The last few months have been some of the most stressful of my career – not because of training or competition, but because of life away from the circle.
Moving to Frankfurt turned out to be far harder than I ever expected. Finding an apartment was easily the most difficult part of the whole process.
There were weeks of waiting, uncertainty, and trial and error, and it was a kind of stress you couldn’t train away. There’s good stress and bad stress, and this was definitely a negative kind. It followed me everywhere, even into training.
Just before Christmas we were still stuck in limbo, and it made the whole holiday period difficult. Now that we finally have an apartment, I can feel how much that stress had been sitting in my body.
Only now, as things calm down, do I notice how tired I actually am from it all. But it’s a relief. From here on, the stress is productive again – the kind that comes from training hard and moving forward.
New coach relationship is "clicking"
One of the big reasons for relocating was to work with my new coach, Kathrin Klaas, and that relationship is developing really well. At the start, we needed some space and time to understand each other properly, but now things are clicking.
I’m no longer just thinking about what she wants technically – I’m starting to feel it in my body. Every turn, I notice more clearly what the movement should be, and that’s a really important step.
The technical changes we’re working on are significant, but they’re not rushed. After more than ten years in the event, you can’t expect everything to change overnight.
For me, the focus has been on creating more length in the hammer and more time on the left side. That involves the whole chain: shoulder, hips, feet, and how they all work together.
Last year, I looked at these changes mainly from the perspective of the shoulder. Now I understand it much more as a complete movement. When the shoulder moves too early, I lose length.
When the hips don’t work correctly against the left side, I lose time. We’re shifting my weight more deliberately to the left and increasing the time I spend in the single-support phase.
The biggest mental shift has been in how I think about acceleration. Before, it felt like I was pushing from right to left. Now it’s more like sprinting – dynamic, elastic, and reactive rather than forced.
It’s complicated, but it’s also much more effective, and every day it feels a little more natural. I honestly feel like I’m getting about one percent better each day, and that adds up.
Leaner and lighter
Physically, there have been some smaller changes too. I’ve lost a little weight – maybe a kilo compared to before Christmas – and I feel leaner and lighter in the circle. It’s not about chasing numbers on a scale, just about feeling more efficient and comfortable in my movement.
Because of the move and the training days I lost during that stressful period, I’ve had to adjust my competition plans. I’ll skip the early German winter competitions, including the national winter throwing championships in February. I need more time to build properly.
My first competition of the year will be the European Throwing Cup in Nicosia on 14–15 March. I’ve competed there before, and it’s always a big contrast – going from winter conditions at home to warm weather almost overnight.
It’s a challenge, but one I’ve learned a lot from, especially when it comes to dealing with heat and recovery. Those lessons helped me later in the season, including at major championships.
After that, my season will really begin in May, with competitions building gradually towards the summer. For now, the priority is settling fully into life in Frankfurt, continuing to strengthen the technical changes, and getting a solid block of uninterrupted training.
After everything that’s happened, having stability again feels like a breakthrough in itself. Now the work can really begin.
Germany's Merlin Hummel is the world silver medallist for the men's hammer and a regular columnist for European Athletics
