A
boomerang is a curved piece of wood used as a weapon and for sport. Boomerangs come in many shapes and sizes depending on their geographic or tribal origins and intended function. The most recognizable type is the returning boomerang, which is a throwing stick that travels in a elliptical path and returns to its point of origin when thrown correctly. Although non-returning boomerangs (throw sticks or kylies) were used as weapons, returning boomerangs have been used primarily for leisure or recreation. Modern returning boomerangs can be almost any size or shape and are made from a variety of materials.
Historical evidence also points to the use of non-returning boomerangs by the ancient
EgyptiansEgyptians is the name of the nationality and Mediterranean North African ethnic group native to Egypt....
,
Native AmericansNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
of
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and
ArizonaThe State of Arizona is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in size by the four Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and Scottsdale.Arizona was the 48th and...
, and inhabitants of southern
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
for killing birds and rabbits. Indeed, some boomerangs were not thrown at all, but were used in hand-to-hand combat by
Indigenous AustraliansIndigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands, and these peoples' descendants. Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.6% of Australia's...
.
Boomerangs can be variously used as hunting weapons, percussive musical instruments, battle clubs, fire-starters, decoys for hunting waterfowl, and as recreational play toys. The smallest boomerang may be less than 10 cm from tip-to-tip, and the largest over 2 meters in length. Tribal boomerangs may be inscribed and/or painted with designs meaningful to its maker. Most boomerangs seen today are of the tourist or competition sort, and are almost invariably of the returning type.
Etymology
The origin of the term is uncertain, and many researchers have different theories on how the word entered the English vocabulary. The boomerang was first encountered by western people at Farm Cove (Port Jackson) in December 1804 where its use as a weapon was witnessed during a tribal skirmish.
David Collins listed "Wo-mur-rāng" as one of eight aboriginal "Names of clubs" in 1798.
A 1790 anonymous manuscript on aboriginal languages of New South Wales reported "Boo-mer-rit" as "the Scimiter".
In 1822 it was described in detail and recorded as a "bou-mar-rang", in the language of the
TuruwalThe Turuwal people were an Aboriginal sub-group of the Dharuk language nation based in New South Wales, Australia. They are famous for the name of the boomerang coming from their language.-References:*...
people (a sub-group of the Dharug) of the George’s River near Port Jackson. The Turnawal used other words for their hunting sticks but used "boomerang" to refer to a returning throw-stick.
They were also mistakenly referred to as a woomerang, in confusion with the spear-thrower
woomeraA woomera is an Australian Aboriginal spear-throwing device usually used for larger prey or when there is a greater distance to be overcome. It has been described as "the most efficient spear-throwing device ever". Similar to an atlatl, it enables a spear to travel much further than by arm strength...
.
History
The oldest Australian Aboriginal boomerangs are ten thousand years old, but older hunting sticks have been discovered in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, where they seem to have formed part of the
stone ageThe Stone Age is a broad prehistoric time period during which humans widely used stone for toolmaking.Stone tools were made from a variety of different sorts of stone. For example, flint and chert were shaped for use as cutting tools and weapons, while basalt and sandstone were used for ground...
arsenal of weapons. One boomerang that was discovered in a cave in the
Carpathian MountainsThe Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the largest mountain range in Europe...
in
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was made of mammoth's tusk and is believed, based on
AMS datingAccelerator mass spectrometry differs from other forms of mass spectrometry in that it accelerates ions to extraordinarily high kinetic energies before mass analysis. The special strength of AMS among the mass spectrometric methods is its power to separate a rare isotope from an abundant...
of objects found with it, to be about 30,000 years old. King Tutankhamun, the famous
PharaohPharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Egypt. This was true only during the New Kingdom, specifically during the middle of...
of ancient
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
, who died over 3,000 years ago, owned a collection of boomerangs of both the straight flying (
huntingHunting is the practice of pursuing living animals for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
) and returning variety.
