All coaches strive for the same thing when working with their divers (Perfection). They attempt to teach their divers proper mechanics and are interested in watching their divers do well in competition. Coaches work hard to achieve those goals and so do their divers. Divers want to satisfy not only their coaches but also personal dreams of success in the sport. The only differences here are the areas stressed to achieve those goals. In a sport that seems so pure, there is a darker side whose shadow seems to be growing larger as time passes.

All sports were designed with the athletes as their main focus. That focus has been shifted by some to emphasize the importance of the coach. Some coaches have been heard to say, "My kids can't dive without me and I told them that!" There is the ego trip for these coaches. There have been many divers who have been very successful in this sport without a coach. That reality is in direct contrast to some coach's beliefs. It shakes the very foundation of their view of a coach's place in the scheme of things. When a diver who doesn't have a coach comes along and beats divers coached by well known coaches, that diver has an additional handicap in that some of these coaches will do what is necessary to feed their own egos.

The type of athlete will dictate the successes a coach will have. I have seen divers without a coach finish in the finals of various competitions. There have been divers who work with incompetent coaches who also have finished in the finals. That happens because of the motivation/drive/desire of the diver and in some cases happened in spite of the coaching. If a diver has the information needed to complete dives successfully all he/she has to do is focus on those things during practices. The use of a video would be helpful but the same can be achieved by utilizing a pair of eyes and asking the right questions. This would mean asking someone to watch the dive and tell them what to observe. After completing the dive, the diver asks did they see what was asked for and then proceed with more questions to zero in on the problem, technique and/or the correction. Obviously video is much better for this but it is not always available. I have taught kids to do this because they didn't have a coach and it worked out very well for them. Some of these divers used the team managers and sick swimmers for that purpose.

How many times have we heard a coach say, "I could make that kid a champion if he/she worked with me?" This is another part of the ego trip. There are some divers that would benefit from better coaching but I have seen coaches recruit various divers into their own programs and that diver looked exactly the same as he/she did in the original program. No change was noted. Even National coaches have been frustrated to find that no matter how successful their programs have been or how good they think they are, there are divers that don't improve no matter who is coaching them. A coach is only as good as the athlete allows them to be.

Why does the diver with a reputation always seem to get a break from the judges? Some of these divers get carried by the judges and beat a "no name" that actually did the best diving in the competition. Good divers make mistakes and have a less than stellar performance at times. Diving is a performance-based activity. Divers are supposed to win by their actual performance not by potential or past performances. Years ago I was on a panel at a Zone meet. I didn't know very many people there but tried to be a fair and impartial judge. During one of the breaks a coach chastised me for scoring his divers low. He said he wanted to see his kids make it to the Nationals. I retorted that I would like to see my divers make it to Nationals too. Then I asked who his divers were to ensure that I wouldn't score them low without reason. He walked away in a huff not believing I didn't know who he or his divers were. I felt that I was being pressured to be more lenient with the scores in order for his diver to qualify. Is that being fair and impartial?

In competitions where regional representation is required for judging panels, why do certain people score divers from their region higher than the others? Again it appears to be part of the ego problem in the sport. It goes even further because there are coaches who always score their own divers higher than any one else's. And to make matters worse some score a close opponent lower consistently. Or how about the person who enforces the rules on every other diver and becomes "wonderfully blind" when his/her own diver makes the same mistakes? Still another display of ego is the coach that needs to be on a panel to protect his/her kid's interest. If judges are supposed to be fair and impartial, why is it necessary to protect the diver from anything? This kind of judge has just taken the competition away from the athletes. He/she has made it a judging/coaching competition. That coach appears to be protecting his/her own ego.

We will not dominate diving when there are many who look to teach the higher dd dives. There is nothing wrong with pursuing the harder dives unless they are mechanically unsound and receive more lenient scores just because they are hard dives. That seems to be what's happening in diving at all levels. Obviously it is necessary at the highest levels of diving for our kids to do the hardest dives just to keep up with the competition. At the lower levels it is imperative that divers learn sound fundamental mechanics which is the foundation on which to build the harder dives. Harder dives with unsound fundamentals are being scored the same and higher than easier dives with sound fundamentals. The very reasons for downgrading the easier dives are being ignored on the harder dives. Mistakes divers make are not invisible at any level including our top divers.

