In the 50 or 100 meter swims, more races are won or lost on the start than all other components of the race. The start is either a great place to gain a lead and hold it, or conversely, a horrible place to lose it and never regain it.

Everyone should be using a track start today. Yes, there are a few world class swimmers who still use the two feet forward (like Britta Steffin from Germany and Mark Foster from UK)….but when they are up against good track starters, they don’t come out ahead.

There are two ways of doing the track start; weight forward or sling-shot (weight back). Although most of the women in the Olympic finals of the 50 meter were using the weight forward method and even some of the men (Gary Jr, Fred Bousquet), in the future you will see nearly all swimmers switching over to the slingshot start. Here is why.

A new revolutionary change in starting blocks is coming soon which will add a back footplate. Much like a track and field sprint, the new blocks will allow the swimmer to place his/her back foot on an adjustable angled plate that will give the back leg more mechanical advantage than ever before. Most of the new blocks will also contain bars or handles above the blocks (like in Indianapolis and other ‘fast’ pools). If you ever see those handles on your starting block, use them. Without them, you are at a serious disadvantage.

With the new starting blocks (already FINA approved), by pulling back, one can create much more power off the back leg. Then as the weight transfers forward, the front leg power comes into play. Also, by leaning back and pulling on the bars, one can gain the power of the arms and upper body in the start; something one cannot do with the weight forward start.

All slingshot starters should pull with their arms while the body moves forward which brings the arms behind them to at least the height of the hips or higher. Some do this with bent elbow (Phelps, Cielo). Others do it with a straight arm. Either way, just be sure they end up at your waist or higher. Getting them back in front to the streamlined position before entry is crucial, but the method varies. Most tuck them up underneath their body with bent elbows, while others (like Eammon Sullivan) bring them around like a straight-arm butterfly stroke.

At the whistle command to prepare for the start, bend over and either keep your hands close to the bar (or front of the block if there is no bar) or grab it loosely. With a slingshot start, you don’t have time to go from the standing position, grab onto the bar and then lean back. The gun will likely go off while you are leaning back….bad idea.

At the ‘take your mark’ command, grab with the fingers, lean back slightly and lift your back foot onto the angled plate about half way up; three motions at once. You don’t need to lean back too far, just far enough to put some tension on your upper arms. Keep your head in alignment with your body, looking at the heal of your front foot. Many will extend their necks up (uncomfortably) and look forward, when they need to be more relaxed. Once the beep sounds, push with your legs, pull with your arms and look up, while pulling with the arms. Remember the arms aren’t really moving back so much as the body is moving forward.

Once you hit the water, you need to be angled slightly (slight bend at the waist), the head now needs to be tucked down toward or touching the chest and the arms need to be in a tight wrist-over-wrist streamline, snug against the back of the head. When the legs and feet enter, they too must be streamlined.

Nearly everyone will enter the water at exactly the same time (Newton’s law), unless you are extremely slow getting off the block. Surprisingly, most swimmers will enter the water at about the same distance from the wall. The difference between who comes out ahead will depend almost entirely on what happens between the time the hands strike the water and the break out. This depends on the body weight, angle of entry, the streamline of the body and the speed underwater.

Swimmers who do not have strong dolphin kicks are not going to be fast underwater and need to break out sooner. Few swimmers have legs like Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte or Misty Hyman that enable them to swim faster underwater than on top. Two of the biggest mistakes are entering the water too steep and not streamlined, which causes one to go too deep in the water and slow too rapidly. Unless you are swimming breaststroke, when you are going to take an underwater pull and kicks, or can take seven very fast dolphin kicks underwater, you’d better hit the water with less angle, get up and start swimming. Hit the water too flat, though, and you stop almost immediately.

Our World Team swimmers found that they were approximately .3 to .4 seconds faster with the new blocks, using the slingshot start compared to their fastest start off of conventional starting blocks. New technology? Yes, but unlike with the suits, the opportunity to benefit from the new start is available and equal to all, once you learn to slingshot well.

Practice these slingshot techniques, even without the back footplate, so you will be ready when they do come. Since you really never know exactly what you are doing during the dive, however, your best bet is to come down for one of our camps and let us video you and analyze your dive while you are watching your own video. Then, you can compare yourself to some of the best starters in the world.