!!!!
...I
need more
pools to
survive ...
In competition, dives are performed from a firm platform 5 or 10 metres (16.4 or 32.8 feet) above the water or from an elastic springboard 1 or 3 m high. In Olympic contests only the 10-metre platform and 3-metre springboard are used. Dives performed in competition are listed, together with a rating of their degree of difficulty of performance, in a table published by the Fédération Internationale de Natation Amateur (International Amateur Swimming Federation), the world governing body of amateur aquatic sports. Contestants are required to do certain of the listed dives, as well as several of their own choice. 10 judges score each dive, with attention paid to takeoff, bearing of the body in the air, execution of the prescribed movements, and entry into the water. The scores for each dive are totaled and multiplied by the degree of difficulty. The diver with the highest total score for all dives at the end of the contest is the winner. In the springboard competition, men make 11 dives: 5 voluntary and 6 optional. Women make the same five voluntary dives, but only five optional dives. Platform events require 10 dives from men and nine from women. From platform, a diver reach the water at 60 km/h (37 m/h).
Competitive dives are divided into five groups, with the addition of arm-stand dives done from fixed platforms only. The first includes the forward dives, in which the person faces the water, dives out from the edge of the board or platform, and rotates forward one-half or more turns before entering the water. The second comprises the backward dives, in which the diver stands at the edge, facing away from the water, then springs and rotates backward. The third is the reverse group, in which the diver takes off in the forward position but then reverses his spin toward the board. In the fourth group, the inward dives, the diver stands on the edge of the platform and springs backward but rotates forward, again toward the board. The fifth classification is that of the twisting dives, in which the diver rotates the body on its long axis while performing one of the other four types of dives--as in a forward 1 1/2 somersault with 3 twists. The five voluntary dives comprise one selected from each group.
The majority of dives included in the roster may be executed in three distinct positions: straight, pike, or tuck. In the straight position, the body is held extended, with no flexion at the hips or knees. In the pike position, there is a bend at the hips but no knee flexion. In the tuck position, both hips and knees are flexed and the body resembles a ball. The most complicated dives may be done in free (any) position, a loose but graceful combination of the others.
Anna
Lindberg (SWE)HOW TO RECOGNIZE A GOOD DIVE ?
Here are some basic tips to value a dive:
1) takeoff = 80% of a dive depends
from a correct takeoff. The diver must jump as high as he can and
obviousely without going too far from the board; in diving one of the
main problem is finish the dive as soon as possible to prepare the body
for a perfect vertical entry without any splash. If a diver starts jumping
without searching for maximum height or jumping far instead high from the
board, he will surely finish the dive too close to the water, perhaps
with insufficient time to make a perfect entry.During takeoff diver head
and shouders don' t have to lean too much far from vertical position or
he will loose height, and consequently time to prepare a good entry.
2) fast somersaulting and twisting = this is for me the
difficultiest part of diving! When you are doing difficult dives, you know
that water is getting closer and closer to your body, so during takeoff
your mind is concentrated of starting the dive as fast as a man can ....
but so you are probabily not jumping as high as you could ! Fear makes
bad thing in diver's mind: even in not few olympic divers too you can see
that the difficultiest the dive, the less they push from the board, because
they are wrongly trying to start immediately rotation, so forgetting to
earn another 30-40 cm of height/time to finish the dive higher.
Multiple twist and somersoults absolutely require at first a maximum
jump, and and only when the diver has already pushed at 110% and
his feet are close to leave the board he can finally start to create
rotation/twist by putting down head and shoulders again as fast as he can
! First a high jump and second a fast rotation created by
upper body movement toward or inward the water, depending from the dive.
3) spotting = as the diver leave defintly the board, he has moment by moment to see where and how his body is positioned in the air, by continuously spotting at water,the board and all other firm objects in the surroundings that can help him. In moderm multiple twisting and somersoulting dives, it's not anymore sufficient to feel where our body is in the air, we have to see it: if we feel the dive and we see our body position and distance from water, we will have much greater chances to don't miss the correct entry.
4) no splashes entrying the water = international judging
rules dont'clearly talk about splashes when entrying the water, but seeing
a perfect body line that breaks the surface with a bang and makes no splashes
at all is much more nice to see, to judge and to capable to get a perfect
10.
A ripped entry depends basically from the amount of water that diver's
body move entering water: the fewest, the less will be the splashes.
So nr.1 think for a diver is a super perfect body alignment just before
water contact, head in a straight poition, arms climped over the head in
line with ears, no arch at all on the back, toes and knee pointed. All
those manouvres has to be done with an enourmus effort to stretch perfectly
the body to the water like a knive's blade. If you enter water not stretched
or worse in not an hands to feet aligned way, you will move more water,
creating a bigger hole in it, that when closing will produce a bigger splash.
Obviously feeling this position is not easy when you are falling down
a 10 m platform, thats is one of the reason of concentrating on perfect
takeoff, why a perfect one will allow you much more time to concentrate
for a ripped entry.
Others non-splashing techniques to join to this first basic rule are
flat hands opposed to water while entering and underwater somersoulting
just after the entries, in order to create in the water a small depression
that is proved to absorb part of the produced splashes.
5) diver's graceful presence on the board, in the air, and exiting
the pool = Russian divers were first to introduce coreography in
diving, and we all remember Greg Louganis or Klaus Dibiasi smoothness,
effortless smiling dives. They were surely unique class champions but all
of us has to try to present ourself in a relaxed and smiling way on the
board, jumping off witout any too brutal movements, put an obsessive cure
on a straight or perfect pike or tuck position in the air, during entry,
and exit the pool with a graceful look. All coaches has to "stress" their athletes
to assume in every part of the dive the proper position, always toes pointed,
hands relaxed but pointed, arms stretched, legs toghether during takeoff
and the dive, hands have to touch the top of the toes in a pike position,
assuming a diving position has to be very fast but not brutal. The choice
of a nice bathingsuit, of the right color, a shaved face on a sunbathed
body are still important factors.
All this small aspect can turn a 7 dive into a 8,5 dive, why we have
to loose thoose points right from the start ?
Fu
Mingxia (CHI)why don't you take a look on a great biomechanic
diving
article ?
... or a diving
judges clinic full of useful technical tips and advices ....?
other cool diving sites : my
Greg Louganis page
unofficial
Greg Louganis home page ( from another fan )
the real
Greg Louganis homepage !!!!!
Dutch
Diving ( by Patrick van der Meer )
Britannica's
diving heroes pages
Anna
Lindberg (SWE) home page
Fu
Mingxia (CHI) home page
back to my homepage