The basics of the start are a skill that all competitive swimmers need to master. Every time you dive into the pool the dive needs to be as technically good as it can be.
It takes practice, and lots of it, to hone the skill and it is critical to practice good starting technique all the time. Do not unwind progress with a sloppy practice dive – even when just diving in to start your training session.
When the basics of the start have been mastered the more advanced features be developed.
The “Leg Kick Start” is a feature of a more advanced start. To see the endpoint of your practice this is where your journey will take you.
To get the basics right however, start with this complete guide and explanation by Bill Sweetenham.
Instructional videos often break-down the start into three phases. If it assists in getting it right and visualising the various phases, the start can be broken down into five distinct phases.
- Starting position,
- Push phase,
- Entry,
- underwater streamline, and
- Break-out.
Once the starters gun goes it is too late to start thinking about what you need to do to execute your start as technically well as you can – that skill is developed at training so that it becomes instinctive.
The underwater phase – an update
This short videoclip compares the off-the-start underwater techniques of Michael Phelps and Peter Vanderkaay. Phelps’ underwater work is phenomenal – note the depth, the tight streamline and the position of the head, the amplitude of the kick and time underwater.
Pause the clip at the 11 second mark (use the youtube settings ikon to slow the playback speed down to 0.5) and compare the two different bubble trails. Less is preferable and Vanderkaay’s two distinct trails are indicative of an entry into the water that is not “clean”, and therefore less effective than Phelps’.
While not part of the start, it is also very instructive to carefully analyse Phelps’ underwater work off the turn (clip start at 40 seconds). Note how Phelps gets his arms into position for the streamline, the push-off on the back followed by a rotation onto the side with a powerful, wide amplitude dolphin kick.
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