, American Randy Barnes set
the current world record of 23.12 meters.
That's 75 feet, 10 and a quarter inches.
So what's keeping somebody else from throwing even farther?
Today, we're going to look at why putting a shot
more than 24 meters is almost impossible.
To find out what it takes,
I talked with the Olympic record holder.
- The Spin generates more power,
but is more unforgiving.
- Tried putting a shot myself.
[groans] [bleep]!
- You see, you dropped your elbow here,
and it spun out like out like--
- [Robbie] And spoke with a sports technologist
about what makes a perfect put.
- [John] His looks something like this.
If we went back to yours,
it would be something like this. [laughing]
- Now, before we go any further,
it's important to point out that
that 23.12 meter world record,
it needs a footnote.
Just a few months after he set it,
American Randy Barnes was suspended from competition
after failing a drug test.
His record, however, it still stands.
And a new generation of athletes is coming closer
and closer to breaking it.
- People are just understanding the throw better.
- [Robbie] That's professional shot putter Ryan Crouser.
In 2016, he set the current Olympic record,
when he sent a shot flying 22.52 meters.
Nearly 74 feet.
I met up with him at the US Olympic Training Center
in Chula Vista, California for a lesson.
- You can enter the ring to start your throw from anywhere.
You'll see most people start it all the way at the back,
and after you've completed your throw,
you have to finish on balance,
and after the implement lands,
so then you can walk out the back half.
- [Robbie] The rules of shot put are pretty straightforward.
Send this 16-pound ball flying as far as you possibly can
without it landing out of bounds
and without setting foot outside the throwing circle,
which measures seven feet in diameter.
- It's kind of the great equalizer.
If it was bigger, taller guys like me
would have a huge advantage.
If it was smaller, it'd be all short guys.
- My wrist's already tired, is that a bad thing?
- Yeah, not a good sign. [laughing]
- [Robbie] Crouser's goal was to get me
to throw nine meters, or about 30 feet.
That's less half the distance of his typical throw.
And keep in mind, the distance is measured
from the inside of the toe board
to the point of first contact,
not where it ends up rolling.
- And the shot's right here.
You and come and--
- [Robbie] He started by showing me how to hold the shot.
- Ball is not in the palm,
it's actually up on the fingertips,
right there.
So you get that little snap.
So I'll have you just start with the stand throw--
- [Robbie] Then he had me do some standing throws.
- The most fundamental movement for a shot.
So, left foot at the toe board,
then right foot probably about right in here.
Shoulders to me.
Now squat down
and bring your center of gravity
out over your right foot.
- All right.
[groans]
- [Ryan] All right. [laughing]
- You don't have to hide your disappointment.
[laughing]
- That was better than most people.
But the overall engine,
there's just not quite enough to power it.
- He's saying I'm small and weak.
Next, he had me try the glide.
It's a traditional shot putting technique
that involves scooting in a line across the throwing circle.
- From this position, you're sinking down and back
in the feeling of like a chair
being pulled out from under you.
So it's you're generating energy,
it's three things.
This left foot drive, drive from the heel,
and then drive across.
[groans]
Well, a massive improvement.
- Little by little!
And finally, he had me try the spin.
It's a rotational move,
and Crouser's preferred technique.
With practice, some athletes find it
to be more powerful than the glide.
But it's also a lot more difficult to perform consistently.
- [Ryan] Turn, drive.
- Man.
- [Ryan] There you go.
- So, it goes
like that?
- There we go. - Kind of?
Okay, and elbow up?
- [Ryan] Elbow up, yeah.
- Okay.
[groans]
[laughs]
- [Ryan] You seem to be a glider.
[laughing]
- [Robbie] The goal of the glide as the as the spin,
is to transfer as much energy as possible
from your lower body up through your torso,
shoulder, arm, hand, and finally, your fingertips
right at the point of release.
- There's a ton of energy transfer
that happens right at the end.
We call it the flick,
that last little bit of energy transfer.
You stored up all this energy in a rubber band,
at the end, it's just coming off just the fingers.
We actually will end up taping the tips of my fingers
because they'll split, there's so much force on 'em.
- [Robbie] It took everything I had
to heave this thing 30 feet.
And it didn't even count on my spinning throw
because I fell out of the circle!
But Crouser can put shots twice that distance
and make it look effortless.
A lot of that has to do with his remarkable physicality.
- The closest to us would be like an offensive lineman,
or a professional strongman.
