Throw Like a Girl
Here’s an insult that needs to go away.
Where did this insult come from?
Cultural and sexist norms. That continue to be used.
There is a principle in training called the SAID principle. Specific adaptation to imposed demands. Basically says that you adapt to tasks you are exposed to.
People throw the way they do because of their exposure to throwing.
Something I learned from a Medball training course from @ericcressey is that baseball players became excellent at throwing from something called humeral retroversion. It's an adaptation in growth plates that allows people to demonstrate more movement in their shoulders.
Many people, especially women, have not developed that ability.
And it’s not their fault.
It's the people who have said things like:
“Baseball is a men’s sport”
“Throwing is for boys”
“No I can’t play catch with you, go play with your dolls”
Many people that aren’t good at throwing are a product of norms that denied them the ability to learn and adapt to that activity.
Jackie Mitchell was one of the first female professional baseball players in history. After learning to walk her father taught her how to throw. At 17 years old she played in an exhibition game against the New York Yankees. She struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, two of the best baseball players in history.
Babe Ruth was quoted saying: "I don't know what's going to happen if they begin to let women in baseball. Of course, they will never make good. Why? Because they are too delicate. It would kill them to play ball every day."
Days later her contract was voided, and women were banned from professional baseball. It was said that the game was “too strenuous”...
There could be a lot more people like Jackie Mitchell. If we allowed them to participate in the same activities as everyone else.
