The following are a few tips which I have used over the years which you might find useful in your quest to improve your game. To give you an idea of my pitching ability my top pitching highlights over the last 30 plus years have been high tournament 79.8 %, Finished 8th in the World championships 1993, pitched one perfect game and pitched back to back 90% plus games once.

1) weight does matter - the weight of your horseshoe affects a number of factors. A lighter horseshoe will be easier to pitch for young people or those that fatigue quickly. A light horseshoe will also turn or flip more easily. The down side of a light horseshoe is it more easily blown off line in the wind, bounces off more easily and is less durable than the heavier versions of the same model. By contrast a heavy horseshoe tends to be slower in the turn (for me about 1/8 turn for my 1 3/4 turn) but is also more stable which makes it more predicable. It is also less likely to bounce off and because to make a heavy version of a horseshoe it would be about 10-15% thicker it is stronger and more durable. Typically we recommend medium weight for anyone who does not know which weight they prefer it is a good starting point,but the advantages of a heavy horseshoe should not be ignored. The NHPA (National Horseshoe Pitchers Assoc.) has a weight limit on how heavy a horseshoe can be which is 2lb10oz but no weight minimum. This should be an indicator that the heavier a horseshoe is the better the potential average. In the past a substantial amount of the best horseshoe pitchers in the World used heavy weight horseshoes. So did you find a horseshoe that feels really good but the turn or flip is not quite right. Try switching weights you will be surprised how the same horseshoe works so much differently in a heavier or lighter weight

2) practice with purpose - A practice session should be broke down into 3 or 4 sections. The warm-up period which is as stated get loose, for me about 10 minutes. Then comes the tune in phase which is where I might try to adjust something I have thought are issues like the my turn, grip alignment etc. (but very important only work on one at a time) After I am done experimenting I will pitch groups of 40 shoes at a time keeping track in my head. My goal is to push myself to pitch games which are equal to or exceed my typical performance when I was at my best that would be 28 ringers plus . In a normal practice session I would pitch 2 or 3 games in this manner then shut down. Another good way to practice is depending on your average place one horseshoe around one stake and one horseshoes around the stake at the other. Now take your horseshoes and try to beat that imaginary person who always has one ringer on (50%) If you beat him you just pitched over 50% and if you don't but the final score is 42-36 you know by quick calculation you are playing at about 45 to 48%. Since it is harder to keep ringers on top of other horseshoes you will also get some good feedback how your horseshoe is performing around the stake and whether bounce-offs are an issue.

3) Know your weakness- Everyone has one whether it be pitching short shoes, missing right, over-turning, etc your horseshoes are always telling you a story. If you don't know your weakness go out and pitch 40 shoes and mark down where each miss is. Review the results. Chances are the one which shows up most on your sheet is also the one that plagues you during tournament play. The idea is to first identify it then work solely on eliminating that thing which is holding you back. For example for me all the way up to when I got to 50% I always struggled with short horseshoes. I knew if I wanted to make the next jump in average I needed to fix this so I worked hard at getting my height to be more consistent and I can honestly say that distance is probably my biggest strength now and has been for a long time. It will take some patience possibly some adjustments but once you have fixed your weaknesses your percentage will go up leaps and bounds.

4)Expand the strike zone- just like in bowling where the goal is to find an angle into the pocket which gives you the biggest margin of area and still strike,horseshoes is the same. Every time we line up a horseshoe and pitch it we are generally aiming for the middle of the stake. But reality is sometimes the horseshoe drifts a little right but is still a ringer and sometimes it drifts a little left and is still a ringer. All is good but most people including myself have this habit of either getting a ringer or missing more on one side in essence I am only using half of my horseshoes potential. Which greatly reduces my chances for a ringer. The ultimate goal is to get your alignment down to a point where half of your misses are on the left side of the stake and half on the right. Which will in turn mean more around the stake. For me to correct my problems I moved as far left on my pitching platform. For a couple of years I even switched sides which gave me a completely different look at the stake. Open up the strike zone use the whole horseshoe and get more ringers.

5)Consistency is the Key- Unlike most sports which there is typically a defined right way and wrong way to achieve results. Horseshoes is a game where any number of different techniques such as swings, grips, heights, speeds can all still achieve the same ultimate response, the perfect ringer. Now I am not saying some styles are better than others and some people should go back to the drawing board but the main key to pitching ringers is to be able to repeat the same motion time after time. My experience with this in the past is the times in my career where I accepted my style for what it was and only worked on repeating that delivery time after time I had good results but any time I tinkered to much and tried to change things too much my consistency and average suffered. Find a swing/ style that works for you then just keep practicing it until it becomes as natural as walking.

6)Set-up As you practice you should come up with a routine. Once you develop this routine you should always follow the same routine be it in practice or in a tournament. This way it becomes natural and reliable. Under the pressure of a tournament sometimes it is difficult to think but you can still draw some level of confidence knowing that if you go through your normal routine a ringer will be the result. When setting up a routine don't make it so long it becomes annoying and cumbersome. Under practice conditions you are not likely to follow it if it is too long, so it won't help you. Something simple but relevant is best.

I will be adding some more tips from time to time

 

 

Welcome to our video archives section of our web page. Here we will be adding videos that we hope you find entertaining and useful in your quest for the perfect pitch. Some people featured are true champions of our sport while others have championship aspirations. Check back soon as we will be adding and removing videos on a regular basis.

This video contains footage of Elmer Hohl regarded as the greatest horseshoe pitcher of all time. Elmer first shows up at the 52 second mark throwing the low hard 1 3/4 turn (brownish shirt). Also contained in this video are many other world Champions. It is interesting to see the varying styles while knowing almost everyone of these pitchers averaged over 80% ringers. I do not know all the names of the pitchers here so maybe you can help by filling in names, time seen in the video and comment on their style. Eg Paul Focht 1:50sec High wobbly 1 3/4 turn . Hopefully in time every one of these pitchers will have a name.

This video is of me Kevin McLachlin pitching in the men's championship division for the first time in 1990 at Stone Mtn Georgia . My first game I drew as an opponent Jim Knisley from Ohio. I have always believed from the people I have played over the years Jim had the best 1 1/4 turn. It was not a hard shoe but just seemed to float in air. Jim would go on to become champion this year. As for me it was a great experience. On a pitching tip basis during this time in my pitching carreer I tried to make my delivery as quickly as I could, my theory being I had learned all the mechanics needed to become good at the game and my head was getting in the way. Although I did not tear up the courts at this tourney I was very proud of my performance. Went in averaging in the high sixties and averaged 67.8 for the championships. And of course gave Jim a scare along the way!