Content

• Part 2 of 3: Diving with good technique
• Part 3 of 3: Trying Difficult Dives

1 Find a deep pool. When diving, you first of all dive into the water with your head, so to avoid hitting it and not getting a head or back injury, the depth of the pool should be sufficient. By Red Cross standards, 2.7 meters is a good diving depth. This is if you want to be extremely careful; in fact, in many pools, the diving area is 2.4 meters deep. Never dive into a pool that is less than 2.4 meters deep.

• If you are unsure of the depth of the pool, it is best not to dive into it. It is very difficult to determine the depth of the pool by eye. Find a pool that has a clearly marked depth. In most cases, there will be a sign by the pool indicating that diving is allowed.
• Do not dive into lakes, ponds, or other natural bodies of water unless these areas have been monitored and cleared for diving. The depth of these natural bodies of water is very variable and there may be rocks in the water that you cannot see from the shore.

2 Get used to the idea that you need to dive headfirst. Many beginners, especially children, are afraid to dive headfirst. And this makes sense, because in any other situation, falling head downward ends in pain and trauma. If you are nervous about diving, try these techniques to feel more comfortable:

• First, jump into the water with your feet forward to get used to the feeling of being plunged into the water from a height. Sometimes children think that water is hard, so to know that it is soft, they should splash in it.
• When in the water, practice falling. Get up on your feet and then let yourself fall forward and then back. See how the water "catches" you and prevents you from hitting.

3 Practice on the shore before diving into the water. For beginners, diving can be intimidating, so it helps to practice on the shore to imagine how you will dive before entering the water. Stand up straight with your arms above your head and your shoulders pressing against your ears. Keep your hands straight, place one palm on the other. Lower your chin. This way, when you step into the water, your upper body will be bunched up.

• You can also practice the diving movement on the shore. Find a grassy meadow or practice indoors on a soft carpet. Get on one knee and bend your hands and fingers towards the ground. Lean forward so that your fingers, and then your hands, touch the ground. Continue bending over until you lie on your stomach.
• Remember to keep your hands straight and put them one on one, and do not close the lock. It is also important to keep your chin close to your chest. These steps will help you streamline your body and gently enter the water.

4 Sit closer to the pool and dive smoothly into the water. Stand with your toes hanging slightly off the side of the pool and sit down. Straighten your arms above your head and don't forget to press your chin! Point your hands towards the water. Now tilt your body forward, as if slipping headfirst into the water. When your legs fly behind your upper body, straighten them and stretch your toes.

• Inhale before immersion and hold your breath. At first, you can take a sip of water, but over time, when you figure out what's what, holding your breath will become natural for you.
• Practice squat diving until you feel completely confident. When you feel that it is easy for you to dive this way, you can dive from a standing position.

5 Dive from a standing position. When you are ready to dive from a standing position, walk to the edge of the pool with your toes against the edge. Place your arms and shoulders in a dive position, arch your lower back and point your fingers toward the water. Press your chin down, then lean forward towards the water. As your legs fly over your upper body, hold them together and straighten your toes.

• It may be best to have someone help you the first few times. Standing diving can be intimidating, but it can be easier if you know someone is nearby to help you. Have the person stand behind you and place one hand on your stomach and the other on your back so he or she can guide you into the water.
• Once you have learned to dive from a standing position without assistance, you are ready to learn to dive with more advanced techniques. Soon you will be diving into the water without a second thought!

Part 2 of 3: Diving with good technique

1. 1 Place your leading foot on the side of the pool. If you are right-handed, your right leg is strong, if you are left-handed, this will be your left leg. Extend your supporting leg a little further than the second leg, so that your toes hang slightly from the side. With the other foot, you should stand firmly on the ground, the weight should be evenly distributed over the two legs. This is the starting position for the dive.
   • Practicing the diving technique. Try to start with the same leg position all the time. If you are jumping from a springboard, you can make a mark where to stand with your feet to make it easier for you to train.
   • When you jump calmly from the starting position, you can practice diving from a step or from a running start. This means taking three, five steps, pushing off with a strong leg while diving.
2. 2 Raise your arms above your head. Just as you did when training on the beach, raise your arms above your head and straighten your elbows. Press your shoulders against your ears. Keep your palms open with one hand on the other. Keep your hands and arms like this until you are ready to dive.
   • As always, remember to keep your chin close to your chest.
   • If you are doing a dive from a step or from a running start, then at first your arms will be at your sides, but before entering the water, your arms should always be raised up.
3. 3 Push off and dive into the pool. You need to push off and dive rather than bend over and fall into the water. Give length to your dive in this way. Enter the water with your fingertips first. When diving, the body should remain level, legs together, toes extended. When you are completely submerged in the water, start swimming or immediately float up to breathe in air.
   • Remember to inhale before diving and hold your breath as you dive into the water. Before you need to surface, you must be able to swim for a few seconds.
   • If you want to dive faster or further, try walking or running dives. It doesn't matter how you start the dive, you must enter the water in the same position, at the same angle.

Part 3 of 3: Trying Difficult Dives

1. 1 Dive from the bollard. In swimming competitions, the swim begins with a dive from a pedestal, which is slightly higher than the sides of the pool. To jump from this position, you sit down, grasp the curbstone with your hands and press your toes against it. When the signal or starting shot sounds, you dive not very deep and start swimming as soon as you find yourself in the water.
   • When diving from a bollard, it is important to group so that the body is streamlined as you enter the water, with as little splashing as possible. Keep your body straight and your toes extended. So the water will slow you down to a minimum, and you will not lose precious seconds for a swim.
2. 2 Dive from a high bollard. When you feel free to dive from the side of the pool, you can try diving from the pedestal. Diving from a side and from a low bollard is almost the same thing, but diving from a high bollard is a completely different matter. Its height is usually 10 meters, and to climb to the top, you need to climb a ladder.
   • Make sure you dive from a height to the deepest point, so you will dive faster into the water. To be safe, the depth must be at least 3.6 meters.
   • For diving, you can use the basic technique, the same that you dived before. The most important thing here is to dive at such an angle so as to enter the water as smoothly as possible. If you jump flat, then it all ends with a painful blow to the stomach.
3. 3 Learn to jump from a springboard. This is the correct name for a dive from a step or from a run. You take 3T5 steps and jump, pushing off the board with your feet before diving. The jump is done before any difficult dive where you need to gain height before ultimately entering the water. To jump, do the following:
   • Start at the end of the trampoline, take 3-5 steps. Three steps is enough for a good jump, but if you have short legs or feel more comfortable, you can take more steps.
   • In the last step, you should be near the edge of the springboard. Lunge and jump, at the same time raise your arms up. Don't jump with springboard; jump straight into the air.
   • Land with both feet on the springboard in a dive-ready pose with your arms above your head. You are now ready to ski jump and dive.
4. 4 Take a bent jump. This type of dive looks very elegant and is a good step forward once you have mastered the basic technique. You jump off the board, press your body against your hips, and then straighten and dive. To do a bent jump, do the following:
   • Start with a ski jump. Take three, five steps, push off and jump. Land on the edge of the trampoline with your arms raised above your head. Push off and jump a little forward from the springboard.
   • When jumping off the trampoline, raise your hips above shoulder level.
   • Reach your toes with your hands. Your body should resemble an inverted V.
   • Straighten your body to complete the dive.