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?
I remember that at an age group coaching clinic I went to, Russell Mark from USA Swimming mentioned that they were recommending starts like this to reduce the amount of up and down the swimmer goes through. Basically they were saying that if you can go straight out and still enter the water cleanly through a single hole it would be faster. He mentioned that they measured improvements on the National team swimmers by changing the swimmers who tended to go upwards slightly. I believe that the thinking is that since the goal is to get to the other end of the pool as fast as possible, reducing up and down motions will get you there faster. Basically the further down you go, the further up you must go.
I remember that at an age group coaching clinic I went to, Russell Mark from USA Swimming mentioned that they were recommending starts like this to reduce the amount of up and down the swimmer goes through. Basically they were saying that if you can go straight out and still enter the water cleanly through a single hole it would be faster. He mentioned that they measured improvements on the National team swimmers by changing the swimmers who tended to go upwards slightly. I believe that the thinking is that since the goal is to get to the other end of the pool as fast as possible, reducing up and down motions will get you there faster. Basically the further down you go, the further up you must go.
