Requested Topics for Diving
The thought processes of a diving judge – key points of thought, reason and how to keep up with the fast pace.
It is unclear what is being asked but the following is an answer to this idea.
Assuming that the bottom line is to keep the competition moving at a fast pace, a judge must be prepared to score the dives. To accomplish this a judge must:
Thought, Reason:
Judges should have a good knowledge of the rules and penalties they may assess. Prepare an image of the perfect dive and watch carefully for any infraction that may cause a deduction in your score. Judges must make this determination quickly and accurately.
Define an unsatisfactory dive because the diver does not attempt to come out from a tuck or pike.
The referee would invoke the unsatisfactory call of no more than 2 when a diver does a cannonball entry at the end of any somersault. Even headfirst dives can look like cannonball entries. In any case the diver makes no effort to straighten out for the entry.
The key idea here is that there is no visual evidence that a diver has made a physical move to come out of the tuck or pike. Letting go of the legs in either position just doesn’t seem to be enough. There must be some effort to straighten the body out from the pike or tuck.
What does it mean for a diver to be "assisted by another person"?
Being "assisted by another person" may involve many different things. Coaches assist divers when they are learning various dives. "Calling a diver out of a dive" is the most common and convenient way to do this. The coach yells at the appropriate time for the diver to come out of a dive. That yell can be a whistle or a "hup!". In any case those calls should be used in practice only. They are not allowed during contests. Some coaches become sneaky. They might or have someone else sneeze or drop something noisy at the appropriate time. During the learning process some coaches physically maneuver a diver into a dive. They may also help bend the board more to help the diver gain the feeling for a new dive. Spotting rigs and belt are also used as learning tools.
The key here is the idea that "another person" is assisting the diver usually in an auditory way. Adjusting the fulcrum or splashing water so that the diver can see the water surface would not fall under "assisted by another person". The rule refers to the idea that the diver must "perform the dive" without any assistance.
A balk or a violation of the forward approach is a 2-point deduction. A referee calls a balk before the scores. When does a referee call a violation of the forward approach? Before or after the scores?
The rationale for the referee calling a balk before the score was intended to avoid double-penalizing the diver. Example: Judges sometimes aren’t sure that a referee will call a balk because some referees are not as competent or attentive as others. Not being sure if the call will be made, the judges will deduct the 2 points (balk penalty) from their scores. Then the referee calls the balk, which is the double penalty referred to earlier. Rather than making everyone look foolish it was decided that the referee would call the balk before the judges score the dive. That way the judges would know the referee intention and score appropriately. If the referee doesn’t announce the penalty, then the judges can make the appropriate deduction before showing their score.
The same rationale should be in effect for a violation in the approach. Again judges may not be sure that a referee will call for the violation therefore the same double-penalty could arise.
Since both violations fall under Rule 9 Section 8 art. 1 a & b and both have the same points to be deducted by the referee, the decision should be "to announce either infraction prior to the scores being shown". This procedure would be more consistent when enforcing the penalties in Rule 9 Sect. 8 art. 1 a & b.