FINA banned the shiny suits partially because they gave some people an unfair advantage.Then they turn around and OK adding the fins to the blocks.They supposedly make starts 0.2-0.4 faster.That is not a trivial amount especially in a 50.Being able to practice with them before a meet that has them is undoubtedly beneficial.Very few swimmers will have access to them on a regular basis.Is this fair,what say you?
Fin or no fin, I will always be last off the block!
I agree it's not logical to add some things (fin block) that aid in times, allow some swimmers to knowingly flaunt the rules to aid in times (e.g., Cameron Van be Burgh) while banning the coolest speed aid ever (e.g., true tech suits), but FINA's lack of consistency and lack of logic has never stopped them before. Why start making sense now?
FINA banned the shiny suits partially because they gave some people an unfair advantage.Then they turn around and OK adding the fins to the blocks.They supposedly make starts 0.2-0.4 faster.That is not a trivial amount especially in a 50.Being able to practice with them before a meet that has them is undoubtedly beneficial.Very few swimmers will have access to them on a regular basis.Is this fair,what say you?
Who cares about 50s? :bolt:
Is the problem, in your opinion, that most people can't practice on them or that not all meets have them?
The blocks seem to me to be similar to advances in lane line technology or having deep/fast pools or better gutters. But I've never used the fin blocks and have no idea how easy/hard it is to get used to them. (Then again, I don't use track starts... :))
I don't think there is too much of a parallel to the tech suits, the worst idea ever. The suit lovers all predicted that no record would ever be broken again and that swimming would plummet in popularity, and we all see how that worked out.
I just don't see these blocks having all that much of an impact, and probably at some point most pools will have them. Until then it will be just a feature of the pool: some pools are faster than others.
I don't think there is too much of a parallel to the tech suits, the worst idea ever.
The worst idea ever was banning them. Full body suits are now vintage and retro and hip .
First time I've used them was at the Rowdy Gaines Classic a week or so ago. I had NO idea how to set it for benefit. It would probably be very helpful, if I knew how to use one. Just don't have access to them around here.
Loved the blocks in Omaha and felt they gave me a way stronger start. At the Rowdy Gaines meet, the fin was taller and the adjustments more cumbersome. I ended up at the bottom of the pool for most starts. Not a fan of those particular blocks. It's probably a hindrance for as many people as it helps.
I only do flat starts at meets. Occasionally in practice I will toy around with track starts, but not often. When I had an opportunity to do a track start on a fin block at a meet, I gave it a go. I was decidedly faster off the block (not surprising) but on top of that I thought I carried my momentum well into the water. Whereas I always felt a little off balance and less powerful with track starts on normal blocks.
I'm indifferent to their use.
This has nothing to do with fin blocks,but this is a starting block issue.Great pains are taken to make sure the walls are at least 25 yd apart in a 25 yd pool and if there is a bulkhead they are measured twice at all USMS meets.At the vast majority of older pools I have been at, I have noticed that the front of the block is not exactly parallel to the wall.I didn't really think that much of it,but at workout Weds I took a close look at one of the blocks and the block was rotated so that the right side was about a cm forward of the wall and the left side 1 cm behind.This means that someone using a track start with right leg forward has an advantage over someone with left leg forward.I don't want to :worms:,but results of meets have been thrown out for TT and records due to the pool being too short by 1 cm. Does anyone measure the blocks to make sure they don't extend past the wall?
This has nothing to do with fin blocks,but this is a starting block issue.Great pains are taken to make sure the walls are at least 25 yd apart in a 25 yd pool and if there is a bulkhead they are measured twice at all USMS meets.At the vast majority of older pools I have been at, I have noticed that the front of the block is not exactly parallel to the wall.I didn't really think that much of it,but at workout Weds I took a close look at one of the blocks and the block was rotated so that the right side was about a cm forward of the wall and the left side 1 cm behind.This means that someone using a track start with right leg forward has an advantage over someone with left leg forward.I don't want to :worms:,but results of meets have been thrown out for TT and records due to the pool being too short by 1 cm. Does anyone measure the blocks to make sure they don't extend past the wall?
Talk about a :worms:... :)
My experience was identical to Greg's. Normally don't do a track start, but did last week due to the wedge and felt like it made a definite difference. I don't really view these the same as the suits. I don't remember anything specific in the rules regarding blocks other than height and angle requirements, so seems like they are copacetic based on the existing rules.
My experience was identical to Greg's. Normally don't do a track start, but did last week due to the wedge and felt like it made a definite difference.
...I still beat you off the blocks. ;)
