safe diving instruction

Question
Hi Eric,
I have two questions. What kind of dive would you recommend to teach 6 year olds and what would be a reasonable coach to kids ratio for a swim team?
Thanks you so much!
Sue

Answer
Sue,
I would say that getting any 6 year old to dive in the pool is a great start.  The type of dive is truly irrelevant.  I know that there is a lot of discussion about track starts vs. regular starts.  To be honest, 6 year olds aren't fast enough for either start to truly make a difference.

Swimming at the national and international level comes down to tenths and hundredths of seconds.  6 year olds are winning races by seconds.  The type of start that they use isn't as important as their streamline going into the pool AND their overall stroke technique.

That is more important than anything else at this time.  Refining starts can be done in 5 years still!  Just being able to get into the water via diving is what is important for 8 and unders.

Best of luck.
Eric