Inward dives

Question
My daughter is 15, a fairly accomplished high school diver, and has developed a real issue with her inward dive pike and worse with her inward 1 1/2 tuck. On the dive she tends to go back and to the side. What would probably score a 7 or 7 1/2 otherwise is reduced to a 6. On the 1 1/2 it is not only to the side but is beginning to be crooked. We have a couple of different coaches and they are having trouble coming up with a new approach to help her. She says she doesn't feel herself doing it. Suggestions? Thank you.

Answer
Elizabeth -

The problem your daughter is having is fairly common in high school diving.I'll address the reason it is probably happening and then give you some suggestions on how her coaches can fix it.

Divers dive to the side or are crooked in this group because they are afraid of the board. There is a certain part of her brain (the protective part# that says to turn away from a solid object so you do not hit it. Since the diver is rotating in the direction of the board, this part of the protective response in the brain increases and takes over her actions. It is something she has to learn to turn off before she does any inward group dives.Visualize doing the dive squarely in front of the board and then perform the dives#s)without any internal dialogue that lets this part of the brain take over.

Since you state that she cannot feel herself doing it, she may be doing the dive with her eyes closed, especially on the inward one and a half. Ask her if she does hard dives with her eyes closed. If she does, it could be a reason why she can't tell she dives sideways. The other thing you should do is video tape her inward group dives from all angles, right, left, in front of the board and behind it. Then show her right away that she is to the side or crooked. You have to do this during practice so she can review it right away, then make a correction.Looking at the dives at home is too late to help fix it.It has to be viewed right after the mistake.

She needs to understand that it is better to be a little too far out but in front of the board on this group, than to be the right distance but to the side or crooked.If she can learn to do the dive a little out but squarely, she can eventually bring it in to the right distance.

Re-learning the inward group is also something she needs to do. Instead of an inward dive pike, do it tuck in front of the board. Also return to doing an inward 1 somersault and practice the same thing - just do the dive without going to the side or being crooked. When these two dives are mastered, then do the inward one and a half. Not doing an inward dive pike is OK - it is only one tenth less degree of difficulty - no big deal.

Another thing that will help her is to find a club team that has a dry board. If you are not familiar with this apparatus, it is a full size diving board with a landing pit in front of it. There is an overhead rope, pulley and harness system the diver uses to make corrections. It would greatly help her improve the inward group. To find a club team, go to www.usadiving.org, click on Clubs and then Find a Club. Enter your state and a list of teams will come up. Hopefully there is one close to you that has a dry board.Also at this website, click on Store and then Educational Materials. Have her coaches look for books, cd roms and dvd's that could help them in solving problem dives.

Good luck. Hope all this helps.