Technique Tips: Relays

RELAY STARTS: WHEN SHOULD I SWING MY ARMS?

BY KATIE ARNOLD // NATIONAL TEAM COACH FELLOW

What do high school state championships, college dual meets and the Olympics have in common? No one wants to be the person responsible for disqualifying a relay. The stakes are high and so are the point values.

The common response to this added pressure is to employ safe starts. Unfortunately, safe in this instance actually means slow. When winners are determined by hundredths of a second, a slow relay start can be the difference between a gold medal and no medal.

At this year's World Championships, American relays were consistently among the slowest in terms of reaction times. So how can we improve?

While there is no magic formula to determine the perfect relay start, the following are our observations based on finals relays at five of the major international championship meets during the past four years.

• Regardless of gender, a wind-up relay start should take no longer than one second to complete from the initiation of the arm swing to the time the feet leave the block.
• Based on average velocity, the best male freestylers in America cover about 2.75 meters in the final second of their race, while the women cover about 2.25 meters in the final second. For both genders, this is slightly less than one stroke cycle.
• The slowest average velocity approaching the wall is for female breaststrokers. These women cover about 1.75 meters in the final second of their race. This final second is again slightly less than one stroke cycle.

Based on these observations, it is obvious that the speed of the incoming swimmer must be used to determine the best time to initiate the arm swing. The practical application of that speed is up to each individual.

RELAY STARTS: WHICH APPROACH IS THE BEST

BY RUSSELL MARK // HIGH PERFORMANCE CONSULTANT

Winding up and swinging your arms around is universally accepted as a best practice for relay starts. But with the legs there are many different approaches – taking 1 or 2 steps, taking no steps, or even hopping or skipping to the front of the block. In this case, simple is effective. Start with your feet in a track position, then step forward with the back foot and jump off with both feet over the edge of the block.

The “track to two feet jump” relay start is the best because:

• You push off with two feet, getting the most force out of the jump.
• It has minimal risk. With two steps, a skip, or a hop, it’s very easy to end up with at least one foot not on the edge of the block. I’ve seen it many times – a swimmer over steps or under steps the edge, and it’s not ideal as well as nerve-racking. Taking a step with the back foot to meet the front foot…that’s easy stuff.
• I really think it leads to the best transfer of momentum forward. Better than a skip, hop or two steps. While standing on the ground just try all four approaches – one step, two steps, a skip, and a hop. With one step, it’s very easy to end up on your toes and leaning/falling forward. With the other three approaches, it’s very easy to stop and be stable. If you find yourself falling forward, you’re transferring your weight and momentum into the take-off. If you’re able to plant your feet and stop, then your momentum isn’t being carried forward very well.

At the 2011 World Championships, 15 different Americans did relay starts in a Championship Final:

• 12 of them began in a track position and stepped up with the back foot
• 2 of them started in a track position and did not take any steps
• 1 person took 2 steps to the front of the block

In addition, the Japanese had three 4x100 relays that were in the Championship Final. In each of those, they had the best average reaction time of all the teams. Virtually all of them used the “track to two feet jump”.

* Note that these thoughts remain the same with or without the wedge/incline at the rear of the block.