Training for the Soulthrower Open 2024

Well, it must be admitted. I'm training hard for the Soulthrower Open, which starts at the end of this month.

Then, unfortunately, I discovered that the amount of training is not always equivalent to direct results. It feels like I'm standing still and not developing. Although most likely it is not so. Especially not if you take into account that I changed competition knives this season. Again, I should probably add that I did it last year as well. I'm at the beginning of my career and haven't decided on absolute favorites yet.

The choice is between these two models from Zitoon Knives, The Devil's Claw on the left or Big No Reload on the right

Although the shift is bigger this year as I've gone from back heavy No spin knives, first Stinger and then Raven II from Acejet to neutrally balanced knives from French Zitoon Knives. In fact, I haven't even decided which model to invest in. One alternative is The Devil's Claw which has the advantage of having an 8mm neck but the disadvantage of being a bit heavy.* The alternative is the lighter Big No Reload which I also like. But as they are not only lighter but also thinner, they require a slightly different technique even though I often throw both models at the same time in practice. 

My pick for rotational throwing is the Spinning Butcher by WL Custom Blade. Unfortunately, they are no longer in this excellent condition. 

Then I also changed the knife set for rotational throwing. At first, I used the excellent Woodpecker from Pierre Cazoulat. Next, I tested the Patriot Dagger from WL Custom Blade. Really good knives but they didn't work in competition, not the last time anyway. So now I have another set from the same brand.

The WL Custom Blade is manufactured for the European market by French Throwingzone. Incidentally, the WL in the name stands for the giant Werner Lengmüller, who is not unknown to throwers. The model I am testing is the Spining Butcher.

Practice

Unfortunately, I have nowhere to be when the weather is unruly like it has been this winter. This means, among other things, that I missed an online competition I would have liked to have participated in. But as soon as the heat picked up, so did my training. I have thrown a lot now during the month of May and at the beginning of June. A few weeks remain, but the throwing is, as I said, dependent on the weather. It should have been practiced today but I'll see how that thing turns out as it's pouring rain at the moment.

May's throw in numbers

Just under 65 hours, or more precisely sixty-four hours and forty-five minutes, it was thrown during a generally very nice month.

At that time, just under 29,000 throws were made. Just so you have a reference. The number per se is not important, and when you train, for example, Walk Back, there will be an awful lot of walking and not least taking notes, and thus not as many throws as when you throw basic training, for example. Quality is always more important than quantity, but training muscle memory also requires a lot of repetition.

Of the number of throws, Spinning Butcher accounts for approx. 6600 and The Devil's Claw for approx. 5500 throws. The last few weeks will probably be a bit more focused No spin training.

The reason I keep track is simply because I keep a diary. A habit that remains since I cycled a lot. It's fun to watch bars grow and stats take shape. Then I know approximately where I stand in terms of points and maybe why.

In terms of points, I'm not scaring anyone at the moment, except possibly myself. The best result in Walk Back rotation this year is 255 which I tangent twice the day before yesterday. In No Spin, I hit a personal best the other day with 220 points which is an increase of a measly one point from the previous top mark.

But those are training points. Competition is something else, as many know. The latter is, in addition to nerves and adrenaline, extremely dependent on the weather, something that participants in the SM of recent years got used to. Low scores as a result of torrential rain, mud, and cold.

Now I look out the window to see if it has stopped raining. In that case, there will be a few hours of throwing this afternoon and evening after work.

/ J

* They are, however, available in a lightversion which looks interesting, I must say.