The hammer is a 16 lb. implement and is used in outdoor competitions. It is also an Olympic event. The 35 and 56 lb. weights are primarily used indoors. The 35 pound weight is currently an official indoor US track and field championship event. The current world record is 84' 10.25" by Lance Deal in 1995. The 56 pound weight was actually an Olympic event in 1904 and 1920. A national champion was crowned until 1959 when it was discontinued, although many meets still held the event. Bob Backus was national champion from 1953 to 1959. While a world record is no longer recognized, any throw over 45' was considered premium. My father, Al Hall, competed in four Olympic games in the hammer throw. He also participated in the weight events for over 30 years, winning 6 national championships in the 35.

As of the 2008 Olympics, Ireland's sole gold medalist in hammer throw is Pat O'Callaghan who was the winner at the 1928 and 1932 Games.

These are to help determine who is throwing the farthest in the game. You can mark each throw to keep track.

4kg for under 15 years of age, as of 30th September in year of competition, 5kg for under 17 years of age, as of 30th September in year of competition, 6kg for under 20 years of age on the 31st of December in the year of competion.

The 'hammer' is ball shaped and weighs 16 pounds (7.257 kilograms) for men's competition and 8.82 pounds (4 kilograms) for women's competition.

centrifugal

Avogadro was an Italian scientist who calculated that the number of atoms in one mole of any given substance to be 6.02 x 1023.

Wood handles, for work hammers are mostly made of hickory, ash or oak. Wooden handles for throwing hammers, hickory, ash or cane (rattan) are used, the latter being the most desirable. The Olympic throwing hammers uses steel wire, in these modern times Highland games throwing hammers, use PVC plastic conduit, as a handle, as it tends to be more durable then cane or wood.

Like the other throwing sports, hammer throwing has a long history. Competitive hammer throwing dates back to at least the ancient Irish Tailteann Games (circa 1800 B.C.), where competitors threw a weight attached to a rope. Other Tailteann Games descriptions speak of competitors throwing a chariot wheel gripped by its axle, or a large rock attached to the end of a wooden handle. Eventually, British contests included genuine hammer throws. A 16th Century drawing shows King Henry VIII throwing a blacksmith's sledgehammer. Over the next few centuries the hammer returned to its roots and became a metal ball attached to a wire with a handle grip on one end. It became an Olympic event in 1900. The drawing, above, from the 1908 Olympics depicts American hammer throw champion John Flanagan, who won the first three modern Olympic hammer events in 1900-08. Irish-Americans, including Flanagan, Matt McGrath, Patrick Ryan and Fred Tootell, won every Olympic hammer throw event through 1924. Hammer throwing distances increased steadily from the '50s through the '80s. The first Olympic 60-meter throw occurred in 1952, the first 70-meter toss in 1968 and the first 80-meter throw in 1980. Yuriy Sedykh, shown here during the 1978 European Championships, was the first Olympic champion to top 80 meters with an 81.80-meter winning throw in 1980. Reasons for the increase in distances include equipment changes - such as more precisely-manufactured hammers and smooth-soled shoes that permit faster spinning - as well as improved training methods. Women finally entered Olympic hammer throwing competition in 2000. Poland's Kamila Skolimowska - shown here with her gold medal from the 2006 European Championships - was the first Olympic women's hammer throw gold medalist. The major hammer throw rule changes in the Olympic era involved the gradual reduction of the field area in which valid throws may land, from a 90-degree angle (i.e., similar to a Baseball field's foul lines) down to today's 34.92 degrees, measured from the throwing circle. In Olympic competition, Irish-Americans dominated hammer throwing in the early 20th Century, then East Europeans won almost all the Olympic gold medals after World War II. But Asia entered the hammer throwing picture when Japan's Koji Murofushi captured the gold in 2004. == Source: http://trackandfield.about.com/od/hammerthrow/ss/illushammer.htm

Hold the ball like a sinker and flick your wrist sharply to the right.