- Crouser is six feet, seven inches tall, weighs 315 pounds.
He can fire off a 40-meter dash in under 4.8 seconds.
He can also squat more than 700 pounds
and bench-press 225.
Almost 50 times in a row.
Like many elite shot putters,
Crouser could probably play in the NFL if he wanted to.
In fact, he was actually invited to try out
for the for Indianapolis Colts.
But there's more to shot put than brute strength.
Crouser is also surprisingly flexible
and has outstanding coordination.
At the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha,
he threw a personal best of 22.90 meters.
That's just 22 centimeters shy of Barnes' record.
- See that little flick? - Yep.
- [John] That adds even a little bit more force.
- [Robbie] To find out makes Crouser's technique
so effective, I spoke with John Crosby.
He's a sports technologist with the US Olympic Committee.
Talk to me about Ryan Crouser's technique and his form,
and why it's so fantastic.
- Yeah, so, I mean, Ryan is just a beast, as you can tell.
There's a couple of different things
that are going on there.
Ryan's just so in tune with his proprioception,
that he knows where his body is at all times.
And he can really feel that kinetic chain.
Let's see, when he's coming out of the back--
- That positional awareness allows Crouser
to send the shot flying at close
to the perfect angle almost every time.
If you're familiar with projectile motion,
you know that the ideal launch angle
for distance is 45 degrees.
But for shot put,
the optimum angle is actually quite a bit smaller than that.
Usually between 35 and 40 degrees.
And that's because distance depends on
more than just your launch angle.
It also depends on the speed at which you put the shot,
or your release velocity.
The problem is that in shot put,
steeper launch angles lead to lower release velocities.
And that's just because humans are stronger
in this direction than they are in this direction.
It's why most people can bench press
a lot more than they overhead press.
Plus, moving a shot up means having to fight gravity.
The point being,
it's a lot easier to move a shot horizontally
than it is to move it vertically.
Which is why the sweet spot is between 35 and 40 degrees.
Shallow enough to put some good speed on the ball,
but still steep enough to get some hang time.
How fast is it exiting your hand and at what angle?
- A great throw for me is usually between 36 and 40 degrees.
Speed-wise, you'll be looking at about 32, 33 miles an hour.
- [Robbie] And the fores required
to produce those speeds are tremendous.
Remember how Crouser said he tapes his fingertips?
Well, you and I would need way more than tape
to keep from injuring ourselves.
- If your hand tried to, say,
apply the pressure needed for a 22-meter throw
or a 72-foot throw,
I think every single tendon that connects all of these
would without a doubt be gone.
And then you might, some bones might break as well.
- So I would actually break my hand
trying to do what you're doing.
But how much farther could someone
realistically put one of these things?
- I think with the levels that the athletes are at,
and as the technique has progressed,
I think that 24 would be, it'd be unbelievable to see,
but it's not beyond the realm of reason.
- [Robbie] And what would that take
in terms of exit velocity?
The answer is less than you might think.
Relatively small changes in release velocity
can have a big impact on total distance.
- If you increase the velocity
by even a 10th of a meter per second,
you add about 25 centimeters to the distance of the throw.
- Here's another way to put that.
If Crouser can find a way to add
just .2 meters per second to his release velocity,
that's less than .5 miles per hour,
he could break the world record.
Another half-mile per hour?
And he could become the first person in history
to put a shot more than 24 meters.
Now, an extra mile per hour on your release velocity
might not sound like much,
but when you're already one of the best
shot putters in the world, it's enormous.
Especially when reaching for that last
little ounce of performance
could mean risking serious injury.
- One of the biggest issues that the shot putters run into
is just staying healthy.
When you have that amount of force, like,
on your body that often,
it's so easy to get injured,
and then they're already towards the higher end
of strength levels and power levels.
So, for them to get even stronger,
you're increasing that injury chance.
- [Robbie] So, what is the ideal physiology
for someone who's capable of putting a shot
more than 24 meters?
- You want really, really long levers,
if you could make someone who's 6'3",
with, say, 7'6" arms,
because that just lets you apply force for a longer time.
And then super dynamic,
you'd have someone who's fast in the sprints,
really good at jumping,
and you just have to have that baseline strength.
The potential is there,
it's just getting the individual that can do it.
- [Robbie] But until all those things come together,
remember that what elite athletes
like Crouser are doing today
is already almost impossible.
[funky music]