The Upper Austrian is already working on a new technique that will allow him to use his hips more when throwing. At training camps on Tenerife, he worked on the new technology together with trainer Gregor Högler. “If you don’t risk anything, you won’t develop any further,” says Weißhaidinger.
He wants to fight for medals at the Olympic Games in Paris, but before that he also has the European Championships in Rome on the agenda. The stronger hip swing and more rotational speed with the legs should be used. “The trajectory is flatter than last year. This should also have a positive effect on the release speed and distance.”
GEPA/Wolfgang Grebien Gregor Högler and Lukas Weißhaidinger are taking a new approach to the matter
Long arms aren’t everything
After the historic 2023 World Championships in Budapest due to the high-class competition – gold went to the Swede Daniel Stahl with 71.46 m, silver to the Slovenian Ceh with 70.02, bronze to Alekna with 68.85 – the then seventh-placed Weißhaidinger and Högler Revenge announced.
Even if the competitors had long arms, they could be beaten, explained the trainer and said: “Physics also has other laws than levers, for example momentum and speed.” They would dig up the physics book again and find a way, Weißhaidinger added .
“Hit your hips”
Högler recently stated that he was happy about Alekna’s world record because the technical changes at Weißhaidinger had been made in the direction of this athlete. “It goes over the hip. When I’m training, I can say, ‘Put your hips in.’ I find it much easier to coach. We’re both aggressive types, so you can hit back aggressively. That will be interesting.” A lot has been invested in the hip. In terms of the challenge, the technology is easier, you just have to concentrate on it.
That it can work was already shown at the state championships last July, when Weißhaidinger managed the Olympic limit of 68.35 m in Bregenz with a focus on the hips and without wind support. After the World Cup, the coach and athlete thought about it for a week or two and came to a common conclusion: “We need the technology to hit back aggressively. It’s no longer a swing from above,” said Högler. “The nice thing is that he dares to do that.”
You also have to learn, and perhaps you have overestimated the levers. “When I see what Alekna is doing, okay, then I say: Friends, I’m there. I don’t need long hands and I don’t have to be 180 kg.”
