Relay Starts: Looking for Goldilocks

via Glogster

Not to early...not too late...we want relay starts to be just right...right?!?!

Note:  Each of the following idears was stolen borrowed from other coaches.

Start-Turn-Finish Drill - We use this short course drill quite a bit.

Two athletes start at mid-pool, one will swim toward the blocks (finisher), the other away from the blocks (turner).  A third athlete (starter) waits on the block.

Drill begins with finisher doing a half-lap sprint toward blocks while turner does a fast 1-turn 25.  When finisher hits the end wall, starter does his/her best relay start and sprints to mid-pool.

For the next round, original starter becomes turner, original turner will be the finisher, and the finisher waits on the block as the starter.

After a few rounds, swap the athletes at mid-pool so they can practice starts off different finishers.

If there are extras (four or more per lane), just rotate them in from the pool deck as new starters.  They can also peer-coach and peer-officiate.

Diving Score Cards - Make your diving program useful by borrowing one of their score cards to judge relay starts.

Score false starts as you would a failed dive - ZERO

Give safe - but late - starts scores in the range of ONE to FOUR

Solid starts that are "adequate" are scored between FIVE and SEVEN

Starts that are "pushing it" and an inexperienced official may think they're early, give them an EIGHT or NINE

Adjust for Different Blocks - Your athletes might practice the "swing-step-go" relay start on large blocks.

You may need to make changes to the "step" if you're visiting a facility with postage stamp-sized platforms.

Simply lay a kickboard down on the back half of your larger blocks and have your athletes practice relay starts without stepping from the back portion of the block.