The moment i see this thread, first person i think of is Rory Delap.

With regards to throw in, i wouldn't say big team don't have the expertise to throw like Delap. There's no real science behind Delap's rocket throw. Just the right strength and technique when launching the ball. The real question is, is there a need to throw like he does and is there players to head in from the rocket throw in. I don't know about others but teams like Arsenal always favour short throw ins. Firstly, they don't have big burly strikers like Stoke City to attack throw ins. Arsenal has always relied on speedy,skillful and technical players in the attacking front. Therefore, they're ball players who prefer to play on the ground rather than on the air. Stoke on the other hand play it to their strength and when i say that, i meant their strength and physique literally. That being said, what they lack technically, they make it up with muscle power and height.

I think Stoke's goal rate from such rocket throw ins are quite decent. Nevertheless, it does not mean its a sure fire way of scoring goals as statistically speaking, teams that score the most in a season like Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal never relied on rocket throw to score.

I think Delap is not the first in attempting such rocket throw ins. I remember Liverpool and John Arne Risse using such throws ins to great effect, similarly Bolton's former hero, Jay Jay Okocha is pretty good at it too.

But if you ask me, i find it quite irritating that each time Stoke gets a throw in, the ballboy would hand a towel to Delap and he'd polish the ball before throwing it. That's 30 seconds. Imagine they get 10 or so throws in vital areas thruought the game.