reaction time

2) Sumerfield, Bill H M46r:-0.12 Looks like you got away with one, Bill. I actually had the opportunity to practice relay starts the week before the meet using a touchpad in the water and one on the block. It was pretty cool to get instant feedback. After a few tries it was pretty easy to consistently get within the .1-.2 second range. My coach suggested the best way to do relay starts is to NOT look at the swimmer. Instead concentrate on the "plane" the swimmer needs to break. As soon as they cross this plane start your arm windup and stepup without paying any more attention to the swimmer in the water. Once you're commited to that start you should go full bore and not try to adjust for what the finishing swimmer is doing. I really think this is good advice, but it's not as easy as it sounds!

My coach suggested the best way to do relay starts is to NOT look at the swimmer. Instead concentrate on the "plane" the swimmer needs to break. As soon as they cross this plane start your arm windup and stepup without paying any more attention to the swimmer in the water. Once you're commited to that start you should go full bore and not try to adjust for what the finishing swimmer is doing. ...and pray as your feet disengage from the block... That would be nice to pratice like that. I'll bet it helps a lot.

Looks like you got away with one, Bill. Yeah, I did -- although it may not have helped as much as it appears because I was so freaked out about how close it was that I did a really lousy dive and pullout. I almost stopped to see if we'd been deked. But it did result in my best 50 *** split ever, so I'll take it. I sure wish we could have practiced with pads and sensors. That's pretty cool.

The bit about real track events being disqualified if you're under a certain threshold is true (as far as I know), it was bandied about in public back during the Ben Johnson scandal (he had explosive starts). I think I remember .29 as threshold, but I'm not sure.

I used to sharpen my reaction time by 'jackrabbiting' on a green light for a few days before a big meet. It was always amusing to do this to some 'vette or muscle car beside me; it would torque them up right proper when I backed off right away (mazda p/u at the time). I felt that it helped and since I was a police officer at the time, it was all ok (all in the name of traffic psychological science y'know).

The only bad thing about the reaction time stuff is they can dq your relays a lot easier:doh: I don't think they were actually using the reaction times to DQ relays. I noticed in the relay results the swimmer next to me had a -0.09 reaction and the team wasn't disqualified. One thing to keep in mind about the track start, though. Yes, it will help your reaction time, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the better start for everyone. If the grab start gives you more forward velocity off the blocks and hence allows you to hit the water with more speed going into your streamline, then that could easily offset the reaction difference.

A negative reaction time doesn't necessarily mean a false start. Depends on how the sensor works. I could imagine being in contact with the top of the block, but the sensor thinks you've left if it doesn't register any weight. (You are stretched over the water, but toes still on the block.)

I don't think they were actually using the reaction times to DQ relays. I noticed in the relay results the swimmer next to me had a -0.09 reaction and the team wasn't disqualified.Yes, they were using reaction times for relay DQ’s. However, before the officials look at the reaction times on relay take-offs, there must first be dual confirmation from the take-off judges that an early take-off occurred. So it is actually more difficult to get DQ’ed with automated take-off judging, since the automated take-off time can overrule a called early take-off.

OK, that explains it. Interesting that Rob would post in a thread about start reaction times! How many times exactly did Mark Gill announce that Rob has the slowest reaction in masters swimming, anyway? It was a lot!

Oh yes did they use reaction times for relays - our mixed free got nabbed. I didn't see any reaction times listed for any of our team's relays, though. I would have loved to see the "-0.09" for that DQ and see what the rest of the relay transitions were. Oh well. I did see someone got away with a -0.17. They finished 16th, but still... As for track vs. grab, Kirk, I agree with you. I was somewhat vague in my comments about which to change to for this reason, but mentioned that I have already made one flip flop and will probably make many more. Whatever it takes to make sure I can beat you in the 500 next year in Austin!!! :fish2: