Long Distance
How far can you throw a boomerang?
Another event where you don’t catch it, these specialized boomerangs can go hundreds of meters! This is sometimes excluded from tournaments as it requires significantly more space to throw in.
WARNING
Like any thrown object, boomerangs can cause harmful, even serious injuries if they hit you or someone else during the flight.
Therefore:
2- Wear eye protection designed specifically for sport while throwing.
3- DO NOT THROW IN EXTREMELY WINDY WEATHER (over 10 mph).
4- Any spectators or fellow throwers must be kept well away from the throwing area.
Everyone should keep their eyes on a flying boomerang and turn their back to it if in danger of being hit. Exercise common sense and you will enjoy your boomerang for years to come!
View the full USBA Rulebook used in competitions for more info!
If you want to throw a boomerang extremely far, this is the event for you! Long Distance (LD), along with the Accuracy event, is an event where you don’t catch the boomerang. These are specialized boomerangs that often go over 100m, with the World Record by Manuel Schütz at 238 meters! This distance makes it very difficult to catch, which is why the only requirement is to have it return over a line that is 40 meters wide.
In a competition, throwers will make five throws from a 4m gate in the center of this line. A legal throw is at least 50m, and it must return over the line or it does not count.
The distance is counted in meter integers from the gate to the furthest point of the flight. At least six range spotters are out in the field, and will point to where the apex of the flight was. Two to four range spotters will stand under, and they will discuss where the furthest point is and measure either with laser rangefinders (the easier method) or use a steel tape (a manual method). Putting range trackers on boomerangs messes with the flight of the boomerang, which is why it’s done this way.
The path of an LD boomerang is different from any other style of boomerang. Unlike almost any other event, it is much more elliptical, almost an out-an-back path.
Tips for throwing Long Distance
- Throw into the wind. This will help carry the boomerang on its return.
- Throw your boomerang with a lot of layover as you don’t want it to turn too much!
World Records
Returning Throw (Competitive Long Distance): 238 meters (780.8 ft).
Set by Manuel Schütz of Switzerland in 1999 at a tournament in Kloten. In this event, the boomerang must cross a minimum distance line and return to stay within a valid 100-meter radius.
Female Returning Throw: 124 meters (406.8 ft).
Co-held by Karen Dawson (USA, 2001) and Marie Appriou (France, 2017)
Other Notable Distance Milestones
- U.S. National Record: 177 yards (~161.8 meters), held by Logan Broadbent
- Historical Milestone: Herb Smith (UK) set a notable Guinness record in 1972 with a 98-meter (108-yard) returning throw using a heavily weighted wooden boomerang.