TEACHING DIVING TO A BEGINNER
In teaching diving to a nervous pupil, at first I generally hold up the left leg as he is bending over to dive. The farther over he bends, the higher I raise the leg, as per illustration. Then it is impossible for the swimmer to fall flat on the water; the upraised leg prevents that. This is the way that I advise all would-be divers to make their first attempt. After a while the diver will throw up both legs in the air behind him. To obviate entering the water with the knees doubled
up, as so many do (see illustration), the toes must be pointed straight up, back arched. Pointing the toes tends to straighten the legs out (see page 94). Another method I use in teaching a diver to spring well out is to hold a long stick across the water, about four feet away and three feet above the diving-board. This makes the diver spring well out and throw his legs up behind him. It is well to impress the diver always to keep his thumbs interlocked. Otherwise, if he should be diving in a shallow place, the hands would spread and the head would strike bottom; locking the thumbs prevents this.
After deep and shallow dives have been mastered, the pupil can take up various fancy dives, such as the "side dive," "standing-sitting dives," "standing, sitting-standing dive," "back dive," "jack-knife dive," "front-back dive," "back somersault," "front somersault," "sitting jump," and numerous others.
A BAD DIVE
CORRECT POSITION IN MIDAIR