Track start vs. Traditional start?

The track start is also quite appropriate for anyone who has any equilibrium/balance challenges.

There are benefits to both starts. A lot does depend on body type and balance. If you have poor balance and are concerned with "rolling" while waiting for the gun, the track start is very stable. I too, think it lends itself to a flatter dive, but this can be tweaked with some practice. I started using the track start in college (1985) for sprinting (50-100s). The key with it was/is when you come down for the start, you shouldn't grab the block and coil your body backwards. If you do you have that much further to go to catch up to swimmers lined up directly over the end of the blocks. The theory was (with video support), if you line your head up with the front of the block (being able to view the wall below you) and use your hands and arms to create momentum at the gun or beep, you can get a quick start. Whether or not it is indeed faster than a traditional start, I can't say. Of course all of this is dependent on whether or not you have fast or slow twitch fibers, etc. I always taught my high school swimmers that by using the track start they were more stable up there and could wait out any delay in the start. Swimmers at that age (especially JV) who swim only seasonally, aren't really comfortable up there, and I tried to take that "anxiety" out of it for them. I use it exclusively, however and can look a bit silly using it on 500s and above! Habit, I guess. Paul, you are fast enough where it may not matter what you use; we are usually left behind by the 50 or so with you! Now relay takeoffs are another thread entirely...

Great minds think alike! I had recently begun to question the wisdom of using the track start, and now you've started this topic, Paul. Thanks! I had e-mailed Bill Tingley to ask his opinion (because my own coach is in Cancun right now getting ready to compete in the World Triathlon Championships--rough life, Susan!), and he told me I was probably right to be rethinking my track start. My big concern is that on days when my back is bothering me (which is more often than not), I have a hard time getting down quickly and remaining stationary. I don't know if the grab start will be any better for me in terms of pain and steadiness, but if I can get more distance off my start, that would be a good thing. I've been using the track start for a few years now, because (surprise, surprise) it was recommended by the University of Kentucky coaching staff at a clinic they did for us. You're right, Paul. All the UK swimmers do the track start. I officiate their meets, and have never seen any of them (or any of their opponents) use anything except a track start. I've been told I actually have a pretty good start. Fast reaction time for a middle-aged, out-of-shape woman who hardly ever trains hard! But I am starting to worry about getting DQ'd for a false start if I can't stay steady on the blocks. I have never been DQ'd for any reason in all my years of competition (going back to age-group swimming) and don't want to start now! (This doesn't mean I haven't deserved to be DQ'd in some instances, just that I've never been caught!) I'm going to try to get Bill to watch me do both starts during warmups at the Kentucky Classic meet tomorrow, and go with whichever start he thinks I'm better off with. And then we'll see what my times look like! Meg

Don't put yourself down Meg, you swam the 100 meter breastroke last summer better than me. Anyway, I have the real old start that most swimmers abandon in the early 1970's, hands in back. When they switch to the grab, the coaches I had didn't properly teach me to do it as a school swimmer or age grouper, so I kept it the older start. Anyway, I notice that the more slower swimmers didn't have a better start with me whether they did grab or track. Also, another person swimming on their own did the older start. If grab is easier on your body, do it.

Not that my 10 cts. is worth anything on this post....but for many of the old banged up coggers like me with fake hips....the track start is the only start I/we can use. Thank goodness for the track start. Without it, I would be in the pool when everyone else was making thier first flip turn. Mr. Starter...can I begin when they get back here????

Hey Tom, Of course your opinion is worth as much as anyone else's..... A lot of us are getting creaky to one degree or another. I like the stability of the track start, althought once I pushed off real hard with my back foot on a VERY rough corrugated block and pealed a layer of skin off my big toe:(

Phil: I think you hit the nail on the head, so to speak. I'm no expert (trying to learn and become one) and too am waiting for Mr. McCauley's response, but I would say focusing on water entry, entry depth, and underwater speed is more important than the 0.70 to 0.75 seconds spent leaving the blocks. -RM

I think body type & comfort are the most important factors in deciding which start is best for you.I have no doubt the grab start is best for short breaststrokers (like me,especially if it's what you have been using for 32 years.) I suspect so many college swimmers use the track start because thats what they were taught as age groupers.They were taught because it's easier to teach.