No one knows for sure how the returning boomerang was first invented, but some modern boomerang makers speculate that it developed from the flattened
throwing stickThe throwing stick or throwing club is one of the first weapons used by early humans and cultures all around the world. In essence, it is a short stave or wooden club thrown as a projectile to hunt small game such as rabbits or waterfowl. In flight, it rotates rapidly cracking the target with one...
, still used by the
Australian AboriginesAustralian Aborigines are a class of people who are identified by Australian law as being members of a race indigenous to the Australian continent....
and some other tribal people around the world, including the
Navajo IndiansThe Navajo or Diné of the Southwestern United States are the second largest Native American tribe of Northern America. In the 2000 U.S. census, 298,197 people claimed to be fully or partly of Navajo ancestry. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo...
in America. A
huntingHunting is the practice of pursuing living animals for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
boomerang is delicately balanced and much harder to make than a returning one. Probably, the curving flight characteristic of returning boomerangs was first noticed by
stone ageThe Stone Age is a broad prehistoric time period during which humans widely used stone for toolmaking.Stone tools were made from a variety of different sorts of stone. For example, flint and chert were shaped for use as cutting tools and weapons, while basalt and sandstone were used for ground...
hunters trying to "tune" their throwing sticks to fly straight.
In 1909 the Ngarrindjeri inventor
David UnaiponDavid Unaipon was an Australian Aboriginal of the Ngarrindjeri people, a preacher, inventor and writer. Today, he is featured on the Australian $50 note in commemoration.-Biography:...
patented an invention for a rotary wing aircraft based on his study of boomerang aerodynamics.
Modern use
Today, boomerangs are mostly used as sporting items. There are different types of throwing contests: accuracy of return; Aussie round; trick catch;
maximum time aloftMaximum Time Aloft is a type of boomerang competition involving specially engineered boomerangs. They are launched high, and enter a stable hover. In the official USBA competition throwers get five throws, and the times of the best three attempts are scored. Normally, the catch must be made for...
; fast catch; and endurance (see below). The modern sport boomerang (often referred to as a 'boom' or 'rang'), is made of
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, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
birch
plywoodPlywoodis a type of engineered wood made from thin sheets of wood, called plies or wood veneers. The layers are glued together so that adjacent plies have their grain at right angles to each other for greater strength. There are usually an odd number of plies, as the symmetry makes the board less...
,
hardwoodThe term 'hardwood' is used to describe wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood which...
,
plasticPlastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic amorphous solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products...
or
composite materialComposite materials are engineered materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct on a macroscopic level within the finished structure.- History :The most primitive composite materials were straw...
s and comes in many different shapes and colours. Most sport boomerangs typically weigh less than 100
gramThe gram , ; symbol g, is a unit of mass.Originally defined as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to the cube of the hundredth part of a metre, and at the temperature of melting ice" , a gram is now defined as one one-thousandth of the SI base unit, the kilogram, or...
s, with MTA boomerangs (boomerangs used for the maximum time aloft event) often under 25 grams.
In 2008,
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese
astronautAn astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
Takao DoiTakao Doi is a Japanese astronaut and a veteran of two NASA space shuttle missions.Doi holds a doctorate from the University of Tokyo in aerospace engineering, and has studied and published in the fields of propulsion systems, and microgravity technology...
verified that boomerangs also function in
zero gravityWeightlessness is a phenomenon experienced by people during free-fall. Although the term zero gravity is often used as a synonym, weightlessness in orbit is not the result of the force of gravity being eliminated or even significantly reduced...
as they do on
EarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun. It is the fifth largest of the eight planets in the solar system, and the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in terms of diameter, mass and density...
.
He repeated the same experiment that German Astronaut Ulf Meerbold performed aboard Spacelab in 1992 and French Astronaut Jean-François Clervoy later performed aboard MIR in 1997.
Hunting
It is believed that the shape and elliptical flight path of the returning boomerang makes it useful for hunting. Noise generated by the movement of the boomerang through the air, and, by a skilled thrower, lightly clipping leaves of a tree whose branches house birds, would help scare the birds towards the thrower. This was used to frighten flocks or groups of birds into nets that were usually strung up between trees or thrown by hidden hunters.
