By Robert Fulton

To throw a shot put, or, technically speaking, to put the shot, takes more than just brute strength. Technique is just as important. The setting of the ball at the top of the palm. The positioning of the throwing arm. The placement of the feet. A twisting motion. Only if each step is done with mechanical precision will an athlete achieve ultimate success in hurling a heavy sphere dozens of feet.

University of Texas shotputter Amanda Van Dyke has all of these steps down, if results from the recent 2010 Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships are any indication. The sophomore finished sixth in the event with a throw of 49-feet, 8.5-inches. The result earned her All-Big 12 honors as well as a berth in the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds this past weekend in Austin.

“I was satisfied,” said Van Dyke, a Pflugerville Connally High School product. She added that the wet, windswept weather in Columbia, Mo. were not ideal throwing conditions. “I wish the weather was better. It didn’t feel like May at all. It was bad. It’s a very big factor.”

The throw at the Big 12 event was Van Dyke’s personal best this season, eclipsing her 49-7.25 from the Texas Invite on May 1. However, leading up to the most recent event, she says she had been throwing 51 feet consistently in practice, and approached 52 feet.

To get to this point this season was not without adversity for Van Dyke. After a solid freshman season, she developed a cyst on one of her feet. She had surgery in November, and the three months she was out led her to miss the indoor season.

After working to get back into shape, she threw 48-.75 her first event back at the USC Trojan Invitational on March 20.

“I was satisfied, and I was healthy,” said Van Dyke, 20.

That time on the sidelines because of injury, as well as a year of college athletics under her belt, taught Van Dyke some valuable lessons. Most notably, a good throw is more than just muscle and prowess.

“I learned it’s not just about strength,” she said. “You have to learn technique too. You have to use what the coaches teach you. It’s all mental.”

As a whole, the University of Texas womens track and field team finished third at the Big 12 Championships.

“We did really good,” Van Dyke said. “We weren’t suppose to get in the top six. We proved a lot of people wrong.”

While at Connally, Van Dyke also played basketball and volleyball, and she throws discuss as well at UT. Though it’s the shot put that is her specialty.

Van Dyke is looking to make her mark heading into the NCAAs this weekend. And maybe she can eclipse 50 feet for the first time in competition.

“I feel really confident,” she said.