Relay Takeovers Made Easy

In this article, we’ll provide hacks, tips and drills on how to progressively develop an effective relay takeover.

Relays form an important component of many swimming galas/meets, usually with medals and double points at stake.

So much time, distance and energy can be saved by the execution of an effective relay takeover. We, therefore, believe that relay takeover drills should be a regular part of any training programme.

The key components for an effective relay takeover are:

Position on the starting block:

The swimmer should ensure they are in the correct position on the starting block to ensure they can perform an effective freestyle relay takeover.

Timing:

During the takeover, the incoming swimmer must touch the pool wall before the next swimmer can start.

The dive:

As the swimmer dives off the block, they should perform an explosive drive outward, into the pool, to gain speed and distance.

Relay takeover types

There are three main types of relay takeovers, the basic, the wind-up and the step forward. It’s important that less experienced swimmers start with the basic relay takeover and only progress to the wind-up relay takeover once they have mastered the basics.

The basic relay takeover

Introduction: Many less experienced swimmers start with a basic relay takeover.

How to perform a basic relay takeover:

The swimmer steps up onto the starting block.
They place both feet shoulder-width apart, on the front of the block.
The swimmer grips the edge of the block with their toes.
They bend their legs at a forty-five degrees angle.
The swimmer leans forward so that their chest is over their thighs.
As the preceding swimmer is about 15m away from finishing, the swimmer should fully extend their arms.
They should follow the preceding swimmer into the wall by keeping them in line with the backs of their hands.
As the preceding swimmer is about to touch the wall, the swimmer should have lowered their hands.
The swimmer should start their dive, by quickly swinging both of their hands back past their hips and then forward into a streamlined position.
The swimmer should remain with bent legs and ensure their chest is still over their thighs when completing their arm swing, this facilitates a powerful leg drive off the starting block.
As the swimmer dives off the block, they should perform an explosive drive outward, into the pool by extending their arms, legs and feet, into a tight streamlined position, driving from the thighs, through the lower legs and finally from the balls of their feet through to their toes.
As with all relays, the swimmer in the water must touch the pool wall before the next swimmer can leave the block.
If the swimmer leaves the block before the incoming swimmer has touched the pool wall, then the team will be disqualified.
This is one reason why we believe that relay takeover drills should be a regular part of any training programme.

The wind-up relay takeover

Introduction: The more experienced swimmers often perform a wind-up relay takeover.

This is a similar relay takeover to the basic relay takeover but with the addition of a full double arm swing, to gain extra momentum off the starting block.

The swimmer steps up onto the starting block.
They place both feet shoulder-width apart, on the front of the block.
The swimmer grips the edge of the block with their toes.
They bend their legs at a forty-five degrees angle.
The swimmer leans forward so that their chest is over their thighs.
As the preceding swimmer is about 15m away from finishing, the swimmer should fully extend their arms.
They should follow the preceding swimmer into the wall by keeping them in line with the backs of their hands.
As the preceding swimmer is about 5m from the wall, the swimmer should have lowered their hands.
The swimmer now raises both hands quickly together still fully extended, above their head, and with a double-arm backstroke motion, they should swing their arms behind them continuing past their hips.
They should now continue the forward swinging motion, bringing them full circle to join their hands together in preparation for the dive.
Swimmers should ensure that their arm swing is big and that they accelerate their arm swing to gain momentum.
The swimmer should remain with bent legs and ensure their chest is still over their thighs when completing their arm swing, this facilitates a powerful leg drive off the starting block.
As the swimmer dives off the block, they should perform an explosive drive outward, into the pool by extending their arms, legs and feet, into a tight streamlined position
Driving from the thighs, through the lower legs and finally from the balls of their feet through to their toes.
As with all relays, the swimmer in the water must touch the pool wall before the next swimmer can leave the block.
If the swimmer leaves the block before the incoming swimmer has touched the pool wall, then the team will be disqualified.

The step forward takeover

Introduction: The step forward takeover is the preferred relay takeover of most experienced competitive swimmers.

It is similar to the wind-up start, but as the name suggests it incorporates a forward step to gain extra momentum.

The swimmer steps up onto the starting block.
They place one foot on the edge of the block, gripping the edge of the block with their toes.
The other foot is positioned one step back, similar to a track start.
Both legs should be bent at forty-five degrees.
As the preceding swimmer is about 15m away from finishing, the swimmer should fully extend their arms.
They should follow the preceding swimmer into the wall by keeping them in line with the backs of their hands.
As the preceding swimmer is about 5m from the wall, the swimmer should have lowered their hands.
The swimmer now raises both hands quickly together still fully extended, above their head and with a double-arm backstroke motion, they should swing their arms behind them continuing past their hips.
They should now continue the forward swinging motion
Bringing them full circle to join their hands together in preparation for the dive.
Swimmers should ensure that their arm swing is big and that they accelerate their arm swing to gain momentum.
As the swimmer’s hands past their hips, they should step forward with their back foot, to gain extra momentum.
The swimmer should remain with bent legs and ensure that their chest is still over their thighs when completing their arm swing.
This facilitates a powerful leg drive off the starting block.
As the swimmer dives off the block, they should perform an explosive drive outward, into the pool by extending their arms, legs and feet, into a tight streamlined position
Driving from the thighs, through the lower legs and finally from the balls of their feet through their toes.
As with all relays, the swimmer in the water must touch the pool wall before the next swimmer can leave the block.
If the swimmer leaves the block before the incoming swimmer has touched the pool wall, then the team will be disqualified.

Relay takeover drills

Step forward and jump drill

Introduction: This drill helps develop a swimmer’s step forward relay takeover, by introducing them to a step forward jumping drill off the starting blocks.

The swimmer steps up onto the starting block.
The other foot is positioned one step back, similar to a track start.
From a forty-five degrees squat position,
The swimmer performs a backward arm swing
The swimmer now raises both hands together still fully extended above their head and with a double-arm backstroke motion
They should swing their arms behind them continuing past their hips.
They should now continue the forward swinging motion
Bringing them full circle to join their hands together in preparation for the dive.
Swimmers should ensure that their arm swing is big and that they accelerate their arm swing to gain momentum.
As the swimmer’s hands past their hips, they should take a single step forward
This should facilitate a jump with forward momentum.
The swimmer should remain with bent legs while completing their arm swing.
This facilitates a powerful leg drive off the starting block.

Start, turn and finish relay

Introduction: A fun but competitive drill to further develop effective starts, turns and finishes.

This drill will work best if there are two teams or more of four to six swimmers, which are roughly the same ability and speed.

The objective of this progression is to get swimmers to perform race pace starts, mid-pool turns and finishes under the pressure of a competitive relay.
The first swimmer performs a racing dive from the starting signal
They then proceed to reach the 15m marker by the quickest means possible via a combination of underwater dolphin kicking and race pace swimming.
The swimmer then performs a race pace mid-pool turn.
They then swim back to the starting end of the pool where they perform a race pace finish.
The next swimmer performs a relay takeover.
Repeat this process throughout the team until everybody in the team has swum.
Placing a rubber brick or sinker at 15m will greatly assist this drill.

Takeaway

Relays form an important component of many swimming galas/meets, usually with medals and double points at stake.

So much time, distance and energy can be saved by the execution of an effective relay takeover. We, therefore, believe that relay takeover drills should be a regular part of any training programme.

Related publication: FREESTYLE Competitive Swimming Drills & Progressions

We have published a related publication: FREESTYLE Competitive Swimming Drills & Progressions. For further details and ordering information please use the following link: FREESTYLE Competitive Swimming Drills & Progressions

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