Boomerangs (termed "throwsticks") for hunting larger prey, such as
kangarooA kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern and Western Grey Kangaroo...
, were used for small prey as well. These throwsticks fly in a nearly straight path when thrown horizontally and are heavy enough to take down a kangaroo on impact to the legs or knees. For hunting
emuThe Emu , Dromaius novaehollandiae, is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is also the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. The soft-feathered, brown, flightless bird reach up to in height...
, the throwstick is thrown toward the neck, attempting to break it .
Communication
It has been documented that Western Victorian "aboriginals" used the returnable boomerang, in addition to hunting, as a means of communication over long distances . This visual communication is especially useful when winds or distance make impossible other well known methods of communication such as
cooeeCooee! is a shout used in the Australian Outback mainly to attract attention, find missing people, or indicate one's own location...
.
Design
A boomerang is a rotating wing. Though it is not a requirement that the boomerang be in its traditional shape, it is usually flat. A falling boomerang starts spinning, and most then fall in a spiral.
When the boomerang is thrown with high spin, the
wingA wing is a surface used to produce lift for flight through the air or another gaseous or fluid medium. The wing shape is usually an airfoil. The word originally referred only to the foremost limbs of birds, but has been extended to include the wings of insects , bats, pterosaurs, and aircraft.A...
s produce
liftA fluid flowing past the surface of a body exerts a force on it. Lift is defined to be the component of this force that is perpendicular to the oncoming flow direction. It contrasts with the drag force, which is defined to be the component of the fluid-dynamic force parallel to the flow...
.
Larger boomerangs are used in hunting, thus they drop on the ground after striking the target. Smaller ones are used in sport, and are the only boomerangs that return to the thrower. Because of its rapid spinning, a boomerang flies in a curve rather than a straight line. When thrown correctly, a boomerang returns to its starting point.
Returning boomerangs consist of two or more arms or
wingA wing is a surface used to produce lift for flight through the air or another gaseous or fluid medium. The wing shape is usually an airfoil. The word originally referred only to the foremost limbs of birds, but has been extended to include the wings of insects , bats, pterosaurs, and aircraft.A...
s, connected at an angle. Each wing is shaped as an aerofoil, so air travels faster over one side of the wing than the other. This difference in air speed creates suction or
liftA fluid flowing past the surface of a body exerts a force on it. Lift is defined to be the component of this force that is perpendicular to the oncoming flow direction. It contrasts with the drag force, which is defined to be the component of the fluid-dynamic force parallel to the flow...
along what is roughly a plane which intersects the aerofoil at a near right angle along the long axis of the wing.
These wings are set so that the lift created by each wing opposes the lift of the other, but at an angle such that the flight pattern is constantly shifted as the forces of lift, drag, rotational inertia etc. 'attempt' to reach equilibrium. In simple terms, this means that one side of the boomerang is different from the other. If both wings were identical, the boomerang would spin, but fly in a straight line.
Gyroscopic precession is what makes the boomerang return to the thrower when thrown correctly. This is also what makes the boomerang fly straight up into the air when thrown incorrectly. With the exception of long-distance boomerangs, they should not be thrown sidearm or like a
FrisbeeFlying discs are disc-shaped objects, which are generally plastic and roughly 20 to 25 centimeters in diameter, with a lip. The shape of the disc, an airfoil in cross-section, allows it to fly by generating lift as it moves through the air while rotating...
, but rather thrown with the long axis of the wings rotating in an almost-vertical plane. When throwing a returning boomerang correctly, it is important to follow the correct instructions to achieve a successful return.
Some boomerangs have
turbulatorA turbulator is a device for improving the flow of air over a wing.When air flows over the wing of an aircraft, there is a layer of air called the boundary layer between the wing's surface and where the air is undisturbed. Depending on the profile of the wing, the air will often flow smoothly in a...
s—bumps or pits on the top surface that act to increase the lift as boundary layer transition activators (to keep attached turbulent flow instead of laminar separation).
