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.
Looking at the Olympics most swimmers seemed to be going relatively straight out instead of slightly up to maximize flight time.What is the rationale for this.Slightly up is going to give you more flight time,have you enter the water faster,and make it easier to enter the water through one hole.What am I missing,or are most of the world's coaches wrong (or am I just fooled by the NBC camera work.)
Either I am missing something or too many coaches don't know physics. Personally I rather have coaches that know more about swimming than physics. But, at least for me the physics of the flatter start make sense.
The optimum angle for maximum distance for a projectile with a fixed velocity is about 32 degrees from horizontal. Prior to the introduction of the fin on the block, the velocity of the swimmer off the block was maximized at an angle much greater than 32 degrees. So depending on the angle and surface of the blocks and the swimmer they needed to launch at a greater angle to optimize velocity and distance. The fin allows the swimmer to lower the angle and keep the velocity.
For example, using an old school block with a 10 degree slant, the swimmer would achieve maximum velocity by launching perpendicular from the block. This 80 degree leap while maximizing velocity and time aloft severely limits distance traveled.
It looks like the Olympic swimmers are launching at greater than 32 degrees, but less than they used to before the fin.
Because the human body is not a solid projectile, the actual physics of how all the moving parts fit together is way beyond me, which is why I trust the trial and error method of what gets the swimmer to the 10 meter mark the fastest seems like a good solution.
Here's a link to an article from Russell Mark of USA-Swimming about track starts:
www.usaswimming.org/ViewMiscArticle.aspx
If you get the chance to use starting blocks with side handles, use them!
Here are the take-aways I wrote down from one of his recent clinics:
* Forward or center-weighted -- do not lean back at the start
* High hips by pushing slightly up with trailing leg on "set" position
* Shin should be near horizontal to the waterline when toes leave the front of the starting block
* To maximize velocity into the water, try to achieve the cleanest, straightest body line
He also mentioned that many elite swimmers are positioning the fin closer to the front of the block and then placing their foot at the top of the fin with their heels in the air:
Here's the NBC coverage for the day seven of the Olympics with the 100 fly finals (at the 36-minute mark) and 50 free (at 1:08:00).
www.nbcolympics.com/.../swimming-day-7-finals.html
I just borrowed this link from a fellow member's (thanks aguins) signature. Hope you don't mind me posting it here but it presents a good perspective on various start methods and their differences.
50m free 23.90 winner Paul Wilkins - YouTube
I prefer to do the track start especially if the block is a new type with the sloped back - that makes this kind of block better for the track start. But some pools still have old starting blocks which also have slippery surface. I almost got injury once when I tried to do a track start from such platform when my foot slipped off the block during push. Since that time I do only grab start if the pool has old blocks and I feel the surface is slippery.
