How to Do a Reverse 1½ Pike (303B)

The reverse 1½ pike is one of my favorite dives to talk about. It's an upper-intermediate dive that requires good fundamentals across the board, and it rewards divers who have really developed their technique.

If you're working on this one, you should already have a solid reverse dive pike, a back 1½ pike, and a reverse 1½ tuck. Without those, come back when you do.

Watch the Full Breakdown

What You'll Learn

• Fix #1: Stop rolling your shoulders and throwing your head back — look into the pike
• Fix #2: Stop going through your knees — pop the toes first, then drive the legs with the hip flexors
• Fix #3: The math on kick timing — why you wait longer to come out on reverses than on backs

Fix #1: Look Into the Pike, Not Away From It

The most common mistake on this dive is throwing the shoulders and head back on the takeoff. There are two main problems with this.

First, it keeps the upper and lower body disconnected. When the upper body flies back, the legs have a really long path to travel before they can get up into the pike. The dive looks disjointed, the spot comes early, and you end up waiting in a big pike for the legs to catch up.

Second, as you get more comfortable on the board and start staying on it longer, pulling back with your head and shoulders actually keeps you too close. That's a safety issue.

The fix: look forward toward your legs as they come up. Look into the pike. This creates a safer board ride, gets you into a deeper pike faster, and allows your arm swing to actually finish instead of getting cut off by premature shoulder movement. 

Your head should not move back on the takeoff at all. The shoulders are going to slide back a little bit naturally as a counterbalance to the hips moving up and out — that's fine. But the head stays forward no matter what.

Fix #2: Pop the Toes First, Then Drive the Legs

Going through the knees on this dive cuts off the power you can generate from the lower body. When the knees break early, you lose the leverage your feet need to pop off the board and the hip flexors don't get to do their job properly.

Here's the sequence: the first movement as you leave the board is the last bit of straightening the knees. Then the hip flexors and quads drive the legs up hard toward the face. Think of it in two steps — flick the feet off the board, then shins to face. That separation between the pop and the drive is where all the flip speed lives.

You still need to use your arms to generate momentum too, but on this dive the lower body and core might be driving even more of the rotation than the arms. Both matter. Don't sacrifice one for the other.

Fix #3: The Dive Math

On a front or back dive you're flipping and moving in the same direction. The momentum of your body helps carry the flip around. On a reverse (and inward), you're flipping one way but moving the opposite way.

What that means practically: you have to kick out a little later on a reverse 1½ pike than you would on a back 1½ pike. Let the legs come up higher before you press out.

If you kick too early, the flip just kind of stops — the momentum is going the wrong way. Wait, let the hips get over a bit more, and then press.

This effect is reduced the more you stand the dive up. But when you're pushing out — especially early in learning the dive — you're going to feel this. Just know it's the physics, adjust accordingly, and train the patience to wait for the right timing.

Expert Form Deep Dive

Watch elite execution of this dive and here's what you'll see.

Walking down the board: completely stable, no shoulder dips through the two-step or hurdle. Arms at the peak of the hurdle — maybe slightly in front, but clean. Knee drive up in front, foot in line with the back foot.

On the release: hips moving forward compared to shoulders and feet. Arms behind the ears, slight bend is okay (judges would prefer straight but it's not a disqualifier). First movement after leaving the board: straighten the knees. Then the whole leg drives up fast into a very deep pike.

The press out: Arms still on the legs, spotting across the water as they press flat. When the timing is right, you have so much time that the hands are still on the legs while the press happens. That's the level of patience we're chasing.

Come out: look back slightly, bring the arms in for the entry, and stop pulling once you've found the position. Don't keep arching. Hold the same position as the hands come through and stretch for the water.

Last tip: land on the board for that final jump with a hollow core. If your core is too weak or too loose when you land, the force of the board will make you break at the hips and disconnect the upper and lower body. Work on hollow hip awareness during your hurdle drills on the pool deck — it carries directly into this dive.

Got questions? Drop them in the comments or DM me — I answer every one.

Good luck and I'll see you on the next dive! - DG