Under-18 shot putting champ Nick Palmer says the mental aspect to throwing is more crucial than the muscle.
The bolting-Bay athlete chats to Mark Story.
In terms of competition, what's your next big goal?
Now we're going to focus on the Under-20 grade, which is 1kg heavier than I've been throwing
at 6kg. The big aim for this next year is the World Under-20 Athletic Championships, which is held in Finland in July. We have to qualify for that this summer so we'll be tripping around New Zealand through January/February for smaller competitions, before competing in New Zealand's and Australia's National Championships in March.
For you, what does a week worth of training look like?
This is really dependant on how close to a competition the training is as needs change. However, an average week of training goes from Monday to Saturday with Sunday always as a rest day. Generally I will try to pack in three gym sessions with three to four throwing sessions as well. It's important to keep mobile in shot put, so we get as much stretching and rehab in as we can. Because I use the rotational technique to throw, core work is extremely important as well as base strength training and developing overall power. Got to be strong and fast. Diets vary for all shot putters, we just keep it to a lot of clean eating.
Given it's an individual pursuit as opposed to team-based, is it a lonely sport?
The individual sport has its downsides but it also has its perks. It can get lonely and if you lose or fail a target, it is completely on your shoulders. But, when you win, there's a different feeling of accomplishment as you were the one who put the work and you are the sole person who gets the results. However, the training isn't all individual, there are other throwers who have the same goals and we form a very strong bond with each other through training together, so it's not as lonely as it's made out to be.
If you had to split it, what percentage would you give to the mental side versus physical side?
Coming up in the early years , the physical side is what sets the top athletes apart. I believe though that at the top level, at all age grades, the difference is entirely mental and that's why I think it should be one of the most important things to work on. The mental game is the difference maker and especially for me. I place a huge emphasis on imagery and competition mentality to help take me to the next level.
What's the biggest obstacle to a young Kiwi athlete's success?
Of course we have the usual issues of finance and support, they play a big part in success for athletes and we can never have enough of it, and in New Zealand because we aren't a big or rich country, we have a lot of financial issues. However, I think that the biggest obstacle is exposure. Young athletes don't get exposed enough to major competitions and it's simply because we don't have a big enough population. To get the exposure that athletes in Europe and America get, we have to travel a lot and that gets pretty difficult. It's something that's hard to over come but when we do, it really opens up the athletic world.