“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself….”

So cliched, but oh so true in diving. Coaching divers - especially the young ones - is mostly about fear management. A diver who is new to the sport really does not care if their toes are pointed, or legs are straight when they are doing their first back dive tuck on 1 meter. They do not want to land on their back. Plain and simple…

When does this fear go away? It’s different for everyone. There are a few of the lucky divers (or stupid ones) who have no fear, and pain is just an aberration. They can smack over and over and it’s no big deal. It’s hard to find, but those divers do exist.

Can you become a great diver if you are deathly afraid of smacking? Of course. It takes time though. Time to realize that a smack is a smack, and it is going to happen.

How to get over your fear? Here are some tips:

1. The sooner the dive is done, the sooner the anxiety is gone. The longer you wait, the worse it is. We all know that. Counting helps, but when I was afraid, a looked at a clock and told myself that in 2 minutes all of this fear will be over. The sooner you do the dive, the better.

2. Realize that it’s part of the sport and accept it. EVERYONE smacks. It’s like getting kicked in the shin in soccer. It’s going to happen. When you smack, even if tears well-up in your eyes, the other divers have been down your road, and they understand. And even if I am laughing at you when you smack, it’s because you probably looked funny. Go watch it on TiVO a couple of times and you will laugh too. Besides, everyone’s going to beat you to the TiVO to watch you eat it in slow motion. It’s sort of has become a rite of passage.

3. Realize that your mind will make the dive worse than what it is. It’s only a dive. Go with the numbers. If you do 30 dives a practice, and smack once every 2 weeks, that’s 1 smack in 180 tries. That’s pretty good odds if you ask me.

4. Life is good. You have a roof on your house, food to eat, get to dive, make friends, and are a part of a team. Most people do not have it that good in the United States, more or less this world to say the least. Be thankful for what you have, and if a smack is all your complaining about; then life is pretty good. Please don’t complain. I don’t want to hear it.

Happy Smacking!!!! x x x (those are smacks!)

Parents,

I am sure that a lot of you are wondering if your child should or should not go to the Regions Championships held in Charlotte next month. Here are the exact details if you are planning on going.

For the beginners or younger JO divers, since this meet is close, I say yes. Give it a shot. It will be fun to be part of a team and any opportunity to compete is a good one. I will be leaving on Friday the 4th, so we can get in a practice for those that are planning on going. The competition takes place on the 5th and 6th (Saturday and Sunday). If you are not sure whether or not your child should go, or has the proper dives, see me. The dive requirements can also be found here:

9 & Under Boys and Girls (five dives). The contest shall consist of three voluntary dives from different groups with a total degree of difficulty not more than 5.0 on1-meter and not more than 5.4 on 3-meter followed by two optional dives from different groups.

11 & Under Boys and Girls (six dives). For 1-meter and 3-meter springboard, divers will perform three voluntaries from different groups with a total degree of difficulty not more than 5.0 on one meter and not more than 5.4 on three meter, followed by three optional dives from different groups.

12/13 (FINA Group C) or 13 & Under Boys and Girls (seven dives). For 1-meter and 3-meter springboard, divers will perform four voluntaries from different groups with a total degree of difficulty not more than 7.2 on one meter and not more than 7.6 on three meter, followed by three optional dives from different groups.

14/15 (FINA Group B) Boys (nine dives). For 1-meter and 3-meter springboard, divers shall perform five voluntary dives, one from each group, with a total degree of difficulty not to exceed 9.0 for 1-meter and 9.5 for 3-meter, and four optional dives, from different groups.(e)

14/15 (FINA Group B) Girls (eight dives). For 1-meter and 3-meter springboard, divers shall perform five voluntary dives, one from each group, with a total degree of difficulty not to exceed 9.0 for 1-meter and 9.5 for 3-meter, and three optional dives, from different groups.

16-18 (FINA Group A) Girls (nine dives). For 1- and 3-meter springboard, divers shall perform five voluntary dives, one from each group, with a total degree of difficulty not to exceed 9.0 for 1-meter and 9.5 for 3-meter, and four optional dives from four groups without limit.

16-18 (FINA Group A) Boys (10 dives). For 1-meter and 3-meter springboard, divers shall perform five voluntary dives, one from each group, with a total degree of difficulty not to exceed 9.0 for 1-meter and 9.5 for 3-meter, and five optional dives from five groups without limit.

If you have any questions, please let me know. Best…

Kevin

 COACHES CORNER # 1 

Today I will start my first entry on THD.  This is the coaches corner.  Ideas, thoughts, news and just jotted down bits of information for fans of the site.  I will try (notice and emphasize the word “try”) to do this weekly.  BTW - my spellin, and grammer ain’t the best,  just so you no.

“Why does my diver do 20,000 jumps a practice?  It can’t be that hard, right?  I mean they are just jumps?  Boring, boring, boring.  Why am I paying for my child to do jumps?”

I am sure these questions have entered every parents head at one time or another.  The physical/scientific answer?  Children take longer to develop their motor skills.  Coordination comes in time and repition is the best way to install certian movements.  That’s true but to dumb it down a bit for fit my level.  Here it is:

Learn a basic skill correctly, then we will move on.  As boring as it is up there to watch it, quite frankly, saying the same thing over for 6 months really does not do much for me either.  Watching paint dry?  It’s about the same.  Lol.  

Actually I don’t mind teaching basics.  It keeps me grounded as a coach.  But, if a diver cannot master a back jump, they are not going to be able to learn a good take off for when they NEED to know how to do a back dive tuck.  If these skills are not taught properly now, it can become an almost impossible task t0 fix it later.  Short of a nightmare for a coach.  Anytime I have a college diver who cannot do something correctly, or have bad habits, it can take YEARS to fix it.  Jon Fox can attest to that.

Why do some divers progress quicker?  Simple.  They may be stronger, more flexible, have better lines, can jump higher, less afraid, eat better, can listen better, more coordinated, have a good support group of parents and friends, more athletic, smarter.   I guess it’s not so simple.

 That’s why your child will do 10,000 jumps today, and probably 9,999 tomorrow…..

 See you at the pool….

Welcome to our website. Tar Heel Diving is delighted to be hosting the USA Diving Summer Regionals in 2008. We’ve got a load of useful information here to make your visit to Chapel Hill a pleasurable and successful experience.

Just click here or on the link in the menu on the right.

thanks
Kevin Lawrence
Head Coach, Tar Heel Diving.

Welcome to the new look tarheeldiving.com.

This is a site for our members, their fans and anyone interested in joining the Tar Heel Diving family or knowing more about our club.

For parents - check out the upcoming dive schedule on the menu on the right. You’ll see the schedule for the next few days. You can also get this schedule added to your personal organizer software automatically.

For divers - you now have a blog where you can add your photos, videos, results and other diving stories.

For those interested in joining the club then you will find registration forms, details about fees, the practice schedule, our great coaches, our facilities and loads of fun stuff in the members blog.

We do have a members-only area - this is a small area where we are storing personal details of the club families.

So we’ve whetted your appetite .. why not have a look about and why not get blogging.

If you need a userid or have any comments or suggestions about the site, then please email Glyn.