Impact of rim weight and torque in discus performance

Abstract

The discus throw is one of the oldest sporting events in track and field. Despite this, there has not been very much dynamic analysis on the throw and the ability of an athlete to apply the proper forces and torques to the discus. This paper looks at measuring the ability of the athlete to create spin on the discus by applying torque in the throwing process. The results from the experiment described in this paper were inconclusive, though there was a general trend that as the normal force into the discus increases, the angular velocity increased. However, this was minimally correlated from the data supplied.