"You throw like a girl"

[5150 Girl]

The Mythbusters tackled this old saying. They found (in a random sample) that boys throw faster, while girls are more accurate.
However, one of the more interesting findings to me was that the boys had a more aggressive throwing stance,,,, until they they considered the question of was this stance a learned behavior, or a product of nature? So they turned to a pro softball player, and a pro baseball player, and found that they both had similar throwing postures.

I think this ads to the arguments of which is stronger, nature, or nurture?

[Kate Simmons]

"You throw like a girl". Well, I hope so Hon. I also walk like a girl, dance like a girl, eat like a girl, look like a girl and dress like a girl. Whoulda figured? The interesting thing is when I was in grade school I did throw like a girl and of course received flack for it but I really didn't care.

[kimdl93]

I was always told I threw a ball like a girl...but could never figure out how to do it differently...maybe I threw ok after all!

[Beverley Sims]

Like Kake, I also walk like a girl, dance like a girl, eat like a girl, look like a girl and dress like a girl.
I also throw a damn ball like a girl.
Yep! I can play softball.

[Karren H]

I could never throw hard or far.... but its against the rules to throw the puck ya know! and my snapshot sucks! some of the girls on my team have fantastic shots! more skill and fineness than gender.....

[Kelly DeWinter]

LOL, Having coached girls Softball for over 8 years (My daughter pitched ) I'm surprised how the Mythbusters missed the real reason Girls throw differently then Boys, It's all in the hips. Girls have wider hips then boys,so in their pitch they put a Snap in their hips to close the X in the underhand pitch. Underhand pitching is simply a more natural pitch for girls. When Boy pitchers try to pitch underhand, their pitch is often a lot slower and less agressive, because of their narrower hips.

[Jenniferathome]

in THIS case, PRACTICE is stronger. There's no nature here. "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice."

[Stephanie47]

Actually, the term "You throw like a girl" is a derogatory phrase to insult a boy. In my youth of playing baseball and softball (1950's and 1960's) girls did not play any sports in school. Or in the neighborhood. There was one exception. Our center fielder was "Charlie," AKA: Linda. She did not throw like a girl. She threw the ball as any guy. She was a girl ahead of her time. Jeans and tee shirt. No dresses. The boys considered her to be a good player, better than several boys on the team. You know, the right field position.

If you ask a girl to retrieve an errant throw, she would not really know how to throw the base back because she was never taught. I don't know the merits of the reason for this being the hips. Maybe when pitching. I'll have to watch and see how the girls/woman throw the runner out from dead in the whole on the left side of the infield.

The last time I heard that phrase was when a Seattle Mariner use it to point out a poorly thrown base. He said, the player threw the ball like a girl. My daughter was highly pissed off.

[Sometimes Steffi]

I think it's nurture, not nature, and has nothing to do with the hips.

To me, thrown like a girls connotes an awkward looking arm movement. Since in my generation, boys were throwing balls from age 5 or younger, they developed a much smoother arm movement.

Or, to look at it another way, you paint your nails like a boy, you apply mascara like a boy, etc.

[Kelly DeWinter]

chuckles, shaking her head sadly, The mechanics of the female body dictate "Throwing like a Girl" , It's the same reason women's hips wiggle when they walk (sorry I mean sashay) The attachment point of the legbones at the hips is wider then men compared to where the feet meet the pavement, which is pretty much the same as men. Buuuuut , if people want to believe that on an evolutionary timeline women are behind men, be prepared for the backlash. LOL

[Renee_E]

I'm 64 and my granddaughter's comment when I threw a football was "you throw like a girl!"

[Frédérique]

I think this adds to the argument of which is stronger, nature, or nurture?

All I know is that, when I was a boy, throwing things at other things just came naturally, and I did a lot of it. However, one day I became disenchanted with myself, and I stopped. It was more of a maturity thing, I think, with guilt thrown into the mix. I definitely throw like a boy, but I haven’t thrown anything for years...

[Jenniferathome]

OK, I am watching this episode, right now. "Throw Like a Girl" is a mechanical observation. What is the fluidity, the motion, the whole picture. First observation: even the guys threw like girls (mechanically ugly). MB made a point of saying that none of the volunteers were "ball sports" trained. The arm motion of the the volunteers was all wrong. No one threw THROUGH the ball. No follow through. Now, what was far more telling to me is that the guys stepped into the throw (opposite foot fo the throwing hand) and the girls did not, throwing off their back foot or worse, stepping in with the wrong leg. My assessment is that exposure to ball sports (watching or even ESPN recaps) the boys/men LEARNED the right motion but could not reproduce it perfectly due to practice. The girls didn't learn the motion.

[Kathi Lake]

If only! We had a girl in high school on our softball team that had a 100MPH pitch - underhanded!



Kathi

[linda allen]

"Mythbusters" is entertainment, not science. I watched an entire episode once, no more. It's commercial BS, nothing more.

[Jacqueline Winona]

Throwing like a girl has always been an insult, directed at boys who haven't played the game (or have a severe injury) . I haven't seen the episode, but in baseball or softball, its all about arm angle and footwork if you're hearing it. Basically, its a shot-put of a ball rather than a fluid throw. Rather than getting their arm in an L shape and holding the arm off to the side, standing sideways, many girls (more so in pre-Title IX days than now, but still most who have never played ball games don't know how to do it right away) instinctively stand straight at their target, cup the ball, curl their wrists down, keep their elbows below well below the shoulder, and push the ball towards the target. It takes about 5 minutes to teach the right format to kids of any age. Then its just repetition.