Diving for Beginners
Experienced swimmers make diving into the pool look easy, but it can be a challenge to learn if you’re new to the sport. There’s no reason to be intimidated by diving — remember, everyone had to learn to dive at some point, even the pros!
Step 1: Start with Streamlining
Streamline position is the foundation of good swimming, both for your dive and for each competitive stroke.
To start, place your hands on top of each other, and wrap your top thumb around your bottom hand. Practice raising your arms overhead in this streamlined position, squeezing your arms to your ears.
Once you are comfortable in this streamlined position, practice pushing off the wall. Start by sinking under the surface, extending your arms into a streamlined position, and pushing off! Hold the streamline position and glide for a few meters before coming up.
Step 2 : Sitting Dive
If you’re feeling solid pushing off, it’s time to add a little height to the equation! Next, you’re going to push yourself into the water from a sitting position on the side of the pool.
Once you hit the water, push off with your feet and glide into a streamline position.
Step 3 : Kneeling Dive
Next, move onto a few kneeling dives.
Starting in a kneeling position with your arms in streamline position, lean forward and fall into the water, maintaining your streamline arms. Don’t worry about pushing too much with your legs yet.
After practicing this variation a few times, try adding a push with your legs as you lean forward! This will help you enter the water with a bit more speed.
Step 4 : Standing Dive
And last step is the standing dive.
To start, keep your feet shoulder width apart. Place your hands in streamline position, lean forward slightly and bend your knees. When you’re ready, push through your feet and dive in. Try to maintain the streamline position as you enter the water. Think about diving through a small circle a meter or 2 away from the wall.