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- Starts, Dives & Turns
Starts, Dives
& Turns Clinic
Free speed off every block and every wall.
Next clinic: Sun 15 Nov, 5:30pm
- Ages 9–16
- Club swimmers
- 1 hour
- Max 8
- £30
Pick your date
- DateSessionPlaces
- Sun 15 Nov5:30–6:30pmStarts, Dives & Turns£30 · club swimmersMax 8Max 8Book →
- Fri 20 Nov8–9pmStarts, Dives & Turns£30 · ages 9–16Max 8Max 8Book →
- Fri 27 Nov7–8pmStarts, Dives & Turns£30 · ages 9–16Max 8Max 8Book →
- Fri 27 Nov8–9pmStarts, Dives & Turns£30 · ages 9–16Max 8Max 8Book →
- Sun 29 Nov5:30–6:30pmStarts, Dives & Turns£30 · club swimmersMax 8Max 8Book →
- Ages9–16, club swimmers. Fridays: 7pm suits younger swimmers, 8pm older ones. Book one hour or stay for both
- ArriveChanged, 5 minutes before your start
- Check-in & outPoolside, with the coach
- ParentsWatch from the spectator area
Bring Kickboard, pull buoy, fins, paddles, two tennis balls, water, a spare hat and spare goggles.
£30 per session + £2.50 booking fee. Each session is booked on its own. Stay on for the 6:30pm drop-in and make it two hours.
Can't make these dates? Email me new dates
What we cover
- Dive startsGrab start, entry angle, streamline.
- Tumble turnsFlip, foot plant, push-off.
- Open turnsTwo-hand touch, fast and legal.
- Dolphin kicksKick rate, depth and the breakout point.
- Backstroke startOff the wall and into the stroke, legally.
- StreamlineHold the speed your start just made.
How the hour runs
- Warm-upIn the water on time.
- Main focusOne theme, drilled properly.
- Dives and turnsBuilt into every session.
- FeedbackWatched every length.
Built for club swimmers
- For swimmers training with a club or squad
- Free speed squads rarely get time on
- Race-legal starts and turns for galas
- Drills to take back to squad training
Faults we fix
- A flat dive that lands you slow and shallow
- Gliding too long underwater and stalling before the breakout
- Breathing into or out of the turn and losing the wall
- Wide, slow turns that bleed momentum on every length
Quick answers
Why dedicate a whole clinic to starts and turns?
Because they're free speed that hardly anyone trains. Across a race, a sharp start, fast turns and strong breakouts can save more time than weeks of fitness work — yet most swimmers never practise them.
Will we use the starting blocks?
Yes, where the venue permits. Our pool has flat-top blocks, so we coach the grab start and the backstroke start — both a core part of the clinic.
Who can book?
Ages 9–16, club swimmers only: swimmers who train with a club or squad. You'll be asked for their age and club when you book.
What happens if a date sells out?
Each session takes 8 swimmers in one lane. When a date fills, pick another Friday or Sunday.
Also see: Competitive Swimming Coaching · Freestyle Coaching Clinic
More ways to train
How close is your swimmer
to the qualifying times?
The free checker compares their best times with county, regional and national qualifying times, event by event, with 25m and 50m swims counted the way each championship counts them. Look a swimmer up by name or membership number and it fills itself in.
Want the next step mapped out? The Gap Plan turns the gaps into a plan for you and your swimmer: the races to target, target splits, open meets near you that still count, and race-day help.