Best Rule Change Ever

The one-handed touch/turn in breaststroke...oh wait...it's coming soon. It started with uneven shoulders being legal and, well, there's just no good reason for a two-handed touch. :p Or we could go Kristina's idea and do flip turns on BR, too. Talk about a lung-buster: 200 yard *** with seven flip turns and pullouts:drown:

Allen - Considering that I was DQ'd for that (head under) more than once "way back when", I might actually have to agree with that... along with "shoulders level at the turn".

There have been many best rule changes. Regarding breaststroke allowing swimmers to swim underwater all the way helped breaststrokers that came along after that change. I also believe the change helped swimmers who swim all strokes learn more about streamlining. Of course all the changes that happen have improved swimming. One of the greatest changes although may be not a rule change the wave buster lane ropes.

What's a rollover turn on the 100 IM? I just looked in the rule book and it doesn't have an exception for the 100 IM, the back-to-*** turn in the IM has to start with touching the wall while on your back. The beer relay sounds fun. How often do they have this at meets? www.youtube.com/watch

Rules...we don't need no stinkin' rules:mooning: Just don't watch my BR turns too closely. I sometimes have a phantom two handed touch. Kind of like a phantom tag of the bag at second base in baseball...Close enough:bolt: I'm all for a speedy quick rule change on the 2 handed BR and fly turns and finishes. I advocated this in the "You are the Rules Dictator" thread. But I'm not so sure it's happening real soon. Change is always at a snail's pace. Skip must be talking about non-masters ...

On the worst rule ever thread someone said the no false start rule. I think that may be the best rule ever.First I hated it when there was a false start.I get very focused for the race and the instant of the start and then to have to climb out dry off and get focused again was a distraction. Second,I can just focus on swimming after the start instead of looking to make sure everyone is still swimming. In breaststroke many times if there was a false start I'd be underwater for the recall signal and sometimes the recall rope was not dropped.Third it speeds up the meet.Forth,It lessens cheating. With the old rule there was frequently someone who would try to jump just before the beep to get an unfair advantage.

On the worst rule ever thread someone said the no false start rule. I think that may be the best rule ever.First I hated it when there was a false start.I get very focused for the race and the instant of the start and then to have to climb out dry off and get focused again was a distraction. Second,I can just focus on swimming after the start instead of looking to make sure everyone is still swimming. In breaststroke many times if there was a false start I'd be underwater for the recall signal and sometimes the recall rope was not dropped.Third it speeds up the meet.Forth,It lessens cheating. With the old rule there was frequently someone who would try to jump just before the beep to get an unfair advantage. Allen, Read my comments on that thread.

What's a rollover turn on the 100 IM? I just looked in the rule book and it doesn't have an exception for the 100 IM, the back-to-*** turn in the IM has to start with touching the wall while on your back. You still have to touch the wall with your hand while on your back. But instead of doing an open turn, you can substitute the roll over turn. The quickest way to do it, and one I just learned thanks to Jeff Commings urging, is to do a lunging backstroke finish and flip directly backwards in a back somersault type motion. Your feet hit the wall and you push off and go right into the breaststroke pull out. You need only make certain that you are not "past vertical toward the ***" on the backstroke finish part. You also have to have some lung capacity for this turn. I think George provided some links to this turn on another recent thread where we were discussing it, but they all showed the rollover spin turn which is another variant. Not that many masters seem to do it, and I haven't tried it in a meet yet, but it's fun and speedy. That's why I like the idea of one handed turns too. More speed. I'm not sure about flip turns on fly, (S)he-Man. I need that breath at the turn to maximize SDKs.

Aren't most rules changes made to make judging events less subjective? I attended the mandatory parent/player meeting for my son's high school hockey team the other day. One of the presenters was a long-time hockey ref. I certainly got the impression that most/all rules changes in hockey are to reduce the subjectivity of calls (make it easier for the ref to make the right call in a fast-paced environment). That said, the Kitajima rule seems to fit in that category. Some amount of dolphin kick is natural during the pull. Allowing it means there's no gray area. I'm not so sure about the backstroke flip turn. That seems like it would be harder for the judge to call (there are more elements to a correct flip turn) than the previous rule (touch on your back, leave on your back). Comments? Skip Montanaro

I'm not so sure about the backstroke flip turn. That seems like it would be harder for the judge to call (there are more elements to a correct flip turn) than the previous rule (touch on your back, leave on your back). Comments? Skip Montanaro There are always questions about judging the backstroke turn. At the meets I officiate, it seems that a large part of the officials' meeting is spent discussing this turn and how to be consistant in judging it. It is especially difficult with the new swimmwers who are still learning it and the older, more experienced swimmers who are pushing the envelope on every turn.