The Scottish Hammer is an event in traditional Highland Games Heavy Athletics. The ‘Hammer’ itself is a length of rattan or wood with a weighted spherical head. There are actually two different types of Scottish Hammer records kept: heavy and light. For Men, the heavy hammer weighs 22 pounds and the light hammer weighs in at 16 pounds.) For Women, the heavy hammer is 16 pounds and the light hammer is 12 pounds.

The Hammer is wound around the body and thrown from a standing position. An interesting modern development is that athletes now wear boots with long spikes in them to anchor themselves to the ground which allows them to generate more rotational force.

The current World records are as follows:

Men’s Heavy Hammer: Daniel McKim: 132′ 2.75″
Men’s Light Hammer: Daniel McKim: 157′ 7.25″

Women’s Heavy Hammer: Valerie Adams: 99′ 1″
Women’s Light Hammer: Shannon Hartnett: 120′ 1″