Throwing the Spear

Source text

The game is an old Greek and Persian pastime. “Throw the spear and speak the truth,” was a national maxim of the Persians that we may copy with advantage.

The apparatus required is some light spears and an archery target. The spears should vary from five to six feet in length; the point should be shod with a steel tip, having a socket into which the wooden handle is fitted, and made fast by small screws passing through holes in the sides of the metal, and then into the wood itself. The wood, for about a foot above the barb, should be about three quarters of an inch in diameter, and from thence gradually taper to about a quarter of an inch in thickness until the end of the spear is reached.

Some spears are fitted with feathers, like an arrow, but these are not necessary to obtain a good throw, and soon get dismantled in continually falling upon the ground. Any ordinary target will serve. It may be an archery target, a sack full of straw, or a sod bank.

The object of the contest is to hit the target from a given mark, the firing line. Whoever throws nearest to the centre of the target the greatest number of times out of six shots is hailed the winner.

The best form for throwing is with the left foot forward, the leg perfectly straight, body well back, its weight resting on the right leg. Now extend the left arm forward, in a line with the shoulder, and over the left leg; poise the spear horizontally in the right hand, holding at the centre of gravity by the forefinger and thumb. Bring the right arm backward until the hand is behind the right shoulder.

Now, inclining the point of the spear slightly upward, make your cast, bringing the right arm forward, followed by the right side of the body, the right leg forward and the left arm backward. Count yourself fortunate if you even hit the target in the first few attempts, but practice will make a wonderful difference. The distance should be mutually agreed upon, but fifty feet for a boy of fifteen and one hundred feet for an adult will be found about right.

To “throw the javelin” is another phase of this pastime. The javelin is four to five feet in length, three quarters of an inch in thickness, and fitted with a barbed end, slightly heavier than the spear end. The “object of the game” is to throw the javelin as far as possible but not at a target; instead, the javelin must stick into the ground.

In throwing the javelin, hold it in the right hand, the left leg and hand being advanced; the barb and arm at this point should be at the rear. Then, describing a semicircle with the arm over the right shoulder, and leaning well to the rear, hurl the weapon as far as possible forward.

Metadata

• Type: game
• Traits: Not stated in the source
• Source: Ernest Thompson Seton, Boy Scouts Handbook: The Games (1911)
• Printed pages: 313–314
• Digital edition: Digital edition · Source record
• Open the edition at the relevant page: p. 313
• Read the automatic translation: bsh-027