If you're in the throes of something, you're struggling with an intense or difficult situation.
Soldiers might be in the throes of battle, while a character in a tragic play might be in the throes of despair. If you want to be melodramatic, you can say you're in the throes of something less serious, like a tough semester or soccer training. The noun throe has been around since the 1200s and means "a painful pang." The word is almost always plural — and these days, it's used pretty much exclusively in the phrase in the throes.
If you're in the throes of getting the hang of this phrase, check out the examples below, which get it right:
Southern Africa is in the throes of a climate emergency, with hunger levels in the region on a previously unseen scale, the UN has warned. (The Guardian)
When in the throes of a migraine attack, sufferers may be unable to tolerate light, noise, smells or even touch. (New York Times)
The word throes sounds exactly like throws, so sometimes this expression is incorrectly spelled as in the throws. Throws is the plural of throw, as in a toss or pitch of a ball. To be in the throws, you would have to be in the center of a circle of friends all pitching softballs at you simultaneously. As you can see, in the throws really doesn't make much sense! Nevertheless, even major publications sometimes drop the ball on this one:
Brazil is in the throws of a large-scale corruption scandal, which has seen its president, Dilma Rouseff, impeached and removed from office. (BBC)
Deeply inspired by psychoanalytic theory, Steig began to produce a series of what he himself called "symbolic drawings", which aimed to portray people in the throws of various emotional and psychological states. (Time)
Save yourself the pain of being wrong by spelling in the throes correctly — save the throws for the ballpark.