How to Back Dive

Eager to impress your friends while having fun in the pool? Regular, forward dives are very common, so if you want to try something unique, you can do a back dive instead. It’s quite easy, as long as you know the proper way how.

What You’ll Need:

• Swimming pool
• Pool ladder
• Diving board
• Swimming trunks
• Spotter

Procedure:

1. Practice first. If you don’t know how to do the forward dive, master it first. It’s easier to do the back dive if you’re familiar with this easier diving stance. Do a few forward dives. Afterwards, stretch out with a few bridges. You do this by lying on your back, then pushing up with your hands, so your back is arched.
2. Familiarize yourself with the backbend first. What you do when you backbend is the same thing when you back dive, except you do it on land, without falling off a diving board or bouncing.
3. Practice back diving with the pool ladder first. Begin at the bottom rung, then slowly work your way up. Once you’ve executed a few good ladder dives, you can move to the diving board.
4. Go to the diving board’s end, allowing your heels to hang over the side. Keep your balance on the balls of your feet, going on tip toes.
5. Slowly and carefully arch your back, as you do when you back bend. As you begin to fall, throw yourself off the diving board.
6. Your hands must be the ones that hit the water first. Make sure your toes are pointed properly.
7. Try doing this a few more times, going quicker and quicker with every repeat. You can add a bounce once you’re ready: go to the end of the diving board, swing your arms, then jump once, going into a back dive.

Some Tips:

• Don’t dive in shallow water. The pool must be at least eight feet when you do this trick.
• Ask a friend to be a spotter. He or she will make sure you don’t hit the board.
• Don’t dive while wearing goggles. It can snap and hurt you badly because of the impact from the water.
• When you back dive, you shouldn’t throw yourself way out, but you also shouldn’t fall down straight. Try going 1 1/2 feet from the board.
• Be confident. If you believe you can do it, you can.

Have a splashing good time with this new diving technique. Your friends will surely explode into applause as you perform a perfect back dive.