{"id":4779,"date":"2026-06-19T10:55:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T15:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/?p=4779"},"modified":"2026-06-19T10:55:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T15:55:30","slug":"life-on-the-circuit-with-maggie-ewen-june-2026-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/?p=4779","title":{"rendered":"Life on the circuit with Maggie Ewen: June, 2026 edition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dealing with injuries.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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World class putter\u00a0Maggie Ewen<\/a>\u00a0has been filing regular reports as she travels the world plying her trade. In this piece, Maggie gives McThrows readers insight into the many ways getting injured complicates life for a pro putter.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have all been there at some point. Sprained ankle, slipped disc, jammed finger, pulled muscles. <\/strong>Professional athlete or weekend warrior, most people have experienced some sort of injury. When you go through the intense training required to excel in a sport, they become inevitable. We\u2019re constantly striving get stronger, faster and more explosive, and over time, all the wear and tear takes its toll. So we find ourselves performing a balancing act between pushing our bodies to the limit and taking the time to rest, recover and do preventative care. No matter how diligent we are about staying healthy, though, at some point in our career, we all suffer setbacks. When that happens, we can only take solace in the hope that all the preventative rehab and prehab, the scheduled rest, the smart dieting and consistent sleep schedules, will prevent it from being a serious injury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am currently in the midst of <\/em>
my inevitable setback. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of last year, I strained the base of my triceps doing a simple stand throw, which is arguably the least threatening and most practiced part of the throw. I worked closely with the doctors, but it was the type of injury that only rest would heal. Once the season ended, it took about four months to finally heal up and I was able to start throwing again. But the second I tossed my first shot, I noticed a pain on the other side of my elbow (the area most people refer to as “tennis elbow”) which had never been there before. It literally appeared after four months of rest and rehab. So, again I  worked with the doctors, but so far the answer to my problem has evaded us. I\u2019ve been prescribed additional rest, rehab, strengthening, anti-inflammatories, heat, cold, chiropractic and acupuncture. Still no dice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, imaging shows no damage and mobility tests reveal no clues. <\/strong>Our last Hail Mary play is to go see a group of specialists in LA at the end of June. Specialists being what they are, it was hard to carve out a slot in their schedule for me. So if you\u2019re wondering why I haven\u2019t taken this step sooner, that\u2019s your answer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, I plan to keep training and competing, which I am sure raises some questions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all, I did just get done telling you how injured I am. So let me explain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, I would not label my injury as debilitating.<\/strong> I\u2019d describe it more like “limiting.” I can still throw, but I really have to throttle back the intensity. My elbow only hurts when I dynamically hit full extension (aka strike the shotput) but only if I go full speed. If I lower the intensity so I am not moving through the strike with as much speed and snap, there is no pain. Obviously, that means there is also less force being put into the ball and, therefore, I am not seeing seeing the distances I typically would. But I can get through a whole practice no problem. While I don\u2019t love constantly training at around 75% intensity, I can feel all of this low- intensity, highly-technical execution practice is really benefitting my throw. It\u2019s forcing me to be hyper-precise, and I am definitely making improvements to my form that will translate into much larger throws once I am able to up the intensity. So I’m going to keep logging these clean reps until I get more answers from the specialists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly, I don\u2019t want to lose motivation.<\/strong> It would be easy to sit at home and watch this season unfold from the comfort of my house. I could just continue to log training reps, keep an eye on meet results and wait to get back into peak form. But\u2026 that\u2019s not really my style. I enjoy competition. I like being challenged, and since my elbow doesn\u2019t hurt with lower intensity throws, I don\u2019t believe I am doing additional damage to the joint. What is important to me is not losing sight of the level I want to get back to. Hunkering down and training has its benefits, but nothing kicks my motivation into gear like getting out there and giving it a go. Does that mean I\u2019ll likely get my butt kicked a lot this year? Probably, but that\u2019s a great motivator to get back into form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thirdly, athletes have to compete in five meets in a calendar year in order to acquire a World Rank. <\/strong>Our World Rank influences things like the meets we can get into, teams we can make and how much funding we can expect for the following season. After eight years as a professional thrower, I have seen many athletes deal with injury. I\u2019ve watched them decided to compete or not compete. From what I have witnessed, the injured athletes who take the season off and lose their world rank entirely have a harder time coming back the following season. Athletes who continued to compete, even if they are underperforming, only have to deal with their World Rank dropping but not disappearing. It\u2019s definitely a gamble either way, but continuing to compete gives me more peace of mind for next year. So, I\u2019ll stand by my decision and continue competing. By the time I see the specialists, I will have thrown in six meets. That allows me the wiggle room to shut it down after I see the specialists (depending on their findings) and I still preserve a World Rank for 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, it\u2019s important to note there is no playbook for handling this type of situation. <\/strong>It\u2019s all about weighing the pros and cons of your specific situation. What is the severity of the injury, what\u2019s your standing in the sport, what meets have you been invited to or what teams have you already qualified for?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every athlete would have <\/em>
a different plan of action if they <\/em>
were in my shoes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of us would be completely right, and none of us would be totally wrong. For example, my elbow issue is reminiscent of Ryan Crouser\u2019s. He opted to take off nearly the entire 2025 season to rest his elbow, but that was because he already had the automatic invite to the World Championships in Tokyo. On top of that, he is the most talented athlete in our sport’s history. I’m not working with a comparable level of accolades and reputation. Therefore, I need to constantly prove that I’m the kind of thrower meet directors want in their meets. I don\u2019t have the luxury to take the season off and come back when I\u2019m feeling ready. I don\u2019t say that as some sort of insult to Crouser, it\u2019s just a simple fact in the world of professional track and field. We\u2019re all doing our best to optimize our own unique situations even when we\u2019re dealing with similar issues. We all have to navigate our own unique path towards the same goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hopefully, in a month’s time, I can come back with good news from the doctors.<\/strong> Until then, I will continue to do my best to make the most of the hand I am dealt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Positive thoughts, constructive practices and eyes focused. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I may not be a big threat in 2026, but I’ve got plenty of time to rebound for the true goal. LA 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dealing with injuries. World class putter\u00a0Maggie Ewen\u00a0has been filing regular reports as she travels the world plying her trade. In this piece, Maggie gives McThrows readers insight into the many ways getting injured complicates life for a pro putter. We have all been there at some point. Sprained ankle, slipped disc, jammed finger, pulled muscles. … Continue reading Life on the circuit with Maggie Ewen: June, 2026 edition<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rotational-shot"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8knIb-1f5","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4779"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4822,"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4779\/revisions\/4822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}