Why is there such a disparity on how much Americans focus on their starts versus those of international swimmers? Column by Kevin Swander
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana, September 9. THIS week, Swimming World introduces another new intern for the year. Kevin Swander joins Kristen Heiss as U.S. Olympic Trials finalists who will be providing commentary for our web site as part of our internship program this year. Swander finaled in the 100 breast at U.S. Trials and is a master's degree candidate at Indiana University.
Here is his first column:
There is something that I have noticed when I watch international swim meets; Americans tend to be the fastest swimmers off the blocks. While there are some exceptions, in my experience at these events, Americans have the fastest reaction times, underwater kick outs and best break outs.
This experience led me to thinking, why is there such a disparity on how much Americans focus on their starts versus those of international swimmers?
I carried this curiosity over into one of my classes this past year. Our entire class was based around a semester of research and analysis of a sport that interests us…needless to say I chose the swim start.
Now, in my research, I discovered that up through the 80s everyone in the world was using either a two-footed start, or "the leaner." The leaner is a two-footed start in which the athlete leans forward on the block while holding onto the handles (and yes, I finally figured out why there were handles on top of the block).
By leaning forward, it was discovered that the amount of time an athlete spends in the air is greatly reduced. This is why coaches used to preach about getting off the blocks and into the water as fast as possible. It wasn't until the mid 90s when research from Australia surfaced and people began to experiment with the track start.
In the 90s, a lot of research was done on starts and which technique resulted in the fastest swims.
Here's a brief synopsis of what was discovered:
* The two-footed start resulted in slower reaction time when leaving the block, but because the athlete could set up their entry angle better, it led to a faster 15m time.
* "The leaner" was found to have the fastest time both in leaving the block and from the blocks to the water, but the slowest to the 15m mark.
* The track start resulted in the fastest reaction time off the blocks, and came in a very close second to the 15m mark. (This data is inconclusive now because the athletes in the studies had been doing the track start for a week before they were tested. The athletes doing the two-footed start had been doing it all of their lives).
Many athletes chose to do the track start now, and in my opinion, they've made the right choice.
After reviewing the research, I began a quest to try to identify the "perfect" start based off biomechanical analysis of hundreds of athletes. This research included both track and swimming since it is a very similar movement.
Here are the main characteristics of the "perfect" start:
Hands:
The athlete's hands should grip the front of the block with all fingers. The thumbs in particular should NOT be placed on top of the block but rather wrapped around the front edge. This is done because it actually increases the surface area of the hand, and allows the swimmer to rip the block more powerfully.
Arms:
Arms should remain completely straight and tensed. Not flexed, but tensed and ready to react as soon as the horn sounds. The elbows should ideally be facing backwards, and the athlete should pull down on the block with these straight arms.
Legs:
The legs are where I have seen the most diversity in a start. The legs should be in a COMFORTABLE position on the blocks. The best way I have found for teaching this is to have the swimmer do a two-step vertical jump test. This is where the athlete takes two steps forward then jumps for maximum height. Then have the athlete just take two steps, wherever their feet are before the jump is approximately where they should be on a block. Lastly, the athlete should evenly distribute the weight among both legs. There should be no wobbling or lack of balance on the blocks.
Angle of Entry:
The last, most important part of the "perfect" start is angle of entry. The angle of entry, for an athlete, needs to accomplish two things. The athlete needs to maximize velocity, and minimize resistance. The best way to explain this concept is to take a broomstick or pool torpedo like the ones you played with as kids, and throw it into a pool. If you throw either object at the wrong angle, it will do a nose dive or it will take off to the sides.
However, if you hit the angle just right, the object will actually increase in velocity as it attempts to surface. This concept hold true with human beings. The best way I have found to achieve this, and I'm sure there are many other ways is to pike when you leave the blocks.
By maintaining the body in a pike position even while entering the water, the athlete will hit the water, and the impact forces the body to straighten out into a rigid object. This object, when streamlined, looks eerily similar to a torpedo. Thus, maximum velocity is achieved by entering the water in a pike position. If a swimmer were to enter the water in a straight position, the same impact forces act upon that swimmer and forces their body out of alignment. We all know what happens when our bodies are not streamlined!
If anyone would like to pick my brain or offer insight into these thoughts, please respond via Reaction Time below.
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September 9, 2008 I have noticed some great swimmers being very fast by almost leaning back on the track start - they seem to be behind on the initial movement of the body - but then gain an advantage in flight and entry. Submitted by: trojanswimmer
September 9, 2008 Its true, the first off of the blocks does not always mean the fastest to 15m. Many factors play into this, but as far as leaning back goes...this technique allows for the athlete to produce the same force (jumping) over a longer period of time (the amount of time to rock from back to front). The same force produced over a greater amount of time results in much more power at the end of the movement. Submitted by: Kevin Swander
September 9, 2008 I am unsure what you mean by entering the water in a pike position. I have found that you want to pike as it were, in the air, so the hips are high, but then have the legs follow. As if you are diving over something. You then achieve the traditional desired "hole entry" and you snap the legs out under the water so that you flatten and shoot forward as you describe. Maybe we are saying the same thing, but I am not sure I follow your verbage about that part. Thanks, good article. Submitted by: fever
September 9, 2008 I think we are saying the same thing, I tried to chose my wording carefully but fear I may have just confused everyone :) The goal of the entry is to enter the water in the smallest hole possible, as you stated. What people generally forget about is that the body is not only moving forward in space, it is also moving downwards. Therefore, if the body were to enter the water in a straight line, the hole that it goes through is actually wider (longer, more like a tear drop) than if the body were to enter in a piked position. The 'snap' underwater is actually the impact forces which act to straighten the body out. Again, I think we are saying the same thing, I am just using a bunch of words to confuse everyone.
