Boah uses lesson learned in football and track with Big East championships in mind
With track and field, as with football, Kwaku Boah believes you can’t be erratic in anything you are doing. On the starting blocks, you have to be systematic, and then you can explode. On the football field, you have to get in the right position and then hit.
Fundamentals are fundamentals. Whether they are out of the huddle or on a track. And with the Big East championships approaching, the Syracuse thrower is focusing on that technique as much now as he always has.
He likes to call it ‘controlled aggression.’ And for Boah, controlled aggression is the same anywhere.
‘Usually when you’re competing your adrenaline gets you to the next level,’ Boah said. ‘But you have to make sure your fundamentals are as strong as possible.’
With five weeks of work before the Big East championships, assistant coach Enoch Borozinski helped to emphasize technique to Boah and the rest of the team in these early stages of the outdoor season. Though early springtime usually serves as a fine-tuning period, coaches and athletes alike are excited at the possibility of reaching nationals this season.
‘There’s a little bit of a struggle transitioning from indoor to outdoor,’ Boah said. ‘But all in all, I felt the progress.’
And Boah may have a better shot at nationals than anyone else. He specifically is looking to the Texas Relays in Austin as somewhat of a postseason preview. For what he may be participating in here in the near future.
But the calendar still reads March, and for Boah, this week’s practice has been focused mainly on those fundamentals and his approach.
‘When the adrenaline might begin to slow you down, you at least have the bare minimum to get a good throw off,’ Boah said.
To Boah, the formula is simple: If the fundamentals are there, you have less to worry about.
‘The best throwers, they have a system,’ Boah said.
In his third year as a part of the Orange, Boah’s system is beginning to pay off. He placed second in the shot put at the Syracuse Invitational with a mark of 14.5 meters and took home the shot put title at the SU Welcome Back Invitational with a Big East qualifying mark of 15.15 meters. As a former defensive lineman and member of SU football, he has found a common ground between the two sports that helps facilitate the mental aspect of competition.
Boah explained that between running stairs, sprinting, footwork, and a lot of stretching and lifting, he learned much more athletically from track than he ever would from football.
Standing in a practically vacant Manley Arena, fatigued from yet another Wednesday morning workout, Boah reiterated his goals for this year.
Just like he would have if he was on the football field.
He was just a little tired from some controlled aggression.
‘I would love to go to regionals,’ Boah said. ‘Hopefully, if everything goes well, (I would) try and make nationals. It’s a lot easier said than done, but that’s when days like this kick in.’
