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?
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Former Member
I spoke to one of the Harvard coaches (Div 1 currently ranked in Top 20) about starts and he said about 80% of his swimmers use the track start. The "prevailing wisdom" is that the track start gives you faster reaction time but he emphasized that for swimmers with really good breakouts they might find the grab start more effective. They encourage their swimmers to use the start that gives them the greatest advantage.
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Former Member
I spoke to one of the Harvard coaches (Div 1 currently ranked in Top 20) about starts and he said about 80% of his swimmers use the track start. The "prevailing wisdom" is that the track start gives you faster reaction time but he emphasized that for swimmers with really good breakouts they might find the grab start more effective. They encourage their swimmers to use the start that gives them the greatest advantage.
