Axe thrower interview: Kimmy Supnet

Look. Listen.

I am generally nervous about interviewing everyone. I don't particularly feel like anyone really wants to chat it up with me, and navigating the voice saying "you're inconveniencing people by even being seen by them," is a real struggle. But it was a bit different with Kimmy Supnet.

For, you see - okay - look. Listen.

Kimmy Supnet, in a sport like ours, is royalty. She's the Giant Slayer. She's one of those people other throwers get as their first match at a tourney and they say "well, at least the B bracket is the fun bracket."

And I know I've said I don't wanna interview the big names in the sport. I know I've said that a number of times. But when opportunity knocks, sometimes, you gotta answer the door.

So here we are. Me, a happy liar. I managed to work up the courage to sit down on a lovely couch at ChillAxe and ask Kimmy all the questions I've wanted to ask since I started this goofy hobby and found out about her.

This is how the axe thrower interview went. A sneak peak? I was very nervous, and I ramble. A lot.

You throw out of BATL in Toronto, right? How long have you thrown axes?

BATL Vaughan, yeah. I've thrown about seven and a bit - closer to eight years.

What are some of the accomplishments you can remember - not like, all of 'em but just a few?

I mean, the biggest one I can recall, currently, is the one that happened just last year, last IATC. I made podium in most of the tournaments that were broadcasted - 2nd in Doubles, 1st in the Women's, and 3rd in the whole tournament circuit.

Because you've - I don't wanna oversell it - but because you're real big in this sport. I mean, you're probably one of the most accomplished throwers I've interviewed - (Dear reader, You need to understand how much I was panicking at this point. I can hear it in my voice, listening back to the recording. I am losing my gottam mind) - ...I mean so many people look up to you - I'm sure you know that - (DEAR READER I WAS STUTTERING)...

I mean, a little? But I don't like being out there - I'm way too shy.

Oh, I totally get that. But I was wondering if you could talk about - because you have this long career, if you could talk about plateaus and explosions?

By that I mean: were there times in your career where you felt like you weren't getting any better, and you didn't feel like you were going to get any better, and were there times where you felt like something unlocked and you knew you were getting better at this sport?

Before the Nationals last year, the moment I "blew up" was when I finally beat Rander at a tournament. Since then I got my confidence and that's why I did so well at IATC in 2024. After that, I was like "I can do this, I can beat him, I can do anything."

But now I'm at this part where I'm trying to get back to that confidence, and I think I'm trying to force it too much. I'm at this level right now where I'm feeling like I'm not getting better, like I'm going back down. And I think that's only because I'm trying to get back to where I was and forcing things.

So, right now, I'm just trying to have fun and figure out stuff along the way.

What you just touched on is important. I think we as throwers have other throwers that, when we beat them in a match, we know we've reached a certain level. I do think it's smart to have achievements around winning specific matches against specific throwers, but it does create a challenge after you've beat them: what's the next goal - or what's the next measurement of growth. It's really reassuring to hear you say that.

What do you think people can do, generally, to improve in consistency or make their practice actually matter?

I have two different sets of practices. For me, I try to set aside some time to figure out my motion, my throw, how it feels.

My second set of axe throwing practice involves finding a partner. Someone you can try to just keep up with. Mine was and kinda still is Stormy.

We have a kind of friendship where we push each other to be better. I see her excelling and I want to excel as well, it's a back and forth sort of relationship. She's a big part of why I did excel, as well. Last year I saw her coming up, and I thought "okay, well I should also step it up!"

So finding a partner to look up to really helps.

Do you - okay - I'm saying this as someone who's 5'3" - I think axe throwing inherently is harder for shorter people. Especially clutches, and the fact we have to throw up at bulls instead of throwing down at them. I think we have to come up with more unique ways to make this sport work for us.

Stormy, Kimmy, Boutheina and Ashley at the Adeline Cup 2025. Photo cred: ChillAxe FB page

Since the very first time I saw you throw, I noticed a mastery of taking up space when you move that I've tried to figure out, and I have no idea how you do it. You get right up to the red line - and it doesn't look like your over-extending yourself at all - but you get yourself right where you wanna be, make a micro-adjustment, and then throw, as opposed to starting your throw right at the black line. (And HERE is where I actually get to the effing question. Sheesh) Do you have any tips for shorter throwers to make adjustments that, maybe, the talls don't have to?

The hardware does help - I do throw a bit of a longer axe. I think the biggest thing is that we [shorter royalty of axe throwing] tend to force the axe - we try to force in reach and over-extend, when really we should be letting the axe do all the work.

You just need the momentum and the motion, and then point.

And when you say "momentum," you're talking about your step movement - not the movement of your arm -

A bit of both. I plant my foot and...I guess you could say I have a bit of a feeling when I bring it [the axe] back - I don't know if most people would get this - but I can feel when the axe head is pulling itself back with gravity - and once I feel that pull, I start my throw.

That's really insightful.

I'm very technical when I think about my throws, haha.

Well, but it makes sense. You are very consistent with your throws, to the point where I feel like if someone took multiple videos of you throwing and then cut individual frames out and pasted them together, you wouldn't be able to tell outside of what you were wearing. You can tell you have confidence in your throw, there aren't many surprises in it.

A final question: How important is it to find the "right" axe versus the ability to just throw the axe you have? Do you think that it's true you can find the perfect axe for your throw, or do you think you can just find an axe you like, and just work with that axe until you've figured it out?

I honestly think customizing my own axes helped me out a lot. People have different hands, mine are smaller than most. I think finding the right axe will help. A lot of my axes - my clutch axe, for example - is a stock handle that I personally grinded and sanded to my liking. And then I found someone to customize the axe for me. So I think the hardware is important.

I don't think the answer is to just keep buying axes until you find the one you like. Instead, you should really figure out what you like and what works for you, and then find someone who can create that axe for you.

Anyone you wanna shout out?

Shout out to An Axe League of Their Own - I feel like they are definitely highlighting women in this sport and pushing it in the right direction. That's literally all I want to see - women moving forward in this sport.

A huge thanks to Kimmy for taking the time to be interviewed, and for all she does in this sport.