In my own experience, in both free and back (especially backstroke), if my initial 1-2 strokes went wrong (e.g. too slow, or paused, or lost rhythm), then it ruins the whole lap. It seems the inertia from the start determines if the rest of the lap will be successful or not. Can you fully recover from a start that went wrong and still finish a good lap?
Former Member
Can you fully recover from a start that went wrong and still finish a good lap?
How can it be possible to FULLY recover from a bad start? If a start loses 1/2 second it would require swimming 1/2 second faster than normal to erase the deficit. If that were possible then you weren't swimming at best effort with a good start.
My point is that this is a silly question.
But that doesn't mean the race is a total loss. Depending on the distance of the event the start is a small portion of the total elapsed time and may not matter much.
In my view 1/2 second (or any other amount of time) can be lost anywhere in a race. Start, turns, finish, and between the walls. So no matter how bad the start a swimmer shouldn't give up and finish out the race the best they can.
I am not talking about a race, just daily practice to swim well. When I say recover, I don't mean to be able to get the speed as if you started well. I simply mean to recover the good form and rhythm. :)
Not only do I think you can recover but you can also take advantage of it. Face it...less than perfect starts/turns are VERY common, but how you react is the key. If you "panic" you'll waste the surge of adreniline that comes after the screw up and "over spin" and lose not only tempo but that energy boost. Stay calm/focused as best you can and rather than flail trying to recover take 1-3 strokes to build tempo back up.
Also, practice back start/trun recovery's in work-out....sound silly but it helps.
As the length of the race increases, the relevance of the start decreases. :oldman: Memories of a 1650 championship final where the starter held us for a good 10 seconds before hitting the buzzer. As if anyone would jump a 1650... :shakeshead:
Maybe they were trying to give people a last chance to get out of swimming a mile.
As the length of the race increases, the relevance of the start decreases. :oldman: Memories of a 1650 championship final where the starter held us for a good 10 seconds before hitting the buzzer. As if anyone would jump a 1650... :shakeshead:
Did many a bad start trying to get the "key hole" start perfected for breaststroke. Goggles flooded, goggles down, close encounters with shallow bottom. You just have to roll with it, focus on the next turn , the next pull out, the timing, the split.
Since my aerodynamics have changed considerably, I can expect to be reminding myself of the above advice on a regular basis.
Not only do I think you can recover but you can also take advantage of it. Face it...less than perfect starts/turns are VERY common, but how you react is the key. If you "panic" you'll waste the surge of adreniline that comes after the screw up and "over spin" and lose not only tempo but that energy boost. Stay calm/focused as best you can and rather than flail trying to recover take 1-3 strokes to build tempo back up.
Also, practice back start/trun recovery's in work-out....sound silly but it helps.
'overspin', or trying too hard, can be an issue after a bad start. I like the analogy of a car accelerating. If you just floor it, you spin the tires and have poor acceleration, traction, and control. What you want to do is accelerate smoothly with class, style, and a maximum of controlled power. :)
I am not talking about a race, just daily practice to swim well. When I say recover, I don't mean to be able to get the speed as if you started well. I simply mean to recover the good form and rhythm. :)
In order to recover -- both in workout and in a race -- good technique is key. Staying streamlined and focusing on glide are two ways to make this happen.
Like Paul said, work on push-offs and turns specifically in work-out. For novice swimmers, the shorter the distance, the greater the ability to focus. So if you're going to do a set in which you focus on push-offs and turns, 6x50 goes further than a straight 300, where the mind can wander and you can lose your focus.
I also recommend stroke drills that target glide such as catch-up drill.
If you tell yourself that a mistake will ruin that race, then it will.
Take advantage of this fact to correct it next time or adjust the stroke in that lap to improve !
