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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OK, maybe I have better balance than most. I set myself up so it only takes a little finger push to set me off balance. I feel that a start like you described puts my weight too far back and tles my hands up. I have yet to false start (knock on wood), but the hardest part of a start for me is standing back up. I really have only my own experience and physiology to go by. Differences in how to do any one type make generalizations about a style of start hard to make. Of course, a bad 'grab' start is worse than a good 'track' start.
Otherwise, I can't agree more how (the most) critical the entry is, and that it can be done well with any type of start.
We're discussing the best type of start, not the most comfortable type of start. We can go on and on discussing the correct form of freestyle, and it is never the most comfortable style to the beginning swimmer. The start is so simple that simple physics and physiology can tell us how to do one. I do not think that it is so individual. Especially at the college level and better, where you have good athletes training for a significant portion of their day. That may or may not make my points relevent to any readers of this thread.
OK, maybe I have better balance than most. I set myself up so it only takes a little finger push to set me off balance. I feel that a start like you described puts my weight too far back and tles my hands up. I have yet to false start (knock on wood), but the hardest part of a start for me is standing back up. I really have only my own experience and physiology to go by. Differences in how to do any one type make generalizations about a style of start hard to make. Of course, a bad 'grab' start is worse than a good 'track' start.
Otherwise, I can't agree more how (the most) critical the entry is, and that it can be done well with any type of start.
We're discussing the best type of start, not the most comfortable type of start. We can go on and on discussing the correct form of freestyle, and it is never the most comfortable style to the beginning swimmer. The start is so simple that simple physics and physiology can tell us how to do one. I do not think that it is so individual. Especially at the college level and better, where you have good athletes training for a significant portion of their day. That may or may not make my points relevent to any readers of this thread.