Fast Catch boomerangs usually have three or more symmetrical wings (in the
planformA planform or plan view is a vertical orthographic projection of an object on a horizontal plane, like a map.In aviation, a planform is the shape and layout of an airplane's wing and fuselage...
view), whereas a Long Distance boomerang is most often shaped similar to a question mark. Maximum Time Aloft boomerangs mostly have one wing considerably longer than the other. This feature, along with carefully executed bends and twists in the wings, help to set up an 'auto-rotation' effect to maximise the boomerang's hover-time in descending from the highest point in its flight.
Throwing technique
A right-handed boomerang is thrown with an counter-clockwise spin causing a counter-clockwise flight (as seen from above). Conversely, a left-handed boomerang is constructed as a mirror image with the aerofoils' leading edges on the left side of the wings, as seen from above, causing it to produce lift when circling clockwise. Although appearing symmetrical from a plan view, the leading edges are on opposite edges of the wings (leading and trailing) so as to present the leading edges of the aerofoil to the wind when spinning.
Most sport boomerangs are in the range of about 2.5 to 4
ounceThe ounce is a unit of mass with several definitions, the most commonly used of which are equal to approximately 30 grams. The ounce is used in a number of different systems, including various systems of mass that form part of the imperial and United States customary systems...
s. The range on most is between 25 and 40 yards/metres. To throw, use treeless, large open spaces that are twice as large as the range of the boomerang. A right- or left-handed boomerang can be thrown with either hand, but the flight direction will depend upon the boomerang, not the thrower. Throwing a boomerang with the wrong hand requires a throwing motion that many throwers may find awkward.
For
right-handed boomerangs, first establish the wind and launch direction by first facing into the wind, slowly turning your head left to right. When your temples feel equally cool on both sides of your head then you will be facing directly into the wind. Now, for the launch direction, turn between thirty to seventy degrees clockwise to your right, depending on wind speed (turn further for stronger winds).
Stand sideways with feet-apart, left foot forward, so as to point in the direction of flight. Hold the right (or left) wing tip, flat side down, using the thumb on top and one to three fingers below. Tilt the boomerang upright at a ten to thirty degree angle from vertical. Cock the boomerang back so that the central bend touches your forearm to allow adequate spin. Aim, by pointing with your left arm, at, or just above, the horizon.
Sharply step forward with the left foot, following through with your right arm and leg as you launch the boomerang in a similar way to throwing a spear or ball. Launch crisply using a whip-like flick with your index finger, at the end of the throw, so as to cause counter-clockwise spin (seen from above). The strength of throw and spin must be varied according to the speed of the wind — the stronger the wind, the less power is required to provide lift enough to make the return journey. In other words, the stronger the wind, the softer you throw.
The boomerang initially should curve around to the left, climb gently, level out in mid-flight, arc around and descend slowly, and then finish by popping up slightly, hovering, then stalling near the thrower. Ideally, it should hover momentarily, to allow the catcher to clamp their hands shut decisively and firmly on the horizontal boomerang from above and below, sandwiching the centre between the catcher's hands. In other words, avoid painful wing strikes to the hand by not sticking fingers directly into the edge of the fast-spinning wing rotor.
Boomerangs shouldn't be thrown level like a flying disc, as it will turn upwards abruptly in the direction of the top of its aerofoils, so if that direction happens to be up rather than to the side it may soar up so high and quickly down again so that the subsequent landing may cause damage to the boomerang and/or whatever it might land on!
Always stay safe by ensuring that your throwing space is empty of people and other obstructions to avoid injury and damage.
Wind speed and direction are very important for a successful throw. A right-handed boomerang is thrown with the wind on one's left cheek. The angle to the wind depends on the boomerang, but starting with a 45 degree angle is recommended. Depending on where the boomerang lands, this angle can be modified so that a closer return is achieved. For example, if the boomerang lands too far on the left, turn to throw more to the right of the wind the next time. If the return goes over one's head, then throw softer. If it falls short, then throw harder. As for the wind speed, a light wind of three to five miles an hour is ideal. If the wind is strong enough to fly a kite, then that's usually too strong for boomerangs.
