Along with a proper warm-up routine and a good training program, the start and turn are vital for any swimmer, whatever their standard. That is why we have decided to give you a few tips to improve both your start and freestyle turn.
Whether you are a sprinter or a long-distance swimmer, good starts and turns will help you quickly reach your top speed. Today, we will go over the advantages of using the track start over the grab start. After that, we will provide some starting block drills for you to practice. Then, we will explore turning techniques and give you a few tips you can implement in your training.
Initial Speed Is Generated From Good Starts and Turns
Similar to track athletes on the starting line, swimmers need a good block start to begin an event. After that, they use turns to push off the wall and begin the next lap. Both the start and turn are areas where you can utilize your legs to generate tremendous amounts of force, allowing you to quickly reach maximum velocity in the water.
It is important to get up to speed quickly before you begin the underwater phase of your lap. According to an article published in FINA, this is the fastest part of a lap because swimmers reduce drag when streamlining and utilize strong body muscles in their…
