Some people are afraid of the dark...some are afraid to go outside....
I'm afraid of the starting blocks!
Yes, sad and pathetic but true - the blocks scare the beejeezus outa me. Why, I don't know. When I swam in high school I had no fear (and no cap and goggles either - we're talkin' WAY back in the day...)
Well...flash forward several years to my now Masters career and my coach talks me in to competing. So we have a start clinic. From then on (and it's gotten worse) I developed a really strange phobia of actually getting on the blocks and jumping off.
Part of it has to do with the fact that my starts are terrible. I have practiced and I cannot seem to get my brain to wrap around the information of what I'm suppose to do, and to get my body to follow.
Lately it just so happens that I've been competing in really long races (i.e., 1650, 1000, etc.) and I start from the wall. But when I compete in the shorter distances I know I cannot get away with that. And, I'd really like to get over the irrational fear of diving into the water...AND I'd really like to have a decent, competitive start.
Suggestions? Thoughts? Therapy of any kind...?
PS: we do have a diving pool where we work out, so I have no excuse!
:(
Former Member
A couple of summers ago, there was a woman at our pool who was afraid to go off the low diving board...she was an excellent swimmer, but just afraid to dive from the diving board. I watched her working on her fear. She was at the pood during the times I was working with my coach and the pools were closed except for us and the kids in the children's pool taking lessons. This took place over the course of several weeks. The first thing she did was just climbing up onto the board... and immediately got down. She did that several times then next time she got up there she stayed for maybe 30 seconds. Each trip up she stayed a little longer until she felt comfortable enough to walk a little way out onto the board. She repeated waking onto the board trying to go a little further and staying a little longer each time. It seemed to get really rough when she got on the part of the board that was out over the water. She almost ran back off, but got back on and went back out a little further and stayed there a little bit longer. Well she kept that up until she got to the end of the board. Then she just stood, it seemed like forever and finally turned around and walked off. Her next try she sat down on the end of the board and sat and sat and sat and sat, got up walked off. Then got back on, sat on the end of the board, held her nose and slipped into the water. She repeated that numerous times. Her next progression was taking a step off the board. I watched her for about a week trying to get up the courage, she would just walk to the end of the board and stand forever,looking down at the water and then turn and walk off. She finally did take a step one day, but the next she was back to standing on the end of the board. To make a long story short, it took her well over two months to get to the point she could jump off the low dive. By that time my summer vacation was over and I never saw her again. I hope she learned to dive off the board. One day on the way out, she stopped to talk to me and my coach. During our chat she said she had made up her mind that she, not her fear was in control.
So my points are. 1) don't rush it, but do work on it in small steps. And 2) don't mentally rehearse your fear of going off the block, but do mentally rehearse yourself going off with confidence, without fear, and with good form. Imagine what you will look like going off the blocks with confidence and good form. 3) start practicing your starts from the wall. Try different starts to find out which one works best for you... track, grab, power all have different aspects to them that people like, maybe you are using one that doesn't fit you.
Former Member
I think you may be best with not going straight to the diving pool. Work from an in-water start (pushing off the wall) to a sitting start, to a starting dive from the deck, to a small block, up to a higher block until you can start from the competition block.
Have you identified what exactly you are scared of? Is it the height of the block or the (lack of) depth of the pool? I was going to put an anecdotal starting-related "horror story" here, but then deleted it, because I don't want to contribute to your fear.
Once you've identified what makes you afraid, then try to address that. Hopefully, you can overcome it. Good luck.
Kae (who hasn't dived off a starting block in years, so don't feel obligated to take this advice)
Originally posted by Fishgrrl
I meant...."....I made him remove the POLE..." not the pool!
Freudian slip.
I'm sure many a frustrated swimmer has told their coach to remove the pole from their... pool. :D
When I was learning to dive (young age group), my initial problem was getting my head down. I wanted to see where I was going, didn't trust tucking my head. Gave myself a lot of nose-bleeds that way, before I got comfortable diving. (I also had trouble doing forward rolls in gym class, for much the same reason.)
Hi,
I love doing starts :) I remember putting a kickboard out in front of the block, not a pole. The other thing we did was to dive into a hula hoop... but I digress 'cause you're not there yet.
My son, who is four, started "swimming" last year, started diving off the side on his knees. I might suggest the same for you.
Get someone to help you like I helped him.
He would get on one knee and curl his toes over the edge, the other knee he was leaning on (or he'd fall over!). He would get into a streamline above his head, tuck his chin, and I would help him roll into the water by holding his hips. He loved it, and because of his streamline his goggles stayed on. Of course we did this in the deep end 'cause he'd go down pretty far :)
From there, once you're comfy, go to diving off the side or rolling to begin with (just lean over and roll in), then eventually the blocks.
For what it's worth... I learned to swim when I was 10. One day diving into the 3 ft. end I hit my head, braces in mouth, not good. I got out and got cleaned up and then my coach made me do another start. Probably a good thing.