Throwers can modify various actions to achieve a closer return according to the conditions; the throw angle to the wind, the tilt, the power, the spin, and the inclination can be adjusted to vary the return point so the catch point can be perfected. Facing into the wind, then turning the head slightly to either side to check for the cooling effect, allows one to assess the wind direction, and thus the throwing direction, more accurately. For consistency, return to the same throw point and then use a background target object on the horizon to throw in the same direction relative to the wind each time.
Competitions and records
In international competition, a
world cup is held every second year, with teams from
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
dominating international competition. The individual World Champion title was won in 2000, 2002 and 2004 by Swiss thrower Manuel Schütz. In 2006, Fridolin Frost from Germany won the title, with Manuel Schütz finishing third.
Competition disciplines
Modern boomerang tournaments usually involve some or all of the events listed below In all disciplines the boomerang must travel at least 20 meters from the thrower. Throwing takes place individually. The thrower stands at the centre of concentric rings marked on an open field.
- Aussie Round: considered by many to be the ultimate test of boomeranging skills. The boomerang should ideally cross the 50 meter circle and come right back to the centre. Each thrower has five attempts. Points are awarded for distance, accuracy and the catch.
- Accuracy: points are awarded according to how close the boomerang lands to the centre of the rings. The thrower must not touch the boomerang after it has been thrown. Each thrower has five attempts. In major competitions there are two accuracy disciplines: Accuracy 100 and Accuracy 50
- Endurance: points are awarded for the number of catches achieved in 5 minutes.
- Fast Catch: the time taken to throw and catch the boomerang five times. The winner has the fastest timed catches.
- Trick Catch/Doubling: points are awarded for trick catches behind the back, between the feet, etc. In Doubling the thrower has to throw two boomerangs at the same time and catch them in sequence in a special way.
- Consecutive Catch: points are awarded for the number of catches achieved before the boomerang is dropped. The event is not timed.
- MTA 100 (Maximal Time Aloft, field size: 100 metres): points are awarded for the length of time spent by the boomerang in the air. The field is normally a circle measuring 100 metres. An alternative to this discipline, without the 100 metre restriction is called MTA unlimited.
- Long Distance: the boomerang is thrown from the middle point of a 40 metre baseline. The furthest distance travelled by the boomerang away from the baseline is measured. On returning the boomerang must cross the baseline again but does not have to be caught. A special section is dedicated to LD below.
- Juggling: as with Consecutive Catch, only with two boomerangs. At any given time one boomerang must be in the air.
There are many other boomerang disciplines, many played just for fun, but most of these are not considered official competition events.
World records
(May 2008)
| Discipline |
Result |
Name |
Year |
Tournament |
| Accuracy 100 |
99 points |
Alex Opri (D) |
2007 |
Viareggio (ITA) |
| Accuracy 50 |
68 points |
Thomas Stehrenberger (CH) |
2001 |
Lausanne (CH) |
| Aussie Round |
99 points |
Fridolin Frost (D) |
2007 |
Viareggio (ITA) |
| Endurance |
81 catches |
Manuel Schütz (CH) |
2005 |
Milano (I) |
| Fast Catch |
14.60 s |
Adam Ruhf (USA) |
1996 |
Emmaus (USA) |
| Trick Catch/Doubling |
390 points |
Manuel Schütz (CH) |
2004 |
Milano (I) |
| Consecutive Catch |
1297 catches |
Manuel Schütz (CH) |
2005 |
Aalen (D) |
| MTA 100 |
104.87 s |
Eric Darnell (USA) |
1997 |
Portland (USA) |
| MTA unlimited |
229.82 s |
Betsylew Miale-Gix (USA) |
2008 |
Tucson (USA) |
| Long Distance |
238 m |
Manuel Schütz (CH) |
1999 |
Kloten (CH) |
Non-discipline record: Smallest Boomerang: Sadir Kattan of Australia in 1997 with 48 mm [1.8 in] long and 45 mm [1.77 in] wide. This tiny boomerang flew the required 20 metres, returning to the accuracy circles on 22 March 1997 at the Australian National Championships.
