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Starts - Clean Up the Feet

Posted by Glenn Mills on Feb 10, 2009 05:24AM (10,040 views)

Most of the time when we work on starts, we focus on the take-off. Here's a short focal point that starts with the end... the feet.

Why Do It:
While how we leave the blocks is very important, minimizing the resistance we create with our entire body upon entry is equally important. Making sure we don't create turbulence with the legs and feet means we'll have a cleaner entry.

How to Do It:
1.  Practice your starts as usual, only now...
2.  Focus all your attention on keeping your legs tight and straight as they follow your body into the water.
3.  Point your toes and, in the case of our swimmer, overlap them to create an even tighter line.

How to Do It Really Well (the Fine Points):
Practice this until you feel comfortable with your legs staying straight. You may have to adjust where you enter the water, so it's just a bit closer to the blocks than you think. By moving your entry point in just a bit, you'll have less time to allow your legs to flop around.

age-group, Starts

Responses

GW	Responded Feb 10, 2009 03:46PM A tight entry is all important on any start and I find with younger swimmers that doing a track start unbalances them leaving the legs wide apart and an untidy entry. Conversely, a grab start with the legs pushing more evenly allows them to get their legs together and point the toes to achieve the clean entry. We coach all our junior swimmers to do a grab start to begin with. As they get older and gain more core stability and control of their limbs then the track start can come into play because it then becomes a question of which they are more comfortable with, and they don't get their legs 'flopping' around. This swimmer actually seems to twist her body to her left on entry as a result (in my belief) of her track start pushing her that way. I would also like to see her with the weight further forward when she is set on the blocks rather than over her back leg.
Tomás	Responded Feb 10, 2009 07:45PM Really interesting point.
Dustin Myers	Responded Feb 11, 2009 09:38PM I use to have the problem of my feet being flexed when I entered the water.
fabrizio	Responded Feb 12, 2009 03:40PM I got used to start doing a grab start, so that this make me point my toes very easily. By contrast, when I try a track start I unbalance my body on the left side and leave my legs apart.
Bob Hopkins	Responded Feb 21, 2009 04:09PM Why would you want to enter the water sooner. Water is 850 times more resistant than air, so, you will go much faster in air than in water. I think you should maximize the distance in air and minimize the distance in water for best results.
Glenn Mills	Responded Feb 23, 2009 03:26PM Great point Bob... this is exactly the way we've been thinking for a LONG time... myself included. We have to change the way we think, as taught to us by some of the coaches that instruct the fastest sprinters in the world. While we tend to think, no friction in air... we also have to realize, while we're in the air, we're helpless to gravity... nothing to help us propel. The top sprinters in the world, and the guys now going under :19 seconds in the 50 free are ALL diving DIRECTLY into the water. They need to get to something to push on as FAST AS POSSIBLE. With that said, there is a correct spot to enter into, and finding that spot is one of the points of this drill. It's something I've been working on for about a year now (personally). The other day, my :56 breaststroker and I were doing some starts... and he said to me... "MAN... I bet your starts are faster today than when you swam." It still feels strange... but I DO feel the speed and power that I'm getting... and very quickly.
adrian	Responded Feb 23, 2009 09:55PM yes starting from the blocks is really critical , I think the very fast thing to get us movy is to use gravity, if we use gravity that starts movement , when you are on the blocks you are 1 meter above where you want to go, its not like long jump when you lift your center gravity forward .On the starts blocks you drop the center gravity little bit. I think Mr.Eamon Sullivan shows really nice starts from the blocks.
EricT	Responded Feb 24, 2009 03:33PM It makes sense that there would be a 'sweet spot' or optimal distance to enter from the start. I've seen a lot of funky starts, even at the college level. It seems that a lot of people try a variety of complicated techniques when really the best starts are simple and controlled. The same goes for the hurdle in diving--less is more--with no unnecessary movements.
AlanF	Responded Mar 12, 2009 04:02AM It is easier and faster to glide streamlined underwater than to swim breaststroke on top. But the key is to know when how long to stay underwater on the glide and when to surface. I have a 12 year old girl who is an OK breaststroke swimmer but has incredible pullouts. She can go 15 yrds+ on a start and almost 1/2 on a turn. Now while she is streamlining underwater, the others are churning it out on top using energy. She pops up equal to or ahead of the others without a stroke. We should remember the " Lunk " and his pullouts. Why swim when you can streamline and glide?