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!
:(
Parents
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...
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...
