My Story
For three years in high school, I improved at almost every meet. The word plateau felt icky to me, wayyy before icks were even a thing. I started my senior season with a 4 foot PR, throwing a 63′ bomb at my first meet. I naively expected this to continue. I put in too much work not to improve but PRs were far and few between. That year, I only PR'd three times: 63′ to 64′4 indoors, then 65′2 at outdoor New Balance Nationals. Waiting two months between PRs felt unbearable, so I did what seemed obvious and worked harder. Extra practices on Sundays, staying after team practice for extra sessions. Push harder, get better. And it kind of worked. I clawed back to the low 60s and popped a 64′1 at the county meet.
I thought I could brute force my way through college too. I couldn't. My body broke down from overtraining and school stress. PRs were like getting As on Stanford tests, almost impossible. Although I managed to PR almost every year at Stanford, the plateaus lasted longer. At one point, I went nearly two years without a PR due to a combination of injuries, technique issues and competition struggles.
There are lessons in every plateau. From the two-month droughts in high school to the soul-crushing years in college. Below I share what I learned so you can avoid these traps or find your way out faster.
Pitfall #1: Not All Time Is Created Equal
Realistically, most HS throwing sessions last about an hour to an hour and a half. I've seen two-hour practices, sometimes three, but frankly anything past 1.5 hours faces diminishing marginal returns. Anyone who says they need over two hours for a session is probably not being efficient with their time and can save the bullshit.
So how is it possible that they are getting better and you aren't? They most likely aren't spending that much more time than you. What makes their time more useful? Intentionality and focus are the keys.
In the case of lifting, simply focusing on the muscle you are trying to work can speed up muscle development by up to 15%. With no extra work, no heavier weights, intentionality and focus can increase gains. So bring out your best focus at practice.
The person who lackadaisically takes a throw, trots out to grab the shot, and repeats isn't going to beat the thrower who takes a throw, thinks about what they did and felt in the throw on their way to grab the implement, and jogs back. Not only is the second thrower actively analyzing every throw, they're thinking about it longer and spending less time between throws because they jogged back. At the end of practice, the second thrower will have gotten more throws in, thought deeper about each one, and mentally locked in their technique. If you can see it in your head, you can do it in the ring.
Say your coach gives you five minutes to drill an aspect of your throw. The person that does 40 reps will most likely improve more than the person who does 20. But they spent the same amount of time! This mindset should apply to everything in training. I see throwers forgetting urgency, focus and intent all the time especially with the small stuff. If you're in a warmup line, and the person in front of you does a sloppy version of a karaoke, but you focused on explosiveness, tempo, and form, you would have gotten marginally faster, marginally more mobile and explosive. It seems small, but compounds. Over 15 warmup exercises, 40 throws in your session, and 8 lifts in the weight room, that intentionality builds real gains. In a year, you'll have spent the same time as everyone else but gotten much better.
Pitfall #2: Subconscious Corner Cutters
The problem with just trying our best and focusing at practice is that it overlooks things you're doing wrong without realizing it. After all, how can you fix something you don't even know you're doing?
The best remedy to fixing these subconscious issues is honesty. Our minds are experts at self-deception. They love taking the easiest path, convincing us we're doing fine when really we are cutting corners.
For example, we've all told ourselves that we will only watch a few reels before bed. But every time, you watch more than a few and it eats into your recovery. Catch yourself in moments of dishonesty. The more you catch these lies, the fewer corners you'll cut. That shot put isn't going to throw itself and we both know this reel isn't going to be your last.
Here's another example. As a thrower, I know how much you hate cardio. So when your coach tells you to run a 400m warmup lap, do you actually run the entire thing? Probably not. You walk the last 20m or cut through lane 1 to shorten the distance. Don't tell yourself 380m is fine. Yeah, it's probably not a big deal, but if you're lying to yourself about this, what else are you lying about? If your coach said run 400, run 400. The extra 20m can only help. Set the tone for practice, finish through the goddamn line.
Pitfall #3: Student of the Game
Study, study, study. Throwing is a technical sport. Watch film, compare yourself to others, ask for help. In high school and college, I reached out to YouTubers and influencers to ask about my throws. I watched every video Neil Serefanas had about throwing at least two times.
The throwers who break through plateaus aren't just the ones who work hard, they're the ones who work smart and actually understand their technique. They know their technique inside and out, they study the best in the world, and they're constantly asking questions.
This is literally why I built Throws Club. I wanted to make engagement, analysis, and curiosity simple. The best athletes don't just train, they learn.
Pitfall #4: Paralysis
I want to sum it up by saying this is a lot to keep in mind. Trying to fix everything at once leads to what I call “action paralysis.” You get so overwhelmed that you do nothing.
Here's the truth about throwing: it builds. When I started, all I had to do was show up and try hard. Then I added lifting. Then weight gain. Then mobility work, PT, film study, sleep schedules, meal prep. Layer after layer. At my peak, I was managing a dozen things daily, and every single one mattered. Then I got hit with a nasty flu-like illness. All my habits fell apart, and when I finally recovered, it felt impossible to rebuild everything at once. I was overwhelmed, paralyzed by how far I'd fallen, how much weight I needed to regain, how many PT sessions I'd missed, and so on.
But life happens. You get injured. Miss sleep. Catch the flu. Suddenly your practices suck, you haven't PR'd in months, and the list of things you “should“ be doing feels impossible. So you push it all back. Tomorrow becomes next week, and next week becomes never. The cycle feeds itself. The best time to start was yesterday. The second best time is today.
Start with practice. You're already going to be there anyway, so maximize those hours. Bring focus, bring intention, finish through the line. Everything else will build from there, one layer at a time.