THE SECRETS OF THEIR SUCCESS

Fast Facts:

Pursuit: Shot Put World Champion and Olympic bronze medallist

Definition of success: “Staying consistent.” More below!

Gold at the Pan American Games, two silvers and a gold at the World Indoor Championships, gold at the world championships, a string of podium finishes in the Diamond League and Olympic bronze at London 2012 – these are just the highlights of a brimming medal haul glittering with enough precious metal to sink a ship. You might think the holder of so many titles comes with an equally weighty ego, but you’d be wrong. Reese Hoffa, shot put legend, is one of the most down-to-earth champion athletes I’ve encountered, and if you want to learn a thing or two about the path to success – take note. 

One of the toughest elements to shot putting, and competitive athletics as a whole, is mastering the ability to perform at the top of your game again and again. For Reese, it’s a factor he has worked hard to foster, and one which he has established despite what some might have considered an uneven playing field.

“I would like to think one of the biggest things that I have contributed to the sport of shot putting is consistency. l see myself as a throwback to the early days of the glide with athletes like Perry O’Brian. O’Brian created the glide technique and dominated the world with his consistency for ten straight years. I have matched what he did with a completely different technique called the spin. The spin has to be one of the hardest techniques to master and even harder to control. I feel like I am constantly on edge of messing everything up in every competition that I enter. The only thing that keeps me from giving up and doing something else is faith. Faith or confidence in my technique that when I hit the ball it will go far enough to beat the best in the world. Without the faith in the technique, I have seen many throwers with better tools such as height, strength, and possible intelligence fail. I like to think that in a way I humanize shot put and make it more relatable to the common fan. I am only 5’ 11”, compared to most of the throwers I compete against who are 6’ 5” to 6’ 10”. I do not let this difference deter me, I see this as a challenge and love the idea of beating throwers that others feel like I should lose to.”

As you can imagine, Reese’s shot put prowess didn’t just develop overnight. Determination and commitment are key to success, but what inspired Reese to become, ultimately, a world champion in his sport? 

“The person that inspired me into the thrower that I am today is my high school throws coach David Machovec. I have never meet a man that has more passion for the throws than him. When I was in high school he sacrificed his family and time to see me become the best thrower that I could be. I will be forever grateful for all the time he put into my success when he could have done other things. Though he is slowing down now because of age, he still loves the shot and loves to see me throw and do great things. This is the passion that I look to have as a coach and an athlete throughout my career.”

Passion is one thing, but the routine of hard work and exhaustive physical training is equally important. Oh, and nutrition…

“My day starts at seven-thirty am. I wake up, brush my teeth and get dressed for the day. Next I go to the kitchen and cook breakfast, which is five eggs scrambled with pepper and salt with a quarter cup of sharp cheddar cheese for flavor. I have three packets of instant oatmeal and a large glass of O.J. to wash everything down. I am usually in the living room by nine am doing my light stitches while watching ESPN and getting my mind together before I throw. I start to pack up for practice by nine-thirty am, which consists of one Gatorade bottle of water, one Gatorade bottle of Mountain Blast Powerade, one shaker of whey protein chocolate, a banana and a Cliff Bar. On the track by ten-fifteen for my regular warm up for throwing the shot and throwing the first by eleven am. I usually throw for about an hour and a half with Don Babbitt, who has been my coach since I was in college back in 1997. I eat the banana and the Cliff Bar as I drive to lift at CoreBlend Training, which I get to by one pm. I will lift for about two and half hours doing bench press, bent over rows, single arm bench, land mine twist, and then conditioning of forty yard sprints. Go home, take a shower, have a big lunch by four pm and usually start dinner by seven as I wait for my wife to get home from work.”

World champion, Olympic medallist, Diamond League winner – with so many successes on the field you might be surprised to learn that Reese’s proudest moment came not during a medal ceremony, but from his academic achievements. 

“My greatest achievement is graduating from the University of Georgia. I know some people take that for granted but for me education has always been a struggle. When I was adopted at four I did not have an educational background, pretty much the only thing I knew how to do was speak. So being adopted into a family that had very high academic standards made it an uphill battle for me. For a good part of my life my reading and comprehension was at a very low level.  However, hard work and parents that would not give up on me gave me the tools needed to graduate from the University of Georgia with a degree in Health and Physical Education.” 

