LET ME TELL YOU A SECRET by John Narcy Diving Coach, Michigan State University

I want to tell you a secret that everyone knows.  Communication is one of the most important factors in attaining success.  How many times have you told your divers to keep their head neutral on takeoff for a back or reverse optional?  How many times have you said “throw narrow with your arms,” or “open lateral,” “look,” “grab,” or “stretch,” etc...  Now, do we do our job as a coach?  Do we give them the proper feedback after their attempt to make a change?

If we ask our divers to make a change, and we don’t give them immediate feedback on how well they attempted this change, we are not doing our job.  Diving is one of the few sports where the athlete receives coaching after each attempt.  So many times I have heard coaches at pool side say “get your arms over your head before you leave the board” or “throw narrow” or “spot” etc., and then coach the dive with absolutely no review of the specific action requested.

At Michigan State University Diving Camp each morning before training the divers are instructed to keep their coach honest.  By that I mean:  If your coach gives you a specific instruction before you dive, they must give you immediate feedback on how well you performed your assignment.  If not, the diver is asked to challenge the coach and say, “Hey,

What about my arms?  Did I do them better?”  I believe this is one small shortcut to success, and I’m sure that most of you already do this.

However, if I can stimulate just a few minds, I will feel rewarded.  Hopefully, an immediate result from this type of communication will create change.  The divers that want to become successful faster must be willing to make changes faster.  Most of the time they resist change because they are afraid of what will happen.

Only the boldest of divers change immediately.  Most give you inches when you are asking for feet.  Why should it take a diver a whole season or more to get their arms higher than their head and slightly back on back or reverse optional?  It’s almost ridiculous.  I know it’s a scary thing, but divers must make changes now.