By Olivier Poirier-Leroy on SwimSwam
One of the coolest parts of sprint swimming events is the start.
Especially when elite sprinters get after it.
The way the block nearly rattles out of the bulkhead. The extended flight and clean entry. And then waiting to see who emerges first and in what place.
But for the enterprising sprinter looking to go faster on race day, it’s worth asking—how many starts are you actually doing in training?
Why the Start is so Crucial for Sprinters
For the 50 swimmer, the start is 30% of the race and it’s also where you are moving fastest.
When you hit the water, you’re going around 5m/s. At the surface, even the fastest sprinter on the planet only tops out at around 2.2m/s.
That makes working the start a massive opportunity to slice time.
And when you do:
More speed carried into surface swimming A quicker-to-15m time Clean water when you surfaceIn elite European sprinters, time-to-15m explained ~82-86% of final race time (Morais et al., 2021).
Yet starts are often treated like an afterthought. Or swimmers focus exclusively on reaction time at the expense of everything else that goes into a crispy start.
Make Starts a Priority
Starts are usually treated as a fun “drill” to work on from time to time at practice.
Typically, this is when you are tired at the end of practice and you’ve got a few minutes to get a handful of starts under your belt. Or during a flurry of start-related activity in the days and weeks before competition. Or you are doing lots of starts but without much consideration to what is being focused on.
Starts should be worked consistently and intentionally:
Do them while you are fresh. Starts are a power-based skill. Sprinkle in more quality reps when you aren’t trashed after a huge workout and place them early in the session when you are fresh.
Test different foot positions. Try out different stances on the blocks to see which one actually drives more speed. A small study with swimmers (Matus et al., 2019) had them test different block set ups—for one swimmer, the usual block set up was not their fastest. Test them out, time yourself to 15m.
Work one piece at a time. Be intentional about what you are working on with your start. There’s a lot of moving pieces in a fast start. Improving it piece by piece reduces that sense of feeling overwhelmed or not knowing what to work on today.
Build the horsepower on land. On the blocks, swimmers refine position, technique. In the gym, build a foundation of lower body strength and power. Max force squats to build a foundation of strength. Layer on power via broad jumps to produce that force rapidly.
Put in the Start Reps
But ultimately, there’s no substitute for good old-fashioned reps.
Bill Pilczuk is my favorite example of this.
He upset the greatest sprint freestyler in the history of our sport—Alexander Popov—to win the 50 free at the 1998 World Championships, using an explosive start that gave him an early lead he didn’t give up.
Recalling how he and his teammates at Auburn would make starts part of their daily training:
“Some days, when the 15m pool was open, they’d have to tell us to leave because we wanted to break the record of the pool in every stroke. Maybe 50 starts on those days. We would do at least 10 runners and 20 starts a day throughout a workout. Dean [Hutchinson–team captain at Auburn] and I would stay after and get about 10 on our own every single practice. We had to duct tape our back toes because the grip tape tore the skin off.”
That’s a lot of reps!
And kind of the point.
Great starts aren’t built by accident. They require practice. Just like anything else in the water.
Build the raw materials, finetune block position and start technique, and learn what works best for you via repetition and testing.
ABOUT OLIVIER POIRIER-LEROY
Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer, 2x Olympic Trials qualifier, and author of several books for swimmers, including YourSwimBook, Conquer the Pool, The Dolphin Kick Manual, and most recently, The 50 Freestyle Blueprint.
The book is a beastly 220+ pages of evidence-based insights and practical tips for improving freestyle sprint speed.
It details everything from how to master stroke rate, technique, build a thundering freestyle kick, improve your start and underwaters, and much more.
The 50 Freestyle Blueprint also includes 20 sprint sets to get you started and a bonus guide on how to master the 100 freestyle to complete your sprint preparation.
Learn more about The 50 Freestyle Blueprint here.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Why Sprinters Need to Train Starts More
Hence then, the article about why sprinters need to train starts more was published today ( ) and is available on swimswam ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Why Sprinters Need to Train Starts More )
Also on site :