The Anatomy of a FAST Diving Block in Swimming

[@s_koci02]

Slipping from the block at competition is one of the baddest feelings in the world😅

[@darealmiao]

The worst type of blocks are the small, shakey, slippery, plastic blocks.

[@FaresKsebati]

Agreed! Diving off a slippery block without a fin is anxiety-inducing to say the least...

[@hairyspider151]

They should be illegal for all forms of competetive swim. It's not only annoying to use, it's dangerous.

[@drexeldragon1723]

Maybe a silly question, but as a triathlete with no formal swimming training, my PRs that I keep for myself are strictly in swims in which I do a push start. I'd be curious to compare my times to more competitive swimmers but I'm not sure about how much time I'm potentially losing becuase I don't dive in.

[@FaresKsebati]

Good question! I'd say the dive can give you anywhere from 0.5-2.0 seconds over just pushing off the wall. The reason the range is so big is because a lot of the dive benefit is how much speed you can carry into the underwater portion (streamline) and then into the first few strokes. For swimmers who have a really good underwater streamline, it might be closer to 2 seconds, but if the dive isn't very good, then it will be a second or less benefit.

[@drexeldragon1723]

@@FaresKsebati thanks for the response. There is one sprint triathlon that I do annually with a pool swim. They just started letting us dive in this year. It was pretty cool, but my gym doesn't have blocks and is only 3 feet deep at the walls so I can't really practice.

[@Jnip08]

can you analyze the daiya seto technique

[@myswimpro]

Great suggestion!

[@andrewthomas8737]

I still dive 2 feet forward. I have a bad back and pretty tight