Here is a quick tip for divers that are having problems making a forward somersault spin. Cross your arms.

What do I mean? I mean literally cross your arms as you throw forward for your somersault. Cross your arms at the wrist, or the forearms, or just have your hands touch during the throw.

Make sure that they are somehow touching and that both arms follow an imaginary line through the center of the body on the throw.

It's This Younger Generation

You see, one problem area for divers, especially young divers is that they forget that the arms are an important part of the process to initiate a somersault.

It’s not that they don’t understand this point when a coach explains it, but in the heat of the moment, they do what comes natural. Dive with their head and not with their arms.

Bulls Drop Their Head to Charge, Divers Shouldn't

The first thing a young diver will usually do when faced with the challenge of spinning fast is drop their chin and draw their knees up into the tuck position.

At the same time, the arms usually become an afterthought and fall to the outside of the body like they are flapping their wings. The result – a weak throw and a slow somersault.

A Fix For The Problem

So to combat this, if the diver concentrates on crossing their arms as they throw, they become more aware of what their arms are doing and hence the arms move down the middle. The result - a strong throw and a fast somersault.

This is not limited to young divers, older more advanced divers use this technique also.

Watch the Chinese. On virtually all their forward and inward spinning somersaults, they cross their arms on the throw.

And the Chinese do know how to spin!