We have threads about each stroke and about kicking, so i thought it would be good to have one about starts and turns to deal with questions and tips.
When I transitioned from the grab start to the track start i had a great deal of trouble with repeatability. I was either too deep or too shallow. Through trial and error i discovered that if I focused on getting a good push from my rear leg my entry was much more consistent, YMMV.
MY H S team The 1st year we had to have our blocks made in the wood shop for the team!
Cutouts on the side were to carry them but, we used them for "grab" start holds!
Hey guys!
Great discussion... interested to hear what you have to say about back starts... wedged vs. flat wall vs. toes on gutter vs the old stand-up.
(I do realize the toes and stand-up are again against the rules, but, hey.. just for fun!)
One thing to ensure you practice is being able to work off either touching arm. I don’t always swim IM, but when I do it is the 100, and I always try the reverse bk2br flip. It is faster for me.
Absolutely right about practicing with either arm because for racing it is different than at practice. I also try to do a few during warmups, hopefully in the lane of my heat because the wall won’t be in view until the touch. The flags differ between SCM and SCY too.
What can I do to improve my start? My coach tells me I don't jump.
1) If you’re not already using strength training, this should help.
2) Potentially better is plyometric training, e.g. vertical drops: Stand on a platform about a foot off the floor and hop off, but instead of just landing, you bounce up with a vertical leap. Do with caution and start off easy, at our age it can be a way to get injured, and that would make your start even worse.
3) Flexibility, yoga, and balancing exercises
4) Practice starts under video. Use high frame rate.
All this stuff can help, they are also a good addition to swimming by improving balance and bone/joint health (if done in moderation and care)
What can I do to improve my start? My coach tells me I don't jump and I fall in the water like a sack of potatoes. But I do feel like I'm jumping, I just can't jump high. This sounds like a strange question.
What can I do to improve my start? My coach tells me I don't jump and I fall in the water like a sack of potatoes. But I do feel like I'm jumping, I just can't jump high. This sounds like a strange question.
You shouldn't be trying to "jump high" on a start. You should be trying to drive forward.
For back - *** transition, anyone use the “suicide” turn: Basically a flip turn from back to belly, no rotation?
I've tried this in the past, and every once in a while I give it a shot. You really need a good push off the touching arm and be able to keep a tight upper body tuck until your head gets around. When it works, it's great!
One thing to ensure you practice is being able to work off either touching arm.
As I have gotten older, I appreciate the extra air on the open turn going into the breastroke pullout.
For back - *** transition, anyone use the “suicide” turn: Basically a flip turn from back to belly, no rotation?
I did the suicide turn as a kid, then switched to an open turn, then switched to the crossover turn right before I went off to college. As a Masters swimmer, I've tried the suicide turn a few times in practice, but I don't have the coordination that comes from repetition to pull it off well. One of my teammates does it from time to time in his 100 IM and disastrously did it once in his 200 IM.
I much prefer the crossover turn for the 100/200 IM, though I default to the open turn if it's the 400 IM.
It's much more natural feeling for me to do the crossover turn if I touch the wall with my right arm--I can do it if I touch with my left arm, but it's pretty darn awkward and I haven't mastered consistently coming straight off the wall if I touch with my left arm. I'm at the point where I can almost always adjust my stroke count if needed so that I can do the crossover turn successfully with a right hand touch for a 100 or 200 IM. Thinking back on the handful of 100/200 IMs I've swum over the last year, I only had one 200 IM where I did an open turn, and that's because I just had a brain fart and completely screwed up my stroke count.
Hey guys!
Great discussion... interested to hear what you have to say about back starts... wedged vs. flat wall vs. toes on gutter vs the old stand-up.
(I do realize the toes and stand-up are again against the rules, but, hey.. just for fun!)
I was taught the standup start as a little kid, but by the time I figured out how to actually do 'em, they became illegal.
I never learned how to do a good (ok, to be honest, a "not-terrible") backstroke start from the block handle as an age grouper, so up until the last year or so, I only ever did backstroke starts using the gutter. It's been a pretty steep learning curve, since I have to change the foot placement, butt position, and upper body position that's become muscle memory from 20+ years of repetition to get a start that's not a total backflop, but I can more often than not get an ok start from the block handle now as long as the touch pad isn't a really slippery one.
I am really not a fan of the Colorado Timing Systems backstroke wedge, mostly from several frustrating user experiences with it at meets (and partially from a philosophical standpoint regarding its price), but the one I've used with the fixed non-retractable cord was ok.