Time to get into this discussion. I don't consider just the start style. I break it down into the start, the dive, the underwater, and the breakout. As a background when I came into Masters swimming I did the track start, had tremendous height off the blocks and very quick reaction time. Of note I was 40 pounds lighter and did weight workout every day. But I went through one hole in the water about 50% of the time. That was not good enough. A turning point for me was when I became librarian for SPMA; we soon had close to 40 videotapes on swimming. I looked at every single tape many times, and learned much about starts. I also met Steve Lundquist about 1988. Steve had the best start in history of the Olympics, beating the rest of the 100 breaststrokers in the 1984 Olympics by one half to one body length off the start/dive. I learned two things from him. First: Try starting with your eyes closed! The start light isn't for the swimmers; it's for the timers! You can't see it anyway so why not close your eyes and react faster to the sound of the starting beeper! Armin Harry won the Olympic 100 meter dash and Steve Lundquist won the 100-meter *** using this technique. Second: The grab start leads to a much higher percentage of perfect splash less entries. It is far more important to go into the water through one hole than it is to be first off the blocks. Once the start begins and you are hurtling through space, the dive begins. You can gain .3 to 0.6 seconds on the start, but you can gain or lose .5 to 1.0 seconds on the dive. Therefore the dive is much more important than the actual start technique. During the match races (Clairol Challenge) with Mark Spitz and Mat Biondi, Spitz actually won the start. Unfortunately Spitz did a flat dive, while Biondi did a perfect single hole entry dive. After the first stroke Biondi was over 1/2 body length ahead and the race was already won. Bert Bergen uses the track start, but he enters the water cleanly every time. He has done thousands of starts in his lifetime, so he has perfected what he knows best. Now does that make it the absolute best, no? Does the 2000 Olympic 50 meter champs Anthony Ervin and Gary Hall Jr. doing the track start make it the best and fastest, no. Emphatically no. Reviewing Olympic results, only three of the 50 sprinters used the track start, and they were behind at the 15-meter mark to the rest of the world’s sprinters by .15 to .3 seconds. That is far too much to give up. Meg suggested the track start because; the University of Kentucky coaching staff recommended it. Wow there is an endorsement. It may just be the only style they know how to teach. The rest of the world does not care about masters and how stable their kids are at the start. They can make millions by being a world record holder. The rest of the world now routinely bests us in world cup races, because their starts and turns are better than ours are. Rain Man makes some good points. Interestingly I reviewed every single USA male swimmer in the 1996 Olympics and every single one did the grab start, except for one in the 1500. Now to my opinion. I feel the grab start and the single hole entry is the best start for men and women, no matter what body style, or fast twitch or slow twitch. This is simple (not so simple) physics, Air has little resistance, (form resistance) body square area is basically squared with increase in speed. Wave friction (at the surface is cubed) while underwater resistance is squared. There is no way a person can apply as much power to one leg as they can both legs. I have been following Power Starts since late 1999. I finally got to meet them at this years ASCA convention in Las Vegas. It is time we use science to determine the winner, not what feels more secure. They are using ideas borrowed from track and field events. Many of their ideas are very different from the way I have taught starts. Like looking up instead of down. This keeps your head looking where your body will go and keeps the back straight. This allows for better transfer of power. I have only had one of their clinics in October, with a second scheduled for November 16th. As a coach I know it takes a minimum of eight times before your new skill is retained. But I saw young kids go two to three feet farther out and carry a great deal of speed. I have to unlearn much, but I feel the potential is far greater using the Power Start style of grab start, over the track start. This is just a beginning. More to come. Wayne McCauley ASCA Level 5 Masters

Wow, Steve Lundquist the movie star was also in the olympics! clicky clicky