MB Rotational Throw
Hitting + slap-shot power
How to do it well
The set-up and the rep in full, then the cues the app shows on the exercise card — the short version, for the moment you are standing in front of the bar.
Set-up
Stand side-on to a solid wall about a metre and a half away, feet a little wider than the shoulders, holding a 4–5 kg medicine ball at the back hip with both hands.
The rep
Load into the back hip, turning the shoulders away from the wall. Then drive off the back foot and turn the hips towards the wall first, letting the trunk and arms follow, and throw the ball into the wall as hard as you can at about hip height. Catch it off the rebound, reset, and go again. Finish the set on one side, then turn around.
On the exercise card
- Hips lead
What goes wrong, and the fix
| What goes wrong | The fix |
|---|---|
| Throwing with the arms | The hips turn first, then the shoulders, then the ball goes. If the arms start it, the power has nowhere to come from. |
| The back foot staying planted | Let it pivot on the ball of the foot so the hip can turn all the way through. |
| Folding over the ball | Stay tall through the chest. The turn happens around the spine, not over it. |
Make it easier, or harder
- Easier
- A lighter ball, or a half-turn throw from a narrower stance.
- Harder
- A step into the throw, or a scoop throw from lower down for the drag-flick shape.
How Train Smart prescribes it
The sets and reps below are the authored starting point. The actual weight you see is calculated from your own last top set and the week you are in within your four-week block.
A hit in hockey and the drag flick are both rotational power: the hips turn before the stick does. This trains that sequence at full speed with a ball you can let go of, so there is no braking at the end of each rep. It opens the hockey program's power and trunk session, six throws a side.
| Program | Session | Sets × reps | Load |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hockey | Power + Trunk | 4 × 6/side | 4–5kg ball |
If you cannot do this one
Rack taken, kit missing, or it does not suit you. These are the swaps the app offers, matched by movement pattern and body region — each with the reason it is a fair substitute.
| Alternative | Why it works as a swap |
|---|---|
| Med Ball Rotational Throw | Wall-throw rotational power — bat, racquet, cricket, golf |
| Med Ball Scoop Toss | Backward overhead throw — full triple-extension power chain |
| Med Ball Side Slam | Vertical rotational slam — striker/thrower trunk speed |
| Standing Med Ball Chest Pass | Upper-body push power — handball, water polo, MMA |
| Single-Arm Med Ball Throw | Asymmetric throw — shotput / cricket throw / strike-arm |
| Med Ball Rotational Shot Put | Side-on one-arm put from the back hip — the fend, the punch, the throw in |
This exercise, in a program that knows why it is there
Train Smart puts this movement in the right session, at the right point in your block, at a weight calculated for you — and swaps it automatically if you do not have the kit.
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