Even so, Reese doesn’t underestimate the significance of an Olympic medal. 

“The feeling of being an Olympic medallist is hard to put into words because the medal is the end of the journey or dream I had when I was in high school. I am sure everyone knows that dreams do not always come true and the journey to getting the medal is the important story. I have been blessed to have gone to three Olympics Games and each one defined where I was in life. The first in Greece in 2004 I was new to being a professional shot putter and failed badly in finishing twenty-fifth. The second one in Beijing in 2008 taught me humility because I was going into that Olympics after wining two straight world championships in 2006 and 2007 and I finished sixth. The last one in London in 2012 was more about validation of a ten year career and showing my skeptics that I am not done yet. To get the medal was believing that I am good enough and not quitting on the dream when previous attempts did not go my way.”

Regular readers will know that I’ve touched frequently on the importance of perseverance, the refusal to quit in the face of adversity, but Reese takes the concept of hardship and sacrifice to a new level.

“The sacrifices that I am making to be a shot putter is time out of my life and my youth. I have been very lucky not to have any major injuries up to this point. With that said I am sure that soon after I am done throwing I will have problems walking without a limp and will need a knee replacement. I have already done some damage to my right arm to the point where I cannot fully extend it. My hands are already arthritic and it is sometimes hard to open my hand without pain.  I cannot tell you how many wedding anniversaries and holidays I have missed over my twelve year career. I do not know what a vacation feels like and would like to someday take my wife on our honeymoon maybe, after eleven years of marriage when I am done throwing.” 

Perhaps not surprisingly, Reese has the occasional hankering for a routine lifestyle he can only imagine.

“I envy the routine life that my wife has as a high school teacher – she has long vacations during the summer and holidays off. There is no down time as a professional athlete – I am always doing something to get ready for my next event. In some ways I am preparing for a competition even during the fall when competitions are months off. I envy my wife having stable health care that she will have as long as she works. For myself my health care is dependent on how well I throw during the year and is dictated by my world rank. If for some reason I am not ranked high enough I lose my health care – it does not matter what I did in the past. In a small way I live in fear of getting hurt and not getting ranked high enough at the end of the year to keep my health coverage. Luckily for me I have been ranked in the top three for ten straight years.” 

That consistency is the spine to Reese’s definition of success.

“Success as a shot putter is about the staying consistent in throwing far marks throughout each competition season. Being able to win medals at major championships like World Indoor, Outdoor and Olympic Games. I have been able to make more teams than almost anyone and when I make a team I am making the final and in the hunt to get a medal nearly all the time. I have been in fourteen major championships in my career (World Outdoor, World Indoor and Olympic Games). I have missed only missed two finals. I have always thought that the moment that I am not physically able to make a final at major championship is the time to walk away. I have built my success through hard work and being the most consistent shot putter in the world ever. In shot put we are judged by majors won, distance thrown, and ranking. I have won five major medals, I have a throw indoors that is ranked eleventh all time, and I have been ranked in the top three for ten straight years as best all time. I would say any thrower that can do this can be considered very successful.”

And if you want to achieve success, what’s Reese’s advice? 

“With any goal it is important to break down the goal into small goals that are achievable and build from the bottom up until you have reached your goal. When I started this journey as a shot putter, my goal was simple: to be the best thrower at my school. It took me a month to reach that first goal and then the next goal was to be the best in the region and state. It took me the rest of the season to reach that goal and by winning the state championship that goal was fulfilled. With every goal reached I kept adding until I was the number one shot putter in the world. In 2006 I reached the final goal and it only took me ten years to reach it but it was worth every second. Not every goal is going to take as long and some take even longer, but anything worth having takes a little sacrifice. I have always kept my eye on the goal and if you want it bad enough it will come true.”

My thanks to Reese Hoffa for his time and for the candid insight into his life. To follow Reese on Twitter go to @HoffaThrows and on Facebook www.facebook.com/hoffathrows You can see all the latest developments surrounding the Hoffa Throws Academy, a coaching school established to nurture the talents of up and coming shot putters.

The Hoffa Throws Academy is also on Youtube so please subscribe to the channel to help Reese and team continue their work:  https://www.youtube.com/user/hoffathrows. At the very least, take a look at the man himself in action!