Key parameters of the swimming start and their relationship to start performance

Abstract The swimming start is typically broken into three sub-phases; on-block, flight, and underwater phases. While overall start performance is highly important to elite swimming, the contribution of each phase and important technical components within each phase, particularly with the new kick-start technique, has not been established. The aim of this study was to identify technical factors associated with overall start performance, with a particular focus on the underwater phase. A number of parameters were calculated from 52 starts performed by elite freestyle and butterfly swimmers. These parameters were split into above-water and underwater groupings, before factor analysis was used to reduce parameter numbers for multiple regression. For the above-water phases, 81% of variance in start performance was accounted for by take-off horizontal velocity. For the underwater water phase, 96% of variance was accounted for with time underwater in descent, time underwater in ascent and time to 10 m. Therefore, developing greater take-off horizontal velocity and focussing on the underwater phase by finding the ideal trajectory will lead to improved start performance.

[1]  A "hydrokinematic" method of measuring the glide efficiency of a human swimmer. , 2008, Journal of biomechanical engineering.

[2]  Elaine Tor,et al.  Comparing three underwater trajectories of the swimming start. , 2015, Journal of science and medicine in sport.

[3]  Brian Blanksby,et al.  Biomechanical analysis of the grab, track and handle swimming starts: an intervention study. , 2002, Sports biomechanics.

[4]  Yolanda Escalante,et al.  Relationship between final performance and block times with the traditional and the new starting platforms with a back plate in international swimming championship 50-m and 100-m freestyle events. , 2013, Journal of sports science & medicine.

[5]  J Scurr,et al.  Biomechanical comparison of the track start and the modified one-handed track start in competitive swimming: an intervention study. , 2008, Journal of applied biomechanics.

[6]  Motomu Nakashima,et al.  Modeling Fluid Forces in the Dive Start of Competitive Swimming , 2010 .

[7]  Roozbeh Naemi,et al.  Hydrodynamic glide efficiency in swimming. , 2010, Journal of science and medicine in sport.

[8]  L Seifert,et al.  Kinematical profiling of the front crawl start. , 2010, International journal of sports medicine.

[9]  Hideki Takagi,et al.  Effect of inclination and position of new swimming starting block's back plate on track-start performance , 2012, Sports biomechanics.

[10]  J. Paulo Vilars-Boas,et al.  INTEGRATED KINEMATIC AND DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF TWO TRACK-START TECHNIQUES , 2000 .

[11]  Kevin Ball,et al.  Biomechanical considerations of distance kicking in Australian Rules football , 2008, Sports biomechanics.

[12]  Bruce Mason,et al.  SWIM START PERFORMANCES AT THE SYDNEY 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES , 2001 .

[13]  M. J. R. Healy,et al.  Fitting Equations to Data, 2Nd Ed , 1980 .

[14]  David L. Pease,et al.  THE EFFECT OF STARTING POSITION ON ELITE SWIM START PERFORMANCE USING AN ANGLED KICK PLATE , 2012 .

[15]  K. Ball,et al.  Monitoring the effect of race-analysis parameters on performance in elite swimmers. , 2014, International journal of sports physiology and performance.

[16]  T. Wrigley,et al.  Body sway, aim point fluctuation and performance in rifle shooters: inter- and intra-individual analysis , 2003, Journal of sports sciences.

[17]  R Taïar,et al.  Analysis of swimmers' velocity during the underwater gliding motion following grab start. , 2009, Journal of biomechanics.

[18]  Rebecca Mellifont,et al.  The influence of swimming start components for selected olympic and paralympic swimmers. , 2010, Journal of applied biomechanics.

[19]  Brian Blanksby,et al.  A comparison of the swimming start using traditional and modified starting blocks , 1998 .

[20]  Philippe Hellard,et al.  Influence of angles of attack, frequency and kick amplitude on swimmer's horizontal velocity during underwater phase of a grab start. , 2013, Journal of applied biomechanics.

[21]  Roozbeh Naemi,et al.  Comparison of modes of feedback on glide performance in swimming , 2012, Journal of sports sciences.

[22]  Diana Adler,et al.  Using Multivariate Statistics , 2016 .

[23]  Bruce Elliott,et al.  A comparison of underwater gliding and kicking techniques. , 1999 .

[25]  Antonio C.S. Guimaraes,et al.  A Mechanical Analysis of the Grab Starting Technique in Swimming , 1985 .

[26]  Elaine Tor,et al.  The reliability of an instrumented start block analysis system. , 2015, Journal of applied biomechanics.

[27]  J. W. Gorman,et al.  Fitting Equations to Data. , 1973 .

[28]  Liam P Kilduff,et al.  Strength and Power Predictors of Swimming Starts in International Sprint Swimmers , 2011, Journal of strength and conditioning research.