How to Do a Reverse Dive Straight (301A)

The reverse dive straight isn't always on every list — most divers don't compete it much — but practicing it is one of the best things you can do for your reverse takeoff fundamentals. The board awareness and hip control you develop here carries directly into your 1½, 2½, and beyond. Give it reps even when it's not on your list.

Watch the Full Breakdown

What You'll Learn

• Key #1: What actually moves you safely away from the board — and what doesn't
• Key #2: How to handle being forward on the takeoff — and why the board makes it extra hard
• Key #3: Why relaxation speeds this dive up, not slows it down

Key #1: What Moves You Away from the Board

The board naturally wants to push you away — that's well established. On top of that, there are things you can do as you leave the board that help or hurt.

Going through your knees to push out works, but it's not ideal (though you do have to do it somewhat for harder dives). The better way: let your hips move forward to carry you out. That combined with converting your hurdle momentum upward instead of outward is what gives you a controlled, safe distance from the board.

In the beginning, most people push out too hard. The knees break, the belly goes forward, the head tilts back, and the dive goes out too far. All of that is just comfort level on the board — it moderates over thousands of reps. Early on, that's okay. The direction of your growth is toward using the board more, jumping up more, and letting the hips do the work of moving you out instead of the knees.

Key #2: Falling Forward Fix

At some point on reverses, you're going to find yourself too far over the edge on the takeoff. If it's past the point of saving the dive, don't go — that's obvious.

But if you're just a little bit forward and you want to try and fix it mid-takeoff, here's what to do: sit your hips back immediately as you land for your final jump. Push the hips backward so you can redirect your chest as much as possible.

What makes this hard: the board is angling down at the same time, which makes leaning back difficult. It takes a lot of practice to build the abilty. But the more you know that move exists, the more you can start training for it.

Key #3: Relaxation Is the Skill

This is the big unlock on this dive and on reverses generally. In the beginning you're muscling through everything — the arm circle, the jump, the whole dive. That works to a point. But as you build experience, you start to realize that relaxing actually produces better results than grinding.

The arm swing gets better when you relax the shoulders at 6 o'clock and let momentum carry the arms up. The jump gets cleaner when you ride the board instead of fighting it. The position in the air looks more elegant when you're not tense. And none of this has to wait until you have years in the sport — you can make the decision to relax on the board right now. It's a conscious choice, not something that only happens automatically after thousands of reps.

Expert-level on this dive looks like: leaning slightly back onto the board as it dips down (staying tall), then using the hips to gently push out and away as the board comes up. Not going through the knees, not forcing distance, not pulling with the shoulders. Just patience, good timing, and letting the board do most of the work.

Head position: eyes forward or slightly down as you leave. Not up. The more your head goes back on the start, the more weight you're throwing in the wrong direction, and it can make you too close to the board. Check out the back and reverse entry video if you want to dial in the alignment after you're in the air.

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— DG