Ohio State Drills & Skills for All Starts

The biggest improvement gain a swimmer can make could learning how to execute a better start.

Ohio State Coaches Bill Wadley and Bill Dorenkott share effective strategies and efficient techniques that provide stability and reaction readiness for the forward start.

Coach Wadley breaks down the set up for a successful beginning with the pre-block routine. He demonstrates how to get the best possible grip on the block .

Block set-up is then presented with a detailed explanation of foot position, ideal leg angles, hand position for grabbing the block and instruction on hip height and core stability. The "take your mark" position is discussed prior to demonstrations of full-forward starts.

A variety of swimmers demonstrate multiple forward starts. Also offered are detailed instructions and explanations of how best to carry the speed from the dive into the breakout and how to quickly establish race stroke tempo.

The back start segment includes proper block set-up along with strategies to assist younger swimmers in learning the skill more quickly. A four-step progression is presented that assists the swimmer in getting the hips over the water for a clean powerful back start. Coach Dorenokott details strategies on how to best carry start speed into the dolphin kick and transition into the flutter kick along with how to attain the ideal body position for the breakout. The teaching cues that he gives make it easy for both coach and swimmer to understand how to perform in ideal breakout.

In the relay exchange segment, the coaches discuss the importance of the finishing swimmer coming into the wall in a full extension that will give the takeoff swimmer the best opportunity to have a fast, efficient and legal exchange. Free relay and medley relay take-offs are demonstrated at both moderate and race speed.

50 minutes. 2013.