Alright guys day 10
today is day 10 and today's a huge day because we actually started working on
diving, we added that in because up to this point we worked on
streamline, we worked on our kick, we worked on some freestyle and backstroke but today we
got into diving
and the way that I like to approach it, I take it from a very basic level
and make sure-- even if they know how to dive that we all do the exact
same thing to make sure that everybody's got the key component in place
alright so bare with me through the process because it actually works
The big key that I like to emphasize is keeping your chin down. Now, why keep your chin
down?
The reason that I like to emphasize keeping the chin down
is because if the chin comes up
while you're trying to dive, if you let it sneak up
Then it exposes your chest, it pulls your chest up and
a lot of times it causes
a belly flop and the big thing that I have found as far as swimmers being scared
It's not so much that they're scared
that they're going to flop it's actually having their head
beneath their feet. It's an awkward position
they feel like they don't have any control and they're very
uncomfortable
once they can get that down, they can be comfortable with that
upside down position then everything falls into place real quick
So that's something that we worked on just getting the
basic motion
I don't care if they have a perfect dive on the first day. They don't have to
nail a perfect streamline and a smooth entry
it's just if they can get their head beneath their feet
as they're going in the water then that's a successful day
because once that happens everything else starts rolling because they see
that
that's an OK position and they're not going to be hurt. Jordan got my last one
and it hurt my feelings
bad, bad. I'm going to see if she gets this one
Are you ready? Jordan: Yea
if April showers bring May flowers
what do May flowers bring?
Jordan: I don't know
Pilgrims
Oh, because of the ship. That was more of a riddle, that wasn't even a joke
I go through a little process and here is the
process
I always put a kickboard next to the edge of the pool because
believe it or not if the kids are just on their knees on the concrete
then it's actually a little bit painful and that can be a big distraction
while they're trying to dive, that's one thing you don't want
is anything to be a distraction or something that's going to
occupying their brain that their knees are hurting so that just adds to
the anxiety
if they're a little bit nervous about diving in the first place. So we
always put a kick board
up to the side of the pool and they kneel on that. First one is in a kneeling
position
with a tight streamline and all I want them to do is just
fall into the water. The big thing with that is just trying to get that head
below the feet and hopefully
they go in with the top of their head and they don't lift that head and go in
with their face
the way that I try to keep that head down is by
telling them to put their chin down and with the streamlined arms I
want them to lock 'em behind their head because it adds a little bit
of security of not raising their head if it's actually locked their by their arms
If their arms are like this then their head will slip up
really easily causing the chest to come out and potentially a belly flop
so I always have them lock their arms behind their head
so it actually helps them out a little bit as far as keeping their head down in
that position
So we start off in a kneeling position with both knees down
the next one is in one knee down
on the board and the other foot, making sure the toes are curled
at the very beginning and then they do the same thing all they're doing is
falling in at this point. There's no
jumping or trying to do competitive start. The next one
is where they're standing with two feet they're not in any kind in kneeling
but they keep both sets of toes
curled around the edge and all they're doing is just
falling in. Once they can become comfortable with that
the last thing that we do is we had a small hop
not necessarily a starting jump, but we just had a little hop
once they they become comfortable with just diving in general
everything else falls into place. It just goes boom boom boom boom boom. So if they
can conquer that fear
learn to trust themselves to go in with the top of their head
and not with their face. If they can keep that head down one time
get up the courage to keep their head down one time to go in with the top of their
head
they can do with the rest of their life and that's the awesome thing about is that
they only have to make themselves do it once
it's only scary once and then after that they're like 'this is awesome'
They can just do it repetitively for the rest of their life
and they don't even think twice about it
That's what we did today, we got diving
under control we had our first lesson on it and we'll have a couple more
where we'll fine-tune it. Today was a big success
just about everybody was diving. I think we had one or two that
were 'maybes' in there but other than that everybody was diving
and we did a little bit of yardage after that but that was it
So I hope you guys had a great practice
at your team. If you have any questions or concerns please ask I'll always
answer them as soon as I have the opportunity
if you have any jokes leave them in the comments below and I'll try to use those
on the coaches and everybody have a great
weekend-- Take Care. I hope you guys are enjoying this series I know
I'm having a lot of fun producing this
Don't forget to subscribe, check out yesterday's episode
should be right down there. If you have any questions or
comments leave those below and I will answer them as soon as I can