I was looking at Hamelman's general instructions in the sourdough rye chapter of "Bread". He writes when making the sourdough/sponge and the final dough, disperse the starter (or sponge later on) in the water first. Than add the remaining ingredients and mix.
I finally paid attention to this (rather than dumping all ingredients in random order into the mixer bowl). It really seems to have made a noticeable difference in the growth of the yeast, producing a lot better lift.
I use a whole rye starter per "The Rye Baker" by Ginsburg, typically refreshed about 12 hrs before making the sponge/sourdough/levain. Apparently it really likes a nice warm bath before going to work.
I recently read another technique for refreshing rye starters and creating rye sponges from member crucide on livejournal.com. The recommendation was to disperse the starter in the water and add only a portion of the flour initially. This also promotes better dispersion of the starter. I find this really helps with the stiff (80% hydration) sponges in some of the recipes I've made.
First the dispersal of the starter into all the liquids then add some of the whole grain flours or all depending on the amount and “ beat” with a wooden spoon to develop the gluten. Works amazingly well then add the rest of the flours and give it enough mixing to get it all wet. 60 min rest and then all you do are a couple bowl folds of the dough with 15 min rests between and a lamination and you are done.
In the book "Flatbreads and Flavors: A Baker's Atlas", there are many flatbread recipes where the authors say to stir the flour-water mixture 100 strokes in the same direction to develop the gluten. Sounds similar, though 100 strokes is more than I usually have patience for.
TomP