How To Maximise Your Starts: Part 2
Last time in Part 1 we discussed certain kinematics of the start variations such as velocity and time constraints and how the method of training must meet the same criteria to maximise transfer into the water. Now let us discuss the prerequisites for an explosive start.
Fig. 1. Athlete A (top) body mass 65kg, load lifted 97kg peak velocity 2.48m.s.
Athlete B (bottom) body mass 75kg, load lifted 112kg, peak velocity 2.52m.s.
There lies a similar belief among land training practitioners in that force production capacity (FPC) otherwise known as ‘strength’ is the foundation of all physical qualities, and yes that might be true. However, there is an aged debate over how much FPC is enough. Certain sports and different individuals have vastly different needs and answers to this question, so let us keep it specific.
How strong does a swimmer need to be?
The answer is individually based on a host of things such as the distance of events, the body mass of the athlete etc. A heavier athlete will need to work much harder than a lighter athlete to lift 2x body mass, a sprinter may need more FPC for a powerful start than a 1,500m specialist. But the answer is not black and white, it is about how accessible that FPC is to the athlete. If a swimmer can indeed lift 2x body mass, but they do it so slowly it cannot possibly be used in the start then it has little use to the athlete in terms of improving their start. This situation may waste the athlete’s time by putting too much emphasis on getting strong and not working on accessible FPC.
Having a reserve of FPC is essential, but the athletes must be able to access as much as possible in a rapid period of time. Remember from last time that elite Australian athletes demonstrate block times of ~0.72s and ~0.77s for males and females respectively during the ‘Track Start’ and between 0.57s-0.63s and 0.61s-0.67s during Backstroke starts for males and females respectively, that’s not a lot of time!
So, to build a solid and explosive start we need to know the demands of the starts in swimming as well as the capabilities of the athletes we are working with. Before lockdown, some of our athletes were extremely capable of accessing much of their FPC. Fig. 1 shows the maximum velocity achieved by 2 Velocity Swimming athletes during a training session in the weeks before lockdown during a lower body movement. Athlete A was lifting 1.49x body mass, achieving a peak velocity of 2.48m.s, while Athlete B also lifted 1.49x body mass with a peak velocity of 2.52m.s. This is a huge amount of power generated by these athletes, they are capable of moving themselves plus 1.49x body mass at high velocities. This is a perfect base to increase the athletes jumping ability.
We hope you enjoyed part 2 of this 3 part mini-series if you found it useful for your athletes please share and follow @velocityswimming_ to stay up-to-date for the next articles.