Also, as an adult, I would get dizzy for awhile up on the block, don't know why. To overcome this I would just stand on the block, move around and get comfortable, nowhere near the front of it. Over time I was comfortable again. I still, however, can't tuck my chin because I do get dizzy.
Do try though what I was doing with my son, it really worked for him. Hope this helps. You can do it :)
Former Member
Wow. I wouldn't recommend having someone actually throw you off the block, Kari (sorry Craig!), but there's some point to that.
If you can get up onto the block (if you went to a start clinic, I'm assuming you can make it that far, and that your actual fear lies in getting off the block the way they want you to), do what everyone else is telling to and GO SLOW.
I used to love doing block starts when I was an age grouper, until i went to a meet when I was 12, and I slipped off the block and landed funny in the water. After that, I was petrified of falling off the block, or going off it at all. It still makes me shudder thinking about it (I'm sure that helped you, but here's my point, promise)
My coach spend an entire two weeks with me working on this. He understood my fear, and suggested that we just work on getting back on the blocks first. Once I spent some time standing on them, looking around, getting comfortable with the height again, we worked on curling my toes around the edge of the block. That was is, just toe curling, for three hours, two days. My coach was a very patient man. He should have gotten a medal.
After the toe curling, he suggested that I literally just jump into the pool. Walk off the block, jump, whatever. Just make the connection from block to water, feet first. Do that until you're tired of doing it. Then do some standing dives. If they freak you out too much, go back to jumping feet first for awhile. Once you get comfortable doing standing dives, lean over and dangle your arms down, just a little, and do the dive thing again. Or the jump thing, whichever. Just slowly get comfortable doing the little motions that turn a dive from the wall into a start off the blocks.
It sounds really tough, but I swear, if you get somebody there with you, to encourage you (and having them hold onto the block helps, if you have the blocks that move, like we do), it will all seem like child's play to you. Promise.
So, to review: Stand. Curl. Jump. Dive. lean and jump. Lean and Dive. You can do it!
Former Member
Thanks for all the awesome suggestions and for helping me to not feel "stupid." I told one guy I swim with that I had this phobia and he looked at me like I had two heads....
Anyway...your encouragement is so helpful and I am actually looking forward to trying your suggestions. The idea of just getting near the blocks, jumping off feet first, starting slowly, taking my time, etc. makes sense and has calmed me down a great deal.
It really is strange...as I mentioned in my first post I was fine as a teenager, and when I started swimming masters and decided to compete I felt confident about the blocks. But when our coach had a start clinic and I got near them, I just froze. The first thing he had us do was just stand on the side of the pool and slowly bend at the waist and go in head first, which seems like an easy thing to do (and it was for most of the group). But somehow the idea of going into the water head first freaked me out. A few months later he had another clinic and this time I actually got on the blocks. We were doing a drill where he had a pole extended in front of the block - again, a great way to concentrate on keeping your hips up and diving properly, but the idea of trying to jump over a pole and into the water was worse! In fact, I made him remove the pool or I wouldn't go off the block!
And...I've had bad experiences in meets where my goggles fall off...etc. Those dang blocks just seem so high...
Whew (wiping sweat from brow...). OK. In with the positive...out with the negative....
New mantra: start slow, feet first, take your time, it's just water.
Again - thanks to you all for your encouraging posts.
I have a meet in March, where I'll be swimming short events and diving confidently from the blocks!
Former Member
I meant...."....I made him remove the POLE..." not the pool!
Freudian slip.
Former Member
Originally posted by Fishgrrl
In fact, I made him remove the pool or I wouldn't go off the block!
I think I rather try it with the pool. It would be a lot scarier to dive off the block without it.:D
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Don't feel so bad. I hate diving off the blocks. I am a little scared myself and refuse to dive anymore then I have to. Which means I only do it in a meet.
Excellent/professional advice from laineybug.
Another suggestion, don’t be afraid to ask for a shoulder to lean on, literally. I know of a few swimmers who ask another swimmer if they can hold on to a shoulder as they get up on the block. The physical contact helps to stabilize any wobbly steps and the human contact helps with the mental wobbles.
Former Member
Some thoughts:
When I was in high school swimming, some blocks were flat (top surface was level) and others were tipped toward the pool. I found it easier to stand and feel comfortable on the flat ones, but I always got a better start off the slanted ones.
Maybe it's just a matter of comfort for you, standing on a surface that seems like it is trying to throw you into the pool.
If this is the case, then maybe the previous suggestion of simply having a shoulder to lean on as you get situated would do the trick.
They still cause me to struggle, BTW, but I manage to fight through it.
Can you do a dive start from the edge of the pool instead of from up on the block? If not, then you should work through that first, and then maybe the block will no longer be an issue. Learn to do it from the edge first so that you don't have the added complication of suddenly feeling like you are on a high dive while standing up on the block...