2024 - A "Throw Back"

- a summary of my fourth season as a knife thrower

Once again, it's time to learn how to write a new date. The question is, how many people in the world make mistakes before they get used to it? Well, we have had a few days to practice, but it still doesn't feel entirely familiar. 

It also means that it is a short but intense period when various chronicles of the past year will be presented. So here too! Therefore, here is a summary of my knife-throwing year 2024.

WL Custom Blade Spinning Butcher, the knives that are used the most and helped me get 3rd in the Swedish championships in 2024

For consistency, I will continue to present this year's knife throwing in roughly the same form as before. This means that we will start with a numerical exercise.

2024 knife throwing in numbers

First, it can be stated that this is my fourth season in which I have actually practiced knife throwing and that it has led to:

• 248 hours distributed over
• 111 practice sessions which resulted in
• 90 059 throws

The number of hours spent with a knife in hand is significantly fewer than before, while the number of occasions has increased from last year. So shorter training sessions, simply put. Therefore, there were fewer throws this season, 90,000 compared to about 127,000 the year before. That is not close to my first record year with 150,000 throws. But a lot of that can be attributed to the weather. Since I am an outdoor thrower, it greatly influences when I can practice. 

Here it was sun and training in Walk Back rotation

In terms of different forms of personal records, a lot has happened in the past year. No groundbreaking results, but there have been some improvements here and there.

Once again I want to clarify that the points are training results and not competition results. They tend to differ quite significantly. A phenomenon that everyone who has competed is familiar with. It still gives an indication of the potential that can be brought out if the circumstances are right. Put differently, if you throw 100 points in training in Walk Back, you will not suddenly reach 200 points in competition.

Walk Back (3-7m / 300p):

• Rotational 260 p
• No Spin 233 p

Points, rotational (105p):

• 3 m: 104 p, still not the perfect result
• 5 m: 99 p, no improvement
• 7 m: 80 p, again no improvement

Points, No Spin (105):

• 3 m: a solid improvement to 101 p
• 5 m: here too an increase to 97 p
• 7 m: 70 p

Distance throwing:

• Longest throw, rotation: 13,40 m.
• Longest throw, No Spin: 10,38 m

The increase in rotational Walk Back was modest with two points but I am also on a higher level there in general so that is part of the explanation.

The biggest improvements have been made in No Spin. There the points in precision throwing increased significantly which also affected the total in Walk Back and the best score increased from 219 to 233 points. It can be noted that this was done quite early in the season. After that, the focus was on other types of throwing.

It should also be mentioned that no attempt has been made to improve on all points. There is a lot that needs to be trained and there is simply not enough time to do everything.

Competitions

This year too, I participated in a few competitions. Not as many as I would have liked, but there are also not many to choose from at home, so I have to travel to Europe. This entails certain financial inconveniences that I have not been able to overcome.

I also missed the UKAT World Championships, which were held in England in 2024. I lacked the financial means and time to participate. However, I am registered for this year's World Championships in the Czech Republic. I'm really looking forward to that!

Soulthrower Open

Like the year before, I participated in the relatively new Soulthrower Open. I had a gold to defend but it didn't work out at all. After a mediocre effort on my part, I ended up in third place in Walk Back No Spin behind a nice Australian and a happy Finn.

Soulthrower Open gave a third place in No Spin Walk Back

This is an adventure I've written about before here on the blog. Then I got a consolation gold in silhouette throwing in the same discipline. "Consolation", not that it's bad or an easy accomplishment, but because it's not the main competition but belongs to the "games" category.

Swedish Championships in Sports Throwing

The 2024 Swedish Athletics Championships offered both highs and lows but ended with me once again managing to defend my title as Swedish champion in No Spin, which was my primary goal.

The medal collection was then supplemented with a new bronze in the same discipline but for rotational throwing. Still third in Sweden, in other words. I have to focus more on this area, at least if I wish to get closer to second place. The "grand old man" of Swedish knife throwing in first place will be hard to beat unless he breaks his hand. 

