I am working out in a pool that does not have blocks, so obviously I time myslef from a push start.My question is:what should I expect my times to be if I start from blocks vs. push off the wall, what is the time difference between the two?
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Originally posted by mrcnwmn
Isn't it moot because it really depends on when you start and stop measuring?
I typically watch the clock and prepare for the push off about a second before the interval. My guess (because I can't actually see the clock when I start) is that I push as the clock hits the start time. I notice no difference between my block starts and my wall starts when it comes to time. As I suggested, this is probably because I'm mentally adjusting for the time it takes me to set-up for a wall start.
What I think you are simulating is a "rolling start". When you start from a block (at the sound of the beep or gun), you can't be moving at all. (Otherwise you get ding'd for a false start.) But what you are doing on the wall start is precisely that -- you are moving, and trying to time your "jump" to coincide with the sound of the gun. For many people on the block, there is as much as a second delay (more often a half second, in my estimation) between the sound of the start and their actual movement.
So the "mental adjustment" on your wall start is also a physical adjustment.
Imagine the change in start dynamics if they had progressing lights to trigger the start -- (like in drag racing)! (Timing your wall start when you know the second hand is going to hit the 12 is a lot like that.) You'd get to fly immediately at the flash of the green light, and you could see exactly when it was coming, and you wouldn't have to stand there in trigger-happy expectation, twitching and tensing and relaxing and possibly getting caught off-guard by a slow-fingered starting official. (I prefer quick starts as close to the "take your mark" announcement as possible.)
Originally posted by mrcnwmn
Isn't it moot because it really depends on when you start and stop measuring?
I typically watch the clock and prepare for the push off about a second before the interval. My guess (because I can't actually see the clock when I start) is that I push as the clock hits the start time. I notice no difference between my block starts and my wall starts when it comes to time. As I suggested, this is probably because I'm mentally adjusting for the time it takes me to set-up for a wall start.
What I think you are simulating is a "rolling start". When you start from a block (at the sound of the beep or gun), you can't be moving at all. (Otherwise you get ding'd for a false start.) But what you are doing on the wall start is precisely that -- you are moving, and trying to time your "jump" to coincide with the sound of the gun. For many people on the block, there is as much as a second delay (more often a half second, in my estimation) between the sound of the start and their actual movement.
So the "mental adjustment" on your wall start is also a physical adjustment.
Imagine the change in start dynamics if they had progressing lights to trigger the start -- (like in drag racing)! (Timing your wall start when you know the second hand is going to hit the 12 is a lot like that.) You'd get to fly immediately at the flash of the green light, and you could see exactly when it was coming, and you wouldn't have to stand there in trigger-happy expectation, twitching and tensing and relaxing and possibly getting caught off-guard by a slow-fingered starting official. (I prefer quick starts as close to the "take your mark" announcement as possible.)
