Swimmers of any age can learn to have a stable body line during the forward start. Check out the 12-year-old age grouper in today's video.
While in Humble, Texas, we spent some time with our old friend and teammate Coach Mavi. We took notice on their nice starts, and decided to ask their secret. Why do it:
Learning to maintain a solid body line without the use of a kick, or stroke, can set you up for better underwater dolphins and to carry more speed into your swimming. How to do it:
1 - Set up your streamline and body line while on the blocks.
2 - Lean over and drive into the water while maintaining that line.
3 - Hold your glide for as long as you can, until your body reaches the surface. How to do it really well (the fine points):
Do your best to NOT go too deep. You'll notice that without the initial kick, the body will have a tendency of continuing it's downward line. Also, don't use your feet to stabilize. Keep the toes pointed. To advance forward, establish the glide, then add a few dolphin kicks, then go back into the line to keep the focus on body stability. Practice this enough, and eventually, you'll look as good as this 12 year old. Very nice!
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