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
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.
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.
