Turns and Starts

By Jon Shastid

As with all aspects of swimming training and technique, you should use this information in conjunction with your team coach. He/she knows you and can provide competent advice, especially with your stoke technique development.

Block Starts:

• Grip the block with the toes; a slightly pigeon-toed position generates more power
• Hands inside feet or outside… up to you
• Track start versus two feet on edge depends on leg strength (2 feet requires more strength)
• Bend knees (think of jumping up to touch something--bent knees = greater power)
• Head down and look at the water but do not tuck the chin, as you will spend extra time raising it. Do not look up or out prior to starting gun and explosive start
• Throw the arms up and out into a straight line (aim out and then down)
• Take a quick peek at the flags when launching (stretch the neck out in practice to acquire greater length of form)
• The start should have the body arch, with the hands and feet entering the same "hole" in the water (this will "squirt" the body forward)
• POINT THE TOES on entry--having the feet in a position other than pointed is the same as adding a sea anchor to your body

Backstroke Starts:

• Pull the body straight up (eliminate bending the back--you will have to straighten it eventually and why lose the time); launch the hands out to the side and throw the head back. This helps get the body up and out; delay every so slightly the feet from leaving until the hands and body have been launched.
• Often Masters swimmers have problems entering the water cleanly on the backstroke start. That is, we hit the water with our backs and lose momentum and distance. TIP: plant you feet shoulder width apart and lower down on the wall, not with you toes just below the water level. Having your toes higher makes sense if you have the technique and strength. Many of us do not. With the feet planted lower it is easier to launch yourself up and then back, resulting in a cleaner entry. Try it at practice.
• Once in the water use the dolphin kick to propel yourself. Fast, small kicks from the waist down. Do not kick using the entire body
• Go deep and then gradually come up (the "check mark") and try to hold your breath as much as you can until you surface and stroke, and then blow (having air brings you to the surface faster and is thus easier); to assist in keeping air in, curl upper lip toward nose (or use nose clip)

"Check Mark" Push offs for TURNS

(see the Article in the April-June issue of Swim Technique)

The concept here is to make the turns for fly and back similar to a "check mark" (i.e., a fairly deep dive early followed by a longer return to the surface, all the while keeping speed through streamlining and kicking). Go deep early and then level off. Kick strong and early. Breakout is strong and thus faster than swimming speed.

Fly Turns

• New butterfly rule: you can turn and come out on side and then roll to front, providing you are on the front by the time you break the surface. On your side means less resistance AND more power in the kick, since it is side-to-side. Kick like an eel, not like a seal. This analogy means that off the fly turn you should be kicking on your side with short kicks from the hips down. This sideways position adds more power (and distance) since you are pushing the water in both directions, whereas on your stomach you may lessen the propulsion on your upward kick because you are close to the surface and because of the lower resistance from the air above the water.
• Tighter and faster undulations off the turns is better; this comes from below the hips down, not starting with the rib cage, which is the swim motion. Dolphin kick of the wall is different from that when swimming fly; the legs flick rapidly from the knees (if you kick from the waist, the leg profile will work against you, as a larger profile to the water is created. In swimming, the core and the legs generate the kick and the power.
• Keep the head locked between the arms on streamlining and do not move the hands (breaking the wrists) up and down
• KICKING IS THE BASIS FOR FLY. Without a good kick it doesn't matter what you do; therefore, practice kicking with and without board, on the back, on your side, with and without fins.

Backstroke Turns

• Learn your stroke count once the flags are hit; you should know by heart the number of stokes you need before you roll over to initiate the turn
• Once on your stomach take that BIG single stoke and
• Keep kicking to propel yourself into the turn
• Look at the thighs; keep eyes open; plant your feet together high and then go deep on the push-off, ideally on your side. When on your side (rotated), the body profile is narrower but less stable; on your side will help to increase kick, which is good.
• Use the short-amplitude dolphin kicks if you can (waist down) and think "check mark"--going deep early and then up; you should be on your back as you come to the surface and start swimming using the flutter kick.

Freestyle Turns

• Arms at side going into the wall
• Head slightly down, so water flows over; this allows a fast snap turn when the head is actively tucked
• Feet to the butt; kiss the thighs
• Slightly rotate the body on the turn with feet planted on the wall at 45 degree angle
• Plant and push off on your side and kick before turning on stomach (this optimizes power of flutter kick, since the heels are not breaking the surface)
• Know which side you come up on (i.e., which arm is down). DO THIS SIDE ALWAYS
• Initiate the pull with the down arm!
• Hold for a least one full arm cycle before breathing

Breaststroke Turns

• The general rule is to keep the chin tucked in to reduce the likelihood of the body "sinking." As you get to the turn flags, raise your eyes to the wall. This allows your mind to calculate the distance left to the turn (or finish), and your brain will automatically tell you how to adjust your stroke (e.g., a bit more glide or a quicker turnover) so that you will hit the wall properly.
• The rules allow your hands to be other than horizontal. You do not have to touch the walls with both hands in the same plane nor must they be above water. It is often faster to have the hands placed at a 45 degree angle, so you are initiating a turn as you hit the wall.
• The turn, as in fly, can be thought of as "elbow the robber; call the cops." As soon as you make the simultaneous touch, the elbow on your turning side should immediately be thrust back of your side (as though you are elbowing a robber). This initiates the rapid turn of the body core. Once the elbow is thrust backwards and the body initiates the turn, the opposite hand is thrown back toward-- and just brushing-- the ear (calling the cops). This completes the turn of the body and positions you as your body leaves the wall.
• The breast push-off is very shallow because of the lack of a continuous kick; the best angle is not "down," but flat. Going deep does not help, since there is no continous kick to assist you in gettng back to the surface.
• Since speed off the turn is faster than swimming, a good way to maximize distance is as follows: off the turn, with the hands out, the elbows pressed tightly to your ears and in a streamlined position, count "one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three." Then start the pull-out. On the pull-out, count 2 seconds. Then begin your kick and your surface stokes. Even a basic breaststroke swimmer should be well past the flags with this technique--and in front of those who hit the wall with you but don't do this!