HAMMER THROW

The hammer throw is a throwing event where the object thrown is a heavy steel ball attached with a long wire (maximum length 122cm) to a handle. The facility for the hammer throw includes a throwing circle, protective cage and landing sector. It is usually combined with the facility for the discus throw.

The throwing circle is the same as for the discus and shot put throw but has an inside diameter of 2.135m (±5mm). The hammer can be thrown from the discus circle provided the diameter of this circle is reduced from 2.50m to 2.135m by placing a circular ring inside.

The surface finish to the concrete circle is slightly smoother for hammer throw than for discus. When a circle is used for both discus and hammer throw, a compromise finish is required.

The hammer throw cage is designed, manufactured and maintained to be capable of stopping a 7.260kg disc moving at a speed of up to 32m per second. There must be no danger of the disc ricocheting or rebounding back towards the athlete or over the top of the cage. If these requirements are satisfied, any form of cage design and construction can be used.

The cage is U-shaped as shown in the following diagram. The width of the mouth is 6m, positioned 7m in front of the centre of the throwing circle. The end points of the 6m wide mouth are the inner edge of the cage netting. The height of the netting panels or draped netting at their lowest point are at least 7m for the panels/netting at the rear of the cage and at least 10m for the 2.80m panels to the gate pivot points. Provision must be made in the design of the cage to prevent a hammer forcing its way through any joints in the cage or the netting or underneath the netting panels.

 Two movable netting panels 2m wide are provided at the front of the cage, only one is operative at a time. The minimum height of the panels is 10m.

The netting can be made from suitable natural or synthetic fibre cord or from a mild or high tensile steel wire. The maximum mesh size is 44mm for cord netting and 50mm for steel wire.

Where it is desirable to use the same cage for discus and
hammer throw, the installation can be adapted in two alternative ways. A 2.135m–2.5m concentric circle is fitted but this involves using the same surface in the circle for the hammer and discus throw. The hammer cage is used for the discus throw by fixing the movable netting panels clear of the cage opening. 

For separate circles for hammer and discus throw in the same cage, the two circles are placed one behind the other with the centres 2.37m apart on the centre line of the land sector and with the discus circle at the front. In this case, the movable netting panels are used for the discus throw. 

The maximum danger sector for hammer throws from this cage is approximately 53° when used by both right and left-handed throwers in the same competition. The position and alignment of the cage in the arena is critical for its safe use.