This is part one of a monthly series in which Maggie Ewen, one of America’s top putters, will break down her technique step by step.
Hello! This is six-time World Shotput Finalist, Maggie Ewen.
Over the course of the year, I’ll be sharing a frame-by-frame breakdown of my throw. I’ll analyze each phase from the starting position to the reverse. Follow along for a detailed technical analysis designed to help you understand my throw!
The throw I chose to break down is my final attempt at the 2025 Royal City Inferno Track and Field Festival in Guelph, Ontario. I don’t remember the exact distance, but I believe it was around 19.60m. Clearly, not my furthest performance but I felt this was the best technical example of my throw. There are still pieces of it I will inevitably point out as needing improvement, but that’s throwing! It’s near impossible to have a throw where every little piece was perfectly executed.
Position 1
We will start at the setup. At this point, I am focusing on locking my upper body into the position I want to hold through the throw. You may notice that from the hip hinge up, my posture is the same as it would be during a stand throw. I aim to reduce unnecessary movement through the throw (aka introducing more variables that could go wrong) by locking the upper body into this position and trying to hold it steady. This allows me to focus primarily on the lower body as I move through the throw.
The right elbow is up and I am actively pressing the shot into my neck. The left arm is straight ahead, relative to my torso. My weight is balanced 50/50 between the right and left. My legs are not overly bent. This will allow me to go down into the middle during my zero support phase (I will discuss this in greater detail when we reach this phase). My foot placement is just wider than shoulder width keeping it comfortable and athletic. Finally, I am already beginning to engage the left glute in preparation to move into single support.
My rhythmic mindset at this point is slow and steady.
I’m going to let the momentum build throughout the course of the throw, so I don’t need to move quickly into the next phase.
Tune in next time to learn about how I initiate the turn.
Thanks for reading!
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