twisting

Question
Hi,
I am a gymnast and was wondering how important it is to twist with your arm up instead of both down. I'm joining my high school diving team this year and I want to do well.  Will my score be affect by this technique?  Could you also describe how to twist with one arm up?
Thanks,
Casey

Answer
Hi Casey -

I have had many years experience turning gymnasts into divers so I will give you some basic information on the differences between twisting like a gymnast and twisting like a diver:

First of all, you can twist with your arms below your head in diving. The traditional way to twist in diving is to have one arm across your chest and the other above and behind your head. There have been many successful divers who twist "gymnastically" or like a trampolinist with their arms below their head and one side of their body or in the center of their chest.

The reason we twist the traditional way described above is that it makes it easier to go head first. Gymnasts only twist to their feet but divers do both with the intention of eventually only twisting head first in competitions.

Twisting the way you already know will not affect your score. The only thing that will affect your score (when going feet first) is not going in the water with your arms at your sides. If your arms are at your chest or you go in with your arms over your head, this is considered a deficient dive and highest score you can get from each judge is a 4.5.

If you want to twist the traditional way, I will describe the way a diver would twist to the left. If you twist to the right then you need to do the opposite:

With your arms stretched out to your sides, take your right arm and place it across your chest to the point your hand is under your armpit. Now take your left arm and place it behind your head with your palm touching the back of your head. This is the correct twisting position. You should practice placing your arms there and walking around in a full turn on the deck a few times. The final phase is to be able to do a full twisting jump on the deck. Jump up straight and place your arms quickly as described above. If you can land balanced, and have a good front flip straight off the board you should be able to do a front flip/1 twist.

One of the most important differences between gymnastics and diving when it comes to twisting is that in diving, when we twist forward, we do it in whole numbers (1, 2 & 3). When we twist backwards, we do it in half numbers (1/2, 1.5 & 2.5). This is so we can go head first. I would avoid twisting forward in half numbers or backwards in full numbers as that is not the nature of our sport.You can, for example, do a back flip with one twist in high school meets but the more you do that the harder it will be to figure out how to twist backwards in half number so you can go head first. It is not possible to twist backwards in whole numbers and end up going head first. (There is no such thing as a back 1.5 somersault with 1 twist!)

Good luck with your transition to diving and have fun. Don't hesitate to ask me further questions about how to turn gymnastic skills into diving ones.

Tom Trapp