Long distance boomerangs
Long distance boomerang throwers aim to have the boomerang go the furthest possible while returning close to the throwing point. In competition the boomerang must intersect an imaginary surface defined as an infinite vertical extrude of a 40 m large line centred on the thrower. Outside of competitions the definition is not so strict and the thrower is happy whenever he does not have to travel 50 m after the throw to recover the boomerang.
General properties
Long distance boomerangs are optimised to have minimal drag while still having enough lift to fly and return. For this reason they have a very narrow throwing window which discourages many beginners from continuing with this discipline. For the same reason, the quality of manufactured long distance boomerangs is often non-deterministic.
Today's long distance boomerangs have almost all an
S or
? shape and have all a profile on both sides (the profile on the bottom side is sometimes called an undercut). This is to minimise drag and lower the lift. Lift must be low because the boomerang is thrown with almost total layover (flat). Long distance boomerangs are most frequently made of composite material, mainly glass fiber epoxy composites.
Flight path
The projection of the flight path of long distance boomerang on the ground resembles a water drop. For older types of long distance boomerangs (all types of so called big hooks), the first and last third of the flight path are very low while the middle third is a fast climbing followed by a fast descent. Nowadays boomerangs are made in a way that their whole flight path is almost planar with a constant climbing during the first half of the trajectory and then a rather constant descent during the second half.
From theoretical point of view, long distance boomerangs are interesting also for the following reason: for achieving a different behaviour during different flight phases, the ratio of the rotation frequency to the forward velocity has a U shaped function, i.e. its derivate crosses 0. Practically it means that the boomerang being at the furthest point has a forward velocity very low. The kinetic energy of the forward component is then stored in the potential energy. This is not true for other types of boomerangs where the loss of kinetic energy is non-reversible (the MTAs also store kinetic energy in potential energy during the first half of the flight but then the potential energy is lost directly by the drag).
Interest in the discipline
Long distance boomerang throwing had been considered as the ultimate level of competition in the 20th century, but with new century, changes in materials and techniques allowed throws of 100 m to become common, and interest in this category declined. The following explain the evolution:
- Throwing technique: The throwing technique is slightly different from other events, and less natural, as the boomerang must be thrown almost horizontal, but aimed high, yet with maximal power.
- Deceiving exercising: Because of the extra effort required to optimize flight distance, long distance boomerangs are more difficult to make or acquire. On the other hand, they are easy to lose because at 100 m, good vision is needed to follow the flight. Further, sometimes the boomerang does not make the expected turn, and can continue away from the thrower. Not all fields are large, flat and empty enough to allow exercising, making recovery even more difficult.
- Put apart in tournaments: The large area needed, safety reasons and other difficulties usually require the event to be scheduled late in the tournament, often to a Monday, which limits participation.
On the other hand, the long distance throwers, being very few compared to other disciplines, benefit from a family-like spirit present at LD events.
Related terms
Kylie is one of the Aboriginal words for the hunting stick used in warfare and for hunting animals. Instead of following curved flight paths, kylies fly in straight lines from the throwers. They are typically much larger than boomerangs, and can travel very long distances; due to their size and hook shapes, they can cripple or kill an animal or human opponent. The word is perhaps an English corruption of a word meaning
boomerang taken from one of the Western Desert languages, for example, the
WarlpiriThe Warlpiri are a group of Indigenous Australians, many of whom speak the Warlpiri language. There are 5,000–6,000 Warlpiri, living mostly in a few towns and settlements scattered through their traditional land in Australia's Northern Territory, north and west of Alice Springs...
word
karli.
Use in media
The Magic Boomerang, an Australian children's drama series in the 1960s, where time stood still for the duration of its flight, whenever the boomerang was thrown by the child who owned it.
External links