Indian javelin prodigy Neeraj Chopra has pinpointed greater core strength and overall physical fitness as key ingredients in his pursuit to regularly cross the 90-metre mark at top-level international meets.
Off his Friday Diamond League victory with a top throw of 88.16m, two-time Olympic medallist Chopra admitted that while his showing was excellent, there's still scope for augmentation.
The victorious effort came in a star-studded field that boasted five members of the exclusive 90m club. However, it was short of his season-long best and personal best of 90.23m, accomplished in the first week of this year at the Doha Diamond League, where he was beaten by German thrower Julian Weber.
"Yes, I need a bit more control while throwing, such as on the attack. We are practicing it during training, but still, there are so many things that we need to change and I need some, perhaps, powerful core and some extra powerful body for throwing," Chopra, 27, said pondering his present form and what he needs to improve upon.
Core strength is essential in javelin throw. It helps in the transmission of power from the lower body to the upper body and directly impacts distance as well as accuracy. Chopra, conscious of this biomechanical fact, has specifically focused on improving this area of his training.
"It's merely time and rhythm. getting more and more competitions," he added, hoping that consistency will follow with more match exposure.
Though he was satisfied with his run-up speed and timing, Chopra acknowledged that there remains room for improvement on the execution at the point of release. ".such as timing, because I feel very good (in the) run-up, but the timing was not so good when I throw (the javelin). I go fast left and it was not good. I need to throw to the front like with the chest and go up with the javelin. We are working on it," he added.
Chopra is now coached by the legendary Czech javelin thrower Jan Zelezný and will next feature at the Ostrava Golden Spike meet on June 24. He feels that the four-day break will be vital for recovery and preparation.
Apart from his current competition calendar, the Olympic gold medalist is also preparing for the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru on July 5 — a World Athletics Category A meet. "I'm very much excited with this too. It's something that I feel I have done for my country and people are sporting it," said Chopra, who is still motivated by the increased popularity of javelin in India after the Tokyo Olympics.
Indian folks are athletic and they are taking javelin (sport) after the Tokyo Olympics, and I'm extremely thrilled. In the future, I'm planning to make this event (Neeraj Chopra Classic) grand," he stated with pride.
Ahead of the World Championships later this year in Tokyo, Chopra is optimistic about breaking the barriers further. I'm hoping like, expecting again some 90m throw (in World Championship) because I broke the barrier in Doha. So now I think I can do it some more. some far throws," he said.
"But let's see, it depends on the weather and good condition, how the body feels, but maybe I will throw far in this season.
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