by Nico Kesslar

Created on: December 05, 2009   Last Updated: February 18, 2011

Approach and Hurdle

First things first, you will never be able to be a successful diver if you cannot produce a consistent, efficient hurdle with a good approach. This is a basic description of a solid approach and hurdle that will help you to become a better diver.

Starting Point on the Board

You want to have a comfortable and consistent starting point on the board. This will be determined by the size of your strides and how many strides you will be taking before your hurdle. A typical approach is 3-4 steps and then your hurdle. Your starting point is a personal decision however here is a general rule. Divers with longer stride lengths should start farther back on the board and divers with shorter strides should start more towards the middle of the board. You will have to play around with different starting points to figure out what feels comfortable for you.

The Approach

The approach begins with the foot opposite your "hurdle" foot. We will discuss the hurdle foot later on for now we will call in your lead foot. You want to take consistent steps that progress yourself towards the end of the diving board. During the approach the biggest thing you want to do is show good posture. Stand up straight, tighten the abdominal area, and just try to look as athletic as possible. Entering your final step before you plant on your "hurdle" foot you want your arms extended in front of you. This is because when you go to take your hurdle you will be able to swing your arms backwards propelling into your hurdle.

The Hurdle

The hurdle is the most important part of the dive before leaving the board to complete your dive. First you must determine which foot you feel comfortable with. I am right handed but prefer that my left foot is my "hurdle" foot. This is all personal preference. For this article we will use the left foot as the hurdle foot, everything is just reversed if you prefer to hurdle from your right foot. So you just took your final step which in this case would be the right foot and you have your arms in front of you. The next step is onto your hurdle foot. For this step you swing your arms backwards and keep your right foot and leg behind your body. Then simultaneously you will drive your right knee forward and up to parallel with the diving board while you also swing your arms in front of you all the way until they are in the vertical position. You now have your knee up and your arms up, this step will cause you to launch upwards and forwards. During this time you want your body completely aligned meaning your body is completely straight from your arms above your head all the way down to your feet. As you start to land back on the board from your hurdle you want to circle your arms behind you again and bring them back up to vertical so when you leave the board your arms are extended and your body is aligned. Just as a tip, you want to plant your hurdle foot about a foot and a half away from the end of the diving board. Too far back and you will not land on the end and too far forward you will hurdle too far.

Overview

Take your starting position with good posture and good appearance. Begin forward progress towards the end of the diving board. Going into your final step before you plant your hurdle foot have your arms in front of you. Swing your arms back and keep your leg back as you plant your hurdle foot. Swing your knee to a parallel position while circling your arms forward to vertical. As you launch up and towards the end of the board you want your body to be completely aligned. Coming back down on the board once again circle your arms backwards and back up to vertical and prepare to leave the board!

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