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Question
Hi,
I'v been doing diving for the last year, and have started work on both front
dive half twist and reverse dive straight. With the front dive half twist as soon
as i put extra height on it. e.g. going off a higher board, i seem to loose my
shape, firstly i always seem to pike, I also am unable to keep the half twist in
control and start it early enough. Do you have any tips?? For the revers dive
straight i cant seem to get my arms through enough to get the hips up. Have
you any advice.
Many thanks,

Anthony

Answer
Anthony - Here is my advice on these two dives:

Front dive 1/2 twist - In order to be successful at this dive, you need to be able to do a good front dive straight and a good back dive straight. The reason is that when done right, this dive starts like a front dive and ends like a back dive. When you say you always seem to pike, this may mean your front dive straight has a pike in it. The other keys to this dive are understanding what your arms have to do to make the dive work. If you twist to the left, then your left arm controls the forward rotation and your right arm does the twisting (the opposite is true if you twist to the right). For twisting to the left, if your left arm is lowered, it will increase your forward rotation, if it is elevated, it will decrease the rotation. The right arm controls the twist: If you bring it behind you, you will twist more, if you bring it over your head, you will twist less. At the end of the dive,you should feel like you have attained a back dive straight before you enter.

Reverse dive - This dive also requires the ability to do a good back dive straight because when done right, after you take off, it is just a back dive facing the other way. Before you leave the board, you have to have your arms all the way over your head to create the rotation you need. As you take off, you need to set your arms to the side at right angles to continue the rotation. Once you have gotten upside down, you should see the water and enter like a good back dive.

The other thing you may consider is dropping these dives from your list and instead, do a twisting group dive like a front or back somersault with a 1/2 twist. These dives will lead to harder ones but a front dive 1/2 twist does not lead to anything. The reverse dive these days is done mostly in the tuck and pike positions as straight has become outdated. Doing reverse dive tuck and pike will also help with reverse optionals.

For more info on how you can get better, go to these websites:

www.usadiving.org - Click on 'Store' and then 'Educational Materials'. There you will find books, videos and cd roms about improving diving skills.

www.usadiver.com - Articles about diving.

www.diving.about.com -Site that explains the sport

www.aaudiving.org

www.flipnrip.com

www.springboardsandmore.com

www.divemeets.com

Good luck with improving these dives.