Horseshoes – a Heck of a Spectator Sport
Pass along these helpful tips to your favorite spectator…any you may learn a few things while you’re at it!
(Article
supplied by the NHPA)
Horseshoe
pitching is more fun when you participate…but spectators can enjoy the games
too, if they know how to follow the action and recognize subtle nuances in
pitching styles and methods.
There
is a wide diversity in pitching stance, grip, backswing, release, turn (or
flip) and follow-thru. Suffice it to
say, no two pitchers deliver the shoe the same way, and no particular set of
the above “ingredients” appear to be the magic combination for a “perfect
pitch.” Nor is there a particular shoe design that works best for everyone.
Spectators
can quickly become students of the game by learning to recognize differences in
pitchers and the success each has with his or her methods. This is far more interesting than merely attempting
to keep up with “who is beating whom” throughout a tournament.
Each class pitches a “round robin,” which means that every contestant pitches a game against every other contestant in the same class. Pairings are schedules so that everyone is aware of who they will pitch against and where during each round. Usually, the number-one seed is paired against the last seed in the first round, and in subsequent rounds against the next higher seed until the last round, when the number-one and number-two seeds compete against one another.
Occasionally, a class will have an odd number of entries, requiring each pitcher to draw a “bye” round, which is recorded as an automatic win. In some tournaments, a “Pacer” is used in bye rounds, to keep the idle pitcher warmed up. Regardless of the outcome of that game, the tournament pitcher wins, and game stats on ringers and shoes pitched are entered in tournament results like any other game.
The “turn of the shoe can be classified in the following general categories:
·
Clockwise
-
¾ turn (held open side facing pitcher’s right)
-
1 ¼ turn (held open side facing pitcher’s left)
-
1 ¾ turn (held open side facing pitcher’s right)
·
Counter Clockwise
-
¾ turn (held open side facing pitcher’s left)
-
1 ¼ turn (held open side facing pitcher’s right)
-
1 ¾ turn (held open side facing pitcher’s left)
·
Flip (palm up)
-
1 flip (one complete flip, points rise up and back)
-
2 or more flips (multiple flips, points rise up and
back)
·
Flip (palm down)
-
1 flip (one complete flip, points rise up and back)
-
2 or more flips (multiple flips, points rise up and
back)
·
Rolling Flip (clockwise)
-
Combination of a single turn and flip, usually held
near closed end of shoe
The clockwise turn is quite common for right-handers, although some do pitch a reverse or counter-clockwise turn. And of course, left-handed pitchers can do everything right-handers can, but in reverse.
There are some odd fractional
turns, depending on where the shoe is held.
For example, if the shoe is held by the end of the one leg with the open
end facing the pitcher, the result my end up closer to 1 ½ turns instead of 1 ¼
turns.
Most right-handed pitchers pivot on the right foot and step out with the left foot. They may start the pitch with the left foot behind, beside, or ahead of the right foot, and a rare few even have a two-step delivery (step with the pivot foot, then step out with the left foot). Still others step out with the right foot, using the left foot as the pivot foot.
A good pitcher can generally count on his shoe being open and close to the right distance, but alignment seems to be the most elusive of the major elements. It is often interesting to discover that pitchers have a pattern to their misalignment. If they continually miss on the same side of the stake, it probably has a different significance than if they seem to miss equally on both sides. Perhaps their elbow is not pointing directly away from the stake, or they are “dealing” the shoe with the writs, or suffering from some other delivery slaw. A good pitcher will make corrections between pitches; while a less skilled pitcher will unknowingly repeat the delivery pattern with unfortunate consistency. Practice certainly helps a pitcher fine-tune the fundamentals, but it’s also wise to watch both good and novice pitchers and learn to read their delivery techniques.
The
arm and body “follow-thru” immediately after release often gives a clue ads to
pitch alignment. A vertical follow-thru
generally indicates a straight delivery as opposed to a cross-over follow-thru
similar to that of a baseball pitcher throwing a slider. If a horseshoe pitcher senses the pitch may
be a bit right of the stake, they might give it a little “body English” by
leaning to the left. Keep your eye on
the pitcher-sometimes the best show is watching how the pitcher reacts, even
more than what his shoe does!
A lot of buzz words come into a typical horseshoe pitcher’s
conversation. “Pulling” the shoe (as
opposed to “pushing”) suggest that the step is ahead of the delivery and the
arm follows the forward motion of the body, thus pulling the shoe in the
recommended fashion. A few beginners
try to push the shoe with a forceful arm, elbow crooked, with alignment going
from the left to right uncontrollably.
“Lift” on the shoe is the final upward slip of the
fingers with palm nearly face up as the shoe leaves the hand. Without a little lift, the shoe frequently “tumbles”
rather than turns in flight. “Reach” is
the fully extended arm, with the goal being to retain grip on the shoe until
the very furthest distance possible from the body and follow-thru.
Now, armed with your “spectator” knowledge, grab your
shoes…get out there and practice…and put this wisdom to good use.