about that ball throw example, you can see why someone who has a very fast CNS would be able to throw a lighter ball further
that’s why the caber toss test is used to predict athletic potential - as per this text by Poliquin.
And on that note since the arm is pretty light when punching, punching speed has a large genetic component. Even if you get strong, if you don’t have that speed and snap, your not going to hit as hard as someone who does
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459750
Q: I’d like to test the natural athletic ability of my child, age 12. I’ve heard that there’s a test performed by tossing a ball behind you in an explosive manner that’s eerily accurate. I believe that it has something to do with the firing of the nervous system. Do you know of this technique and, if so, could you outline it for us?
A: What you’re referring to is the caber toss. This throw was chosen as the best predictor of general athletic ability by the physical education systems of all of the Germanic countries. My own tests verified this concept with sports as varied as luge, volleyball, sprinting, and judo. I even know of a study in which it correlated strongly with the ability to learn windsurfing skills.
The test involves throwing balls of three different weights backward and measuring the shape of the curve of the testing results. Depending on the age and level of qualification of the athlete, the weight of the balls will vary, but they’re always spread apart evenly. For example:
? 2 pounds, 4 pounds, 6 pounds
? 8 pounds, 12 pounds, 16 pounds
Theoretically, you would throw the two-pound ball further than the four-pound ball, and the four-pound ball further than the six-pound ball.
One national team hired me to help trim off the fat of their budgets. They wanted to know exactly which athletes had the most potential and, consequently, in which ones should they invest their time and money.
The first test that I administered was the caber test. It turns out that many of their senior national team females had no distinct differences in distances between the different loads. These same athletes, despite having improved their strength dramatically, couldn’t show improvement on their track start times. If you score poorly on this test, your athletic potential is rather limited. Therefore, we saved the government plenty of money and allowed them to devote resources to younger athletes who eventually turned out to be Junior World Cup medals winners