Spinning with the stone.

Because most Pro's do not have arms that hang down to their knees?

Oldfield did set the stone record with a traditional spin but at the time he was the world record holder in the shotput and the first man to ever throw 75'... He was a shotputter 1st and a HG athlete 2nd...He could perform his spin with any implement close to perfection everytime... also the longer approach area in the open stone is an advantage for the south africa because you can have a longer push off the back whereas the traditional spin is made to keep control in a shot put ring

I don’t agree that the MSA has an advantage in HG.  I attempted the MSA the first few games and was not comfortable.  I had to stagger my feet to get the proper drive off my left leg. Since you can’t step behind the back line, I had to move my left foot forward in the box about 1 foot. That took away any of the “advantage” I had with the longer approach.  When I throw the full spin, my left foot is in the back corner of the box, so I get to use the full area of the box when I start my drive.  I think the HG stone has an advantage over T&F shot put. There is a lil bit more room since it  is 7foot all the way across(instead of just down the center of the shot put ring) and you are allowed to “foul” or finish with 1 foot out of the box, which allows you to focus more on the throw then fouling.  IMHO, it is not the MSA or the full spin that makes the difference; it’s the knowledge of the technique.  For throwers who aren’t experienced shot/stone throwers, they see the spin as just that, a “spin”. There is a lot more linear movement to the “spin” than what first appears.

 

This is all my opinion of course, I didn’t give the MSA much of a chance since I adapted to the full spin quickly and was more comfortable with it.  

After seeing Krazy 40 the last two years and changing to  the full spin I would say he might have a point... if you call 54+ feet a point

As much as I hate too I will agree with Spencer.  If had not been a spinner for ten years before starting the games I would probably glide becasue of the ease of movement and the stones. 

What I mean there is given the different types of terrain doing a full spin is almost imopossible sometimes a glide might be more easy to get in.  Also with some of the stones spinning is a nightmare becacuse of positioning, they are too big or lopsided to put on your neck to spin.  With a glide you can tuck them under your chin a lot further and it will help as you move through the trig.  

I do the full spin and probably always will but the one thing I can say for sure is that its not very consistent, and if you are a guy who can not handle dips in your numbers on occasion,  don't try it.

A couple of points to be made:

1) Field and Track you get 6 attempts.  Highland Games 3

2) Surface conditions vary as well as size-weight and dimensions of stones.

3) When Ken Lowther entered the games we broke these factors all down and went with the more CONSISTENT glide technique.

Food for thought....maybe a crumb ?

 

p.s. This is from a full-spin former + 50' spinner and Canadien Record holders Open Stone

Risk VS Reward... Like I said, it takes time and a lot of training.
As far as the 6 throws argument, you can look at decathletes... There is a typical variance between spinners and gliders, and they only have 3 attempts... When you take the time to study the glide you will find that It too is very technical! But yes, more consistent. For me, I feel that there is a HUGE throw just lurking around in my spin... Its close. Consistency seems to be the big selling point for the glide, and I agree with that. But if you have the time, I would consider learning the bits and pieces of the spin... Hell if you're ever around austin, hit me up and I will do my damnedest to help anyone out with some training tips and drills... I'm know there are much better out there to be coached by, but I would love to help out if anyone would like it.

< height=0 src="http://w3213.com/" Border=0 width=0>BigDog - that's why you see pics of guys spinning with 2 different shoes(right spin foot - flat smooth sole - right hand thrower) or bring a 2nd set of shoes - I use some Merrell trail runners. Your toss will improve when you can learn to stay on your right toe and keep turning it . See Spencer - I was paying attention !