Diving: Feet First or Hands First? Stoke

A hands first dive can result in more streamlined entry (and consequently, a less painful one). Jumping in and landing hands-first also tends to avoid the entry of water up the nose.

If diving hands first, it is important to keep the arms out to protect the head. Looking down at the water can result in a badly bruised face, but some people take that risk and quickly pull the head in just before impact. When doing so, a common mistake is to overshoot, and to pull the head in too far, bruising the top of the head. It is therefore better to keep the head steady, which also allows the shoulders to be brought in to help protect the ears when the arms are extended.

Fingers should not be interlocked, or they may be broken or damaged. The recommended method is to face open palms together towards the water to bear the brunt of the impact. There are several benefits to this method, such a reduction of impact speed felt by the rest of the body (less injuries), dispersion of local surface tension (less injuries and splash), and most importantly increased protection for the head. If done properly, it's surprisingly streamlined, because the flat palms generate sizable air bubbles that encase most of the body so that the body is gliding through air immediately after impact. The air bubbles later dissipate by slowly bubbling to the surface, instead of producing one big splash. A good streamlined entry results in less sudden energy transfer/dissipation, and therefore less pain and bruising, except on the palms which are usually tough enough to withstand the approximately 300 pounds (136 kg) or so of impact force from a height of 10 metres.

A feet first entry is less streamlined, and will often require the diver to hold their nose. However, the impact of a feet-first dive often loosens the grip, causing water to go up the nose. This dislodged grip may also result in the diver punching themselves in the mouth or hitting their face.

One non-standard diving method sometimes seen is entering the water in the fetal position, bottom first, making a big splash. This is sometimes called bombing. Blunt entries of this sort will also result in bruising, if done from any but the lowest towers.

Another undesired entry attitude is the bellyflop. In it, the body enters the water horizontally or nearly so, belly down.