Caber Toss: why long sticks give you trouble

Caber, highland games, mckim -

Caber Toss: why long sticks give you trouble

It can all crumble at the end if you're not careful. You might have an amazing "pick" that just drops into your hand cradle, a high carry that allows you to drive the stick with speed, and a quick gather step that puts you in just the right position to finish the throw ... but now what? I've seen it countless times in competitions and all too many times to me. When, and how, should we pull the caber?

Timing
This is such a hard, hard thing to coach, as it all depends on the length of the caber - that is, physics wise. Now, this won't surprise anyone, but I'm no genius thrower. I never have been, and never will be. You see, I'm a simple man and I like my throwing to be as simple as possible, too, as I believe it equates to fewer errors. I'd like to give you "x" recipe for long sticks and "y" recipe for short sticks, but I just can't. I have to make it more simple than that.
I was once told I needed to initiate my pull as soon as the caber left my shoulder. I've really stuck with that through the years, as it works better than the other cue I hear a lot; "pull as soon as the caber passes your eyes." I've found that when I do that, I pull far too late.
Think of it this way, as soon as you stop running, the caber is slowing down. Once you stop applying speed to it, it's no longer gaining - you're losing. Whatever the visual you need, realize you will rarely EVER hear the words, "Wow. You just pulled too early." I've only seen this a few times in my career, as the opposite is almost always the case. I feel I can best say it this way: pull sooner than you think you should or need to.
Now, I do have a small "recipe" for a long stick, but it's not really a "recipe;" more of a microwave meal.
Longer cabers fall much slower than the shorter, heavier cabers. You'll hear throwers say, "I just can't get it off my shoulder." That's code for, "Wow, this caber is huge," or, "Wow, this caber is long." To help with that, you've got to give it some shoulder. As you're driving the caber and sprinting down the field with the speed of a deer, fleet-footedness of a mountain goat and the physique of a Greek statue, throw your shoulder forward into that stick when it comes time to pull. This helps speed up the top of the caber and gets it falling faster. This "recipe" is important, and none more critical when it comes to a long caber (20'+). Admit it, you've always enjoyed throwing your weight around.

Pull
The pull is such a critical component of the throw, and is the final piece to turning big sticks and getting 12:00's awarded. The big thing to remember is that you aren't throwing it out away from you - you want an upward pull. Letting your hands get out and away from your body on the pull limits your power and control of the caber. Instead, think of pulling the caber up and through your chin. Pull fast and pull hard, but don't stop those hands! I hate seeing people stop their hands at chest level - it completely kills the caber's speed and your power to flip it. Follow through! Finish with your hands up and over your head.
Lastly, use your legs. My absolute best pulls have always included me actually leaving the ground. If I am in a caber funk, I can usually accredit it to a few things, and if I'm struggling with heavier or longer sticks, my lack of "pop" off the ground is a part of it.

So, in short, the caber is super easy, right? Wrong. Get your time in with one in your hands - you'll be glad you did, and so will the crowd.

133 comments

  • selina brad

    I aim to enlighten those who wants to be elevated and taken out of deep shallow hole, crypto investment is like a dark shallow when you end up with a wrong one(scammer) and it feels lively when you make a good choice(legitimate traders) how do I know am with the righer trader, e.g rating by website: Brunoequickhack.COM and their machinery compose words will lead you astray, you have to make use of insights and understanding the logic about what you are getting into, I Selina Brad was a victim of stock investment, I learnt all this lesson and expressed during my search for a recovery hacker of whom I stumbled at after being through several scammer (Brunoe Quick Hack) WhatsApp:+1705-784-26-35 helped in getting my funds recovered. I owe him a big thanks, Please do reach out to him. Email: Brunoequickhack(AT)http://GMAIL.com

  • Shivansh Narayan

    I was quite unfortunate to be a victim of the “Gainbitcoin scam”.
    So gullible to believe them and lost literally my life savings.
    Life hadn’t been the same since I lost such huge sum of 23.2 million indian Rupees to the platform.
    My whole life came to total standstill and life became so terrible from the disheartening event.
    Last year, while i was on vacation in United Arab Emirates; at my hotel balcony in Dubai doing some research online.
    That was when I miraculously came across TROJANHACK CYBER SECURITY COMPANY from Google reviews. Cos I’d never believe it was possible to recover stolen funds from such platform.
    At first I was skeptical as once bitten twice shy.
    But luckily enough after contacting them. I provided them with the necessary informations as requested.
    TROJANHACK CYBER SECURITY COMPANY worked tirelessly to retrieved my funds within 4 days and their expertise was evident every step of the way.
    I strongly recommend TROJANHACK CYBER SECURITY COMPANY to anyone going through similar situation.
    Jason one of their recovery team leader was a top guy. He was always assuring me of a positive outcome.
    You can easily contact them via Email: Trojanhack@qualityservice.com

  • Pranav Ram

    The GainBitcoin scam saw me lose all my hard-earned money after my investment in this scam.
    After many weeks of trying to get justice and working with the authorities, I saw a post about HackMetrix on the internet about crypto recovery.
    I contacted HackMetrix via (HackMetrix@cyberservices.com) who asked me to provide the necessary information and proof. Hackmetrix recovered my crypto funds from GainBitcoin, and all this happened within 72 hours of contacting HackMetrix.
    If you were among those victims of the GainBitcoin scam, you should contact HackMetrix immediately for crypto recovery
    You can reach them with the following details:
    Email:hackmetrix@cyberservices.com
    WhatsApp:+1 872361 6523

  • Mukesh Bedi

    Morphohack Successfully Recovered My USDT/BTC From GainBitcoin Scam.

    My name is Mukesh and I was a victim of a GainBitcoin scam where I was promised huge returns from my investment not knowing I was being conned by GainBitcoin, I lost 22 million Indian rupees to this scam which I thought was gone forever after the whole scheme was down, however, I came across Morphohack Cyber Service, who was able to help me trace and recover my USDT and BTC funds and after several months of waiting for the CBI to begin their investigation, Morphohack Cyber Service was able to help me recover my USDT/BTC in a few hours. It’s such a pity that such a scam could be allowed to continue for so long and if not for the services of Morphohack Cyber Service, I would have lost my money forever. I’m recommending Morphohack services to everyone affected by the GainBitcoin scam. I can confidently assure you that Morphohack can recover any crypto assets no matter how long you have lost them. Below is their contact information.

    E-mail: Morphohack@cyberservices.com

  • Patrick Reynolds

    My whole crypto experience was very bad and I lost all my friends, family, and business associates.
    It happened Summer of 2020 when I started buying crypto, and it was going smoothly until I met someone on my Dubai trip who introduced me to Crypto investing, I started with a small amount of money, two weeks in and I had already invested more than $800K as the returns were very high. The website crashed, and the exchange company stopped responding to emails and calls. This went on for months, I had to sell most of my properties, and shares to pay back loans I took, and this whole time my life was in wreck. I wouldn’t be speaking about this today if I didn’t come across HackMetrix Cyber Service, when the authorities couldn’t help me recover my crypto, HackMetrix was able to help me recover my crypto successfully. All I did was trust that they could do it and they did, I came across their post while I was reading an article online about crypto. I strongly recommend HackMetrix and I urge everyone to be cautious and consult a professional if possible before you invest in crypto. You can find HackMetrix contact information below this post
    Email:hackmetrix@cyberservices.com
    WhatsApp:+1 872361 6523

Leave a comment