A comparative study of three methods of starting used in competitive swimming by age-group swimmers

Includes bibliographical references.The purpose of this study was to compare the starting times of swimmers, using three different methods of starting and timing them over a distance of ten yards. The three racing starts selected were the extension, the backward extension, and the shoulder roll. The actual comparison was made by treating the differences in times recorded for the three styles of starts. The subjects used for this comparison were thirty-five boys, all members of the Downers Grove Young Men’s Christian Association swimming team. These swimmers represented all age groups in age-group swimming. All boys on the team were included in this study. A six-week block of time was used for the purpose of instructing and testing the subjects in the three different styles of starts. The subjects were divided into two groups, depending upon which practice session they attended. Each of the two groups was then divided into three smaller groups. This was done so that each of the three styles of starts would not be practiced in the same order by all subjects. The boys remained in these groups throughout the entire study. Since the purpose of this study was concerned with the effectiveness of the three styles of starting methods, a detailed description of each method was given to show the differences between the three styles. At the completion of three practice sessions, a test was administered to the subjects of each group on the style of start they had been practicing. The testing was conducted three times during the six-week period, and all subjects were tested three times in each style of start for a distance of ten yards. The instrument used for timing was the Athletic Performance Analyser. A total of 315 starts were timed. Each subject’s best time for each style of start was used as a means of comparison. A comparison was made at different age levels to see if there was any significant difference in time between the styles of starts within the age groups. The means were then compared for the entire group. The "t" test was applied to the means. In the seven-to-ten age group the only start that was found significantly faster than the others was the backward extension, over the shoulder roll. When the "t" test was applied to the eleven-to-seventeen age group and to the entire group, the results indicated that the differences were not significant.M.S. (Master of Science