Strength vs technique in olympic diving

Is Diving More About Strength Or Technique?

Short Answer

In my opinion it's technique.

But strength decides how far technique can take you, so the honest answer is that they're not really competing and need eachother to get the most out of a diver.

Why technique wins

On a springboard, most of your height isn't coming directly from you. It's coming from the board.

Your job is to put energy into it (strength and timing) and be in the right position when it gives that energy back (technique). Do that well and you will get the most out of the board. Do it badly and it doesn't matter how strong you are, because you're fighting the board instead of using it to your advantage.

I've seen some powerful athletes get less height, spin slower, and finish dives lower than the "skinny kid" all because the "weaker" athlete knows how to ride the board and connect into their flips way better than the other athlete.

Other parts of technique that matter just as much as board work is your flip speed which comes from connection timing and how small you can get into your shape. Flexibility does more for a pike than strength does.

A diver who can fold deeper will rotate faster than a stronger diver who can't get there.

That's why position changes the difficulty of a dive so much.

And let's not sleep on entry technique either. no amount of pure strength can replace perfect underwater work, although strength is still important.

Where strength actually matters

There are specific places where being weak will stop you.

  • The entry. Locking your arms out against water at 30 miles per hour takes real tricep and shoulder strength. Especially on platform.
  • Core stability on takeoff. The board pushes hard, and if your core is loose you break at the hips and lose the position you worked for. A lot of what looks like bad technique is actually a core that can't take the force of the board.
  • Getting into position fast. The snap into a tuck or pike is explosive. Being able to do it quickly is a strength quality.
  • Hip flexors. Especially on back and reverse dives, where the legs have to come up fast.
  • Staying healthy. Strength work is what lets shoulders, core and backs survive years of repetition.

The trap I see most

A diver can't get a dive around, so they try harder. Throw harder, jump harder, muscle it.

It occasionally will work, but it takes the diver away from fixing fundamentals as well. It also stops working at the next level up, where the dive requires more rotation than brute force can produce.

Almost every time I look at a dive video submission that isn't making it around, the answer isn't more effort. It's balance issues, leaving the board too early, a slow connection, or a position that's too big. Fix any of those and the dive gets easier rather than harder.

Relaxing on a takeoff produces more height than straining does. It's counterintuitive and it takes people years to believe it.

Want to learn more about diving?

- DG

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