But it would certainly be fun if we could all spur each other on to improved results.

I am still the reigning Swedish champion in No Spin with the help of  Zitoon Big NoReload this time

There were a few more medals

Then there were some bonus medals in other events as well. Among them were gold and silver in Silhouette No Spin and Silhouette Knife, as well as a surprising silver in long-distance throwing knife and a bronze in axe in the same event. 

Obviously, when I get the hang of it, I can hit the target fairly well and occasionally throw far. The latter is something I'm really going to practice this year!

Aim Games K21

I and the online competition Aim Games have a short and stormy relationship. It wasn't until round 19 that I jumped on the bandwagon, but that round ended unhappily and had to be canceled due to personal reasons with the organizer. Round 20 froze over for me as I didn't have the opportunity to throw indoors. It took place in early 2024 from February to March and there was a lot of snow here then and the targets were deep frozen. Unfortunately the weather is about the same right now. 

Now, however, I participated in K21 Caverns of Mars, which ended with an honorable 11th place. Considering that it is a global competition with no entry fees and therefore free for everyone to participate, I am very happy with that placement. 

Knives

As for the throwing section of the knife collection, it grew with several models during the year. In addition, there were changes to competition equipment in both disciplines. Some of those changes were well thought out, others very impulsive like changing No Spin knives ten minutes before a competition in the Swedish Championship. That particular mistake will not be repeated.

The most used knives and also my new competition knives in spin throwing for 2024 were the WL Custom Blade Spinning Butcher by Throwingzone. The ones used for No Spin have mainly been two models from Zitoon Knives, Big NoReload and The Devil's Claw. All three sets are French-made by the way.

My new competition knives for 2025, Throwingzone Pathfinder

The distribution in the number of throws is as follows between the knife models*:

• WL Custom Blade Spinning Butcher - 24212 throws
• Zitoon Knives Big No Reload - 23825 throws
• Zitoon Knives The Devil's Claw - 20264 throws

The reason for the regular changes of knives is my limited experience at this level. I am still looking for the material that is optimal for me. This development is happening to some extent in parallel with my technical development, so it will probably not be finished for a while. 

In addition, the search is fun. At the time of writing, it actually looks like I will be changing sets once again. It will be new in both rotational and No Spin as it looks. However, I am not entirely sure about the rotational knives yet.

The coming season 2025

Then it is of course time to look into the crystal ball and try to predict the future. At least the one that is spelled the knife-throwing season 2025. In any case, there are a couple of solid points of reference. The biggest and foremost is of course participation in this year's UKAT World Championships which are taking place in the Czech Republic. I am registered and at the time of writing, I do not know if there are any more places available.

Another permanent feature that you have noticed at this point is of course the Swedish Championships. And since I am the defending champion in No Spin, it would take a lot for me to miss it. Then it is generally an extraordinarily nice event.

In addition to that, of course, the Soulthrower Open attracts. What is particularly exciting is that you do not know which international names may appear there. So far, throwers from Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, England, Australia, the USA and Korea have participated.

First stop of the new season. Provided the weather permits.

 

On the way there the first stop will be Aim Games K22 Seven Seas. A prize pool of around $40,000 is quite tempting, apart from the honor of course. But I can't set my sights too high on that competition because then I risk being disappointed. It starts on February 6th and lasts for three months from then on. Who knows what the weather will be like here then? It can be anything from almost ten degrees warm to as many degrees below zero and a meter of snow.

And before that, I have to decide which knives I will use. I am leaning towards two completely new candidates as mentioned. I have found new favorites in both Rotational and No Spin, I think.

In any case, there will be a lot to write about here on the blog about knife throwing.

/ J - "The Swedish Chef"

*Although the AceJet Stinger has had the most throws throughout my short throwing career with 73749, followed by Graf Knives T1XL with 61994, and in third place Pierre Cazoulat Woodpecker 52232. These were the knives I learned to throw with, hence the many throws.