Flint Nillichamp (made up name to protect the innocent) appears to have some psychological issues during competition. He cracks under pressure and is not able to apply what he does in training to what he needs to do to perform well in competition. Certain changes need to be made in Flint’s training program so that he can perform well in competition...

Smethurst (1996) describes traditional coaching as a layered approach where the coach will follow a set of performance components (technical, tactical, physical and mental) when teaching a skill. An ecological approach focuses more on the interaction between these components an how it affects the athlete’s movement (spacial), timing (temporal) and purpose (function) of a skill. Smethurst compares this approach to the Chaos theory where even the smallest of changes in the elements of something can have enormous effects on the bigger picture.

Diving is such a precise and technical sport. Any small mistake from the diving board can mean the
difference between tears or excitement. For this reason divers spend a lot of time on the dry side of the
diving pool. We will always try to keep at least one step ahead in the dryland in the diver’s progression so
that the transition from dryside to poolside is easier and smoother and learning new dives is also easier and
smoother.
Divers, especially at a young age will spend most of their time in a diving session in the dryland area. This
should weigh up to about 70% dry and only 30% water time. Hopefully, after reading the following you will understand why we spend so much time not “diving”...