To understand this concept all one has to do is review tape of some National and International meets. Our best divers didn't even hurdle to the center of the board. Many of their dives were off to the sides of the board. Twisters were off axis far enough to see a cast sideways upon entry. Many dives had a little twist at entry that spoiled the profile at the finish of the dive. These are not things that would appear just by attempting the harder dives. These errors seem to be neglected or overlooked in the pursuit of harder dives. The way we coach and the things we emphasize or fail to emphasize seems to be a reason we haven't had a diver in the finals of many big meets recently. Far too many sloppy high dd dives are being scored high which enables that diver to beat a diver using easier dives with great fundamentals. Maybe this is the reason we have lost our dominance and appear to be slipping further away from medal contention.

Why is that some coaches feel the need to spout the knowledge they possess of the sport when attempting to get a point across? Again this is another ego situation. Because I know all of this information, my point is more important than any one else's. In effect it says that this coach has all the answers and knows what's best in any given situation. Many of these coaches appear to do this in order to sway other's to their way of thinking, which may involve selfish reasons. However if one can't treat athletes and other coaches with dignity and respect, that one should not be coaching or judging. Aren't we supposed to be setting a good example for the kids we coach? What are we teaching them?

Some coaches appear to have the diving knowledge until one listens to the critique given after a dive has been performed. In some cases it amazes one that the diver has achieved a relatively high level of success. The knowledge one possesses seems to be in conflict with its application to what was observed. Many complicated critiques have taken place when the critique should have focused simply on a matter of timing. Knowledge of physics and mechanics are useless if a coach can't apply them. In this case are coaches handicapping divers or helping them? If we gauge the success our divers are having even at the upper levels, maybe coaches are interfering with our divers' potential for success.

Most divers will try to accomplish what the coach is asking of them. If it's a new dive, divers will struggle with the fear and doubt that accompanies a new dive. Some divers accomplish the suggested new dive almost immediately while others take longer. Some coaches will interpret the longer time as a refusal to follow the coach's instructions. It becomes a challenge to the coach's authority (ego). Some will belittle the diver and finally an ultimatum is given: "Do it or get out".

In this situation the diver has self-doubt. They usually want to do the new dive but become frustrated because something keeps them from accomplishing the goal. While the diver is going through this emotional wringer, the coach becomes impatient before the ultimatum is issued. His impatience adds to the diver's frustration, which may further delay the decision to do the new dive. This coach finally kicks the diver out of practice. What did this diver learn? He/she has learned that the coach is a "jerk".

There are some kids that just need more time to deal with the ramifications of doing a new dive or changing bad habits. Kids get down on themselves much harder than anyone else can. They don't need anyone else to tear them apart. Teens do this especially well. The coach should be more understanding and nurturing at this point. He/she should attempt to change this diver's faulty perception. Do it or get out is a disabling tactic and may create future problems with the other divers.

Not every coach is on an ego trip. There will always be those few that are. It appears however that this trend is growing. In an effort to gain recognition, many coaches have become more interested in being involved at the Regional, Zone and/or the National level. There is nothing wrong with that if their divers are capable of competing at that level. Emphasizing the upper level competition appears to be affecting a much larger group that is unable to reach that level yet. Coaches go to these meets with a handful of divers leaving a much larger group of kids without anything to do. The divers he/she takes to these meets feed the ego. However, those left behind are the foundation of the sport. They make the sport viable and visible at the local levels. They are no more or less important than the others. As coaches we need to build local programs and get as many kids involved as possible. Local programs and competition serve a greater need than the upper levels do. The lower levels need to involve more kids and more coaches. Without this emphasis local diving will continue to disappear and the competitive level at the top will continue to decline. Because the sport is so small a coach's perception must change. It's not my diver versus your diver. It should be viewed as our divers are competing. It's our sport and our divers. There is a need to get back to what made our divers a dominant factor in the world. At this time the status quo has not worked, is not working and in all probability will not work.

Back To Current Topics