Hi, my 7 seven old son is a very good swimmer. I am proud of his achievement at his young age and in many events (see below his times) he is among the top in the country at his age group. One of his weakness is his diving. Actually he is getting better now compare to when he was 6. When he is in “take your mark” his head is looking down and he likes to dive deep into the water and takes time for him to come up. His coach says it takes him 7 sec to come up. His coach tells him many times don’t look down when you dive out but look forward streamline then head down to the water. I see many other kids (at his age or older) dive well in the meet. Do you think diving will come natural when he grows up or is there any drill or technique I can show him. Right now I don’t want to push him too hard on diving at his age.
This is his times in SCY.
Free: 50yd 35 to 36 sec, 100 yd 1:22 sec, 200 yd 2:50
Back (his best stroke): 50yd 40 to 41 sec, 100 yd 1:23.
Fly: 50yd 41sec, 100 yd 1:33
*** (his worst stroke): 50 yd: 52sec
IM: 100yd 1:30, 200 yd 3:08
I experienced this same thing with my daughter and got a bit crazed by it all. The coaches will work it out. We also hired one of the high school kids to work on dives and that helped but mostly it just comes with confidence and body maturity.
Focus on what he should be doing - looking behind him, at his feet, trying to go out instead of down, etc. rather than what he should not be doing. Positive tends to work better with little kids rather than negative.
he's probably entering the water too close to the wall - and needs to enter further out. get a pair of noodles with the noodle-extenders, and make a ring. have him dive normally once so you both can get your bearings. place the ring so the middle is about a foot out from where he entered. then have him dive through the ring. a fun way to teach a 7y/o how to dive OUT not down.
I actually saw my daughter dive so deep once that she pushed off from the bottom of a 7 foot competition pool. She was down ther efor so long that th eother swimmers wer literally half a lap ahead of her when she surfaced. Problem was, she launched herself up so quickly that it looked like a little dolphiin breeching the water. She just popped up and out like she had been shot from a cannon and we were all laughing hysterically.
Her coach looked at me with a "what the heck?" expression and when I explained that she had pushed off from the bottom, her called her his deep sea diver from that day on.
I would not trade that memory for any of her faster swims. It is just too priceless.
Rob
Is there any dry land exercise that can help diving? Also my son has a slow reaction to diving. He is literally hestitate for a second before he is out? Any suggestion?
Is there any dry land exercise that can help diving? Also my son has a slow reaction to diving. He is literally hestitate for a second before he is out? Any suggestion?
My daughter looks left and right to make sure all other blocks are clear and then goes in after. Drives me nuts!:bitching:
My youngest had an atomic bomb sort of dive when she was 8. It couldn't have been any splashier.
She was afraid of going head first and always aborted the mission in mid flight.
The coaches had the younger kids try and clear the styrofoam life preserver. It worked well for many of them.
It took my kid a couple of years to get past the awkward stages. She starts like a pro now.
My six year old son is still on the developmental team and has a "race day" every two months or so. They do a 25 of each stroke. Last race day, he was more interested in doing an Elvis impersonation than actually listening to the starter while on the blocks.
Thus, the horn goes off while my studly son is gyrating his hips and crooning into a non-existent mic. He looks up and notices that "What? Everyone is in the water? How did that happen?"
He then casually slips on his goggles, pulls up his jammers, adjusts his privates, and and belly flops into the water on his way to a modern dance type interpretation of the 25 free.
I have no doubt that Martha Graham and Elvis were up in the clouds roaring with approval.
Rob
Is there any dry land exercise that can help diving? Also my son has a slow reaction to diving. He is literally hestitate for a second before he is out? Any suggestion?
Dry-land exercises at his age are more so meant to have fun. I work more on plyometrics at that age than anything else; stuff that focuses on fast twitch muscles, etc. So, lots of jumping out, up, sideways, etc. They can actually do this from the blocks as well which makes it a little more fun for them (having the "farthest jump", "highest jump", etc competitions with the rest of the team).
As my assistant coach says (and she was in the same boat at your son at the division I college level....lacked on starts), "I didn't have the explosiveness to my start but I could catch up and beat everyone to the finish". Starts should be a smooth explosion of energy throughout the body; use plyometrics and other activities that promote the development of those fast-twitch muscles. I hope this helps!