Great comments so far, I am very passionate about starts, so please keep them coming! Submitted by: kevin swander
September 9, 2008 Can the researcher do the perfect start? Great writing, wonderful research questions, explanation clear, analysis sound. More please. Really, swimming needs this, or rather, its healthy evolution aside from technology will be effected by such attention to detail. Thank you Kevin Swander. Submitted by: Slug
September 10, 2008 I'd love to see a video of this "perfect" start :-) Submitted by: Rókur
September 10, 2008 Mid-90's for the track start??? I could be wrong, but I thought I read articles about it in the late 70's or early 80's, at the latest. Maybe in Swim Technique? Submitted by: BEAR
September 10, 2008 I think it would be interesting if you could go back and replicate timing the traditional start and the track start to the 15m mark. Now that people almost all use the track start, it would be more conclusive if the traditional start still put the fastest time to the 15m mark. Submitted by: fever
September 10, 2008 Can I do the start? I try my best! As far as vids go, guys that have seen in action that have fantastic starts are Mark Gangloff from Trials, and Mike(Mihail) Alexandrov from the Olympic games. Both of those videos should be relatively easy to find online either at youtube or nbcolympics.
BEAR - You are right, the start has been around for awhile, unfortunately research runs about 20 years behind innovation! Submitted by: kevin swander
September 10, 2008 The "grab start" is the best and quickest way to get to the 15 meter mark. Recent extensive research published in American Swimming Magazine has proven this: more propulsion off the blocks more than makes up for the tiny fraction of a second longer that the grab start MAY take over the track start. The race is about who gets down the pool the quickest, not into the water initially.
Rowdy Gaines in the 80's went to a track meet and liked what he saw so he tried and worked the track start. Being the World Record Holder and using the new start, many others felt it must be the way to go. But great spinters like Matt Biondi, Tom Jaeger, Robin Leamy, "Hoogi," and Alexander Popov all used the grab start. In fact many used it this Olynmpics from several countries, to name a few: Australia, France, Russia & China. Submitted by: Coach N
September 10, 2008 Kevin, weren't you in lane 1 in the 100 breast final in Omaha? Wasn't that you with the phenomenal start? You came up about a body length ahead of the entire field, right? I studied your start as much as I could with my DVR. You generated enormous power off the blocks, then did a sort of butterfly motion with your arms in the air. It was amazing. Can you explain what you think about as you push off, what you do with your arms in flight, and what you think about upon entry? Any other secrets you can share? Submitted by: fluidg
September 10, 2008 We've tested reaction times with the track start vs the conventional start and the track start IS quicker. But reaction times are misleading because you can get off the blocks really quick without any power. Generating lots of power delays the departure but results in more inertia which means more speed and distance. You may leave the blocks last, but it's worth it if you come up ahead, right? This is a point that Rowdy seemed to ignore in his commentary. Often a swimmer would blow away the field on a start, coming up way ahead, but he wouldn't mention it because he seemed to judge the quality of a start by the reaction times he was looking at. Submitted by: fluidg
September 10, 2008 Here's a link to the NBCOlympics.com video of Kevin's start at Trials:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=55c76218-e94f-47df-82fb-58a766e56d8c
I would have embedded the video, but they don't have that option. Submitted by: Jason Marsteller
September 10, 2008 Alright, watched the beginning of the video. That begs the question, Mr. Swander, what do you think of doing the dolphin kick at the beginning of the pulldown as Kitijima (sp?) and others did at the Olympics? Makes sense after you think about it, imho. A college coach I talked to thought so also, but thought you should make sure you were in a somewhat downward line when you did it to maximize the benefit. Anyway, thoughts?
Submitted by: fever
September 10, 2008 In your research did you distinguish between the qualities of each dive for men separately from women? It seems as though the differences in strength distribution between a man and woman might uniquely influence what type of a dive is best for each, even if the ultimate difference may be subtle. Or possibly instead of gender a more effective distinction would be to classify subjects as top-heavy,or bottom heavy (muscularly), then proceed. Was muscular distribution considered as a variable? If not do you think its relevant? Or do you think the principles of basic physics are telling enough that any body type driven difference in efficiency would be trivial? Submitted by: Slug
September 11, 2008 Thanks for the video - very interesting. Kevin is the only swimmer who actually jumps UP and forward vs just forward. Then it's just physics - jumping higher will allow for a higher speed at entry. Submitted by: trojanswimmer
September 11, 2008 From my studies of balistics, I would think that an explosive movement straight outward would provide the furthest reaching in the quickest time; couple this with a pike entry into a "manhole" target would afford the best complete entry giving the most distance in the quickest time. The best example of this that comes to mind is Tom Jaeger. Nobody beat him off the blocks and into the water at the greatest distance per unit time. Submitted by: Coach N
September 11, 2008 Well, physics wise, the greatest distance in the air would be to dive out at a 45 degree angle. Whether this results in the fastest race, I don't know. Submitted by: fever
September 11, 2008 the furthest reaching in the QUICKEST time would be a straight out trajectory; true balistic shells are extended furthest with elevation, but for where we have to go in swim racing, a powerful straight-out line (the shortest distance between two points is...)should prove quickest; once in the water, a parabolic trajectory to the surface proves fastest with a tight streamline and strong kicking leading up to a powerful breakout stroke. Submitted by: Coach N
Reaction Time responses do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions
of Swimming World Magazine or SwimmingWorldMagazine.com.
Reaction Time is provided as a service to our readers.
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