Since getting back into masters swimming after a long (12 year) hiatus I've been playing around with the track start which came into vogue after my first "retirement". I'm still torn between the two and have been trying to find what fits me best.
The last month or so I've had a chance to watch ASU, UA, Auburn and UNLV swim meets and what's interesting is that I only saw one or two swimmers using a traditonal "grab" start. I know a few of these coaches and they all said the same thing, it's hands down the fastest start of the two.
Recently a new group has introduced a program caller "PowerStarts" (www.quickgetaway.com) which advocates the complete opposite philosophy. By the way, I'm NOT endorsing this TI type program but do find it interesting!!!
I've had a chance to discuss some of this with Wayne and have basically come to the conclusion that a traditonal grab (power start style) start still works best for my body type (and lack of fast twitch ability!). I do however need to commit the workout time to run a series of 15 M sprints and see what really works.
Anyone else have any thoughts on this?
Parents
Former Member
Paul,
I was going to post a similar post. I recently got into competing and I only learned the track start. The one meet I participated in in the U.S. had about a 50/50 mix on track vs. traditional. I competed last month in Melbourne, Australia and I would say 90 to 95% of the swimmers did the traditional start. This included most of the top elite swimmers, including some current and former Olympic swimmers. It got me wondering because I never tried the traditional start. I practiced the traditional start while I was in Melbourne and it felt much stronger to me than the track start. I haven't used it in competition or practiced enough to give a final opinion, but I'm thinking for me the traditional start will work much better. I am interested to see what others think.
Dan
Paul,
I was going to post a similar post. I recently got into competing and I only learned the track start. The one meet I participated in in the U.S. had about a 50/50 mix on track vs. traditional. I competed last month in Melbourne, Australia and I would say 90 to 95% of the swimmers did the traditional start. This included most of the top elite swimmers, including some current and former Olympic swimmers. It got me wondering because I never tried the traditional start. I practiced the traditional start while I was in Melbourne and it felt much stronger to me than the track start. I haven't used it in competition or practiced enough to give a final opinion, but I'm thinking for me the traditional start will work much better. I am interested to see what others think.
Dan
