Is off the side of the pool better than nothing at all for practicing starts?
The pool I practice in has no start blocks.
Learning how to dive start here.
Thanks
Thanks everyone.
Here is a video of a 25M sprint from a dive. I'm still a little chicken and it's only good for a second or less compared to a push right now. But I'm very cautious because I don't want to reinjure an old injury (shoulder dislocation.
Looks like I'm croocked.
25Mwithdive.flv video by C6C6CH3vo - Photobucket
Sometimes there are no starting blocks because the pool is not deep enough to dive into and there is no supervision or lifeguarding. Novice divers need additional depth; big/tall strong people especially. The minimum depth requirements are there for a reason. Modern competitive dives go much deeper that the old-school "skip like a rock across the water surface" flat racing starts.
Striking the bottom can have catastrophic results. I remember a tall Jr National caliber swimmer breaking vertebra in his neck on a dive into 3'6" water (legal allowable minimum depth at that time). Fortunately he was not paralyzed and was able to return to swimming a year after surgery to fuse his neck. He was one of the lucky ones.
Be careful and ideally you would have somebody supervising you.
Unless you're a sprinter it doesn't make that much difference. I recently got beat handily in the mile by a swimmer who started on the deck.
Sort of like distance runners starting on the line and sprinters starting in the blocks....
The key to starts is practice, practice, practice.
Be careful and ideally you would have somebody supervising you.
A lot of pools also do not allow for swimmers to practice starts from the blocks without a coach. Make sure that you can practice with someone.
Also, you mentioned that you had a previous history of a shoulder dislocation. One thing that may happen on starts is if you do not streamline tight enough your hands may come apart. This could put extra stress on your shoulder. I suggest making sure that your streamline from the dive is super tight to keep the shoulder in a better position to prevent it from getting pushed back.
I would think it would be better than nothing. At least you could concentrate on your entry (going through a small hole in streamline position) and your breakout (how to get back up to the surface, how many dolphin kicks, if any, sensing the surface). Keep in mind you will want to make adjustments the day of a competition to make sure you do what you want to do when you do a start from a block. :2cents:
Well you definitely need to learn how to dive off the deck before you attempt to do it off the block. Work on a shallow dive. First practice in the diving well in case you go deep. Once you consistantly dive shallow you could practice off the deck in the shallow water. You can always start off the deck in meets. Unless you're a sprinter it doesn't make that much difference. I recently got beat handily in the mile by a swimmer who started on the deck.
Definitely try it,it is way better than not practicing starts at all.See if you can find a pool with blocks(that will let you use them) that you could go to once a month or so if you can.
Did my first practice start off the block today with a coach nearby. What an incredible difference compared to the side of the pool.
Glad you are making progress Steve.
Your stroke has come a long way since your first video. It still needs a lot of work, but you are moving in the right direction rather quickly.
