Technique is important

My son is a swimmer. And a pretty good one, competing up to the level of county and regional championships.

But in swimming (like most sport done to a high standard), technique is everything. And one area where Josh's technique had always suffered was his diving.

Basically, there are two types of racing dives. Track start (think an athletics sprinter - 1 leg behind the other, with your hands gripping the front of the blocks)...

...and grab start (legs, and hands, together on the front of the blocks).

Of these, the track start seems to be the one preferred by many at the younger end of our club.

Why? A quick straw pole suggests two reasons. Firstly, because a track start can feel more stable - important in a sport where the merest twitch on the blocks can get you disqualified. And secondly, if the kids are to be believed, because a track start looks 'cooler'.

But cool as 'looking cool' may be, it doesn't win you races. The problem is that a lot of the power in a track start comes from the shoulders - using your arms to catapult yourself out from the blocks. Which is great for muscular 16 year olds. Less good when you're 10 - you get no real distance in your dives and, at best (to borrow from Woody in Toy Story), it looks like falling with style.

In a comparison, all the power in a grab start is in the legs - you just spring out. If they can have the confidence to counter instability (and looking less cool) even a 10 year old can launch themselves a long way out on this basis. And when races and PBs depend on 100s of seconds, that long leap can be vital.

It took us a fair while to persuade Josh of this. But when we did, there were some big improvements in his times straight away. All from something as simple as putting his legs in a slightly different position.

So I guess the question is, whatever it is you do, what 'technique' could you change a little to see a big improvement in performance?

P.s. I'm just a swimming dad, not a swimmer - this is all based on lay man observation. For more 'professional' views on the importance of getting your swimming technique right, and the life lessons to learn from this, check out some of Andrew's posts. All worth a read.

Although I recognise this is also a rather unashamed attempt to get some track-back action going on ;-)