hands on gutter in backstroke start?

I see some age groupers getting real good results grabbing the gutter and placing feet a bit lower. They come right out and get clean entries just like the bar grabbers. Is this just a developmental thing, or can Masters benefit? I think the added buoyancy by staying low in the water at the start creates a stronger pushoff and slingshot?
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  • I would also believe that most masters, with a few exceptions, aren't going to benefit from going as deep as lochte or piersol since we don't have the kicking power that they do. Yeah, I was actually going to mention something like this in my last post. I do think the optimum depth varies from swimmer to swimmer. You certainly don't want to be so deep that you feel like you're expending a lot of effort just to surface rather than to propel you down the pool. Ideally you'll pop to the surface when your underwater kicking speed matches your surface swimming speed, or at 15 meters, whichever comes first!
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  • I would also believe that most masters, with a few exceptions, aren't going to benefit from going as deep as lochte or piersol since we don't have the kicking power that they do. Yeah, I was actually going to mention something like this in my last post. I do think the optimum depth varies from swimmer to swimmer. You certainly don't want to be so deep that you feel like you're expending a lot of effort just to surface rather than to propel you down the pool. Ideally you'll pop to the surface when your underwater kicking speed matches your surface swimming speed, or at 15 meters, whichever comes first!
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