How to Master the Front Hurdle: Back vs. Forward | Part 2

If Part 1 was about building a clean, efficient hurdle from the ground up, Part 2 is about what to do when things don't go perfectly which, even for elite divers, is pretty much every single time. Being able to identify whether you're landing back or forward off your hurdle step and making that adjustment in the moment is what separates good divers from great ones.

Let's break it down.

Watch the Full Breakdown

What You'll Learn

• Fix #1: What “being back” means, why it happens, and how to fix it mid-dive
• Fix #2: What “being forward” means and the harder adjustment that comes with it
• Fix #3: How your hurdle landing connects directly to your front takeoff

Fix #1: When You’re Landing Back

Being back on your hurdle means that when you land on that hurdle step, your feet end up out in front of your hips instead of directly beneath them. This can also coincide with landing far from the end of the board. You're leaning back, and now you have to make up ground on the takeoff.

Why does it happen?

Weight distribution. If your weight is too far on your heel as you're driving up through the hurdle step, your foot can slide forward as you land. Your body ends up behind your base of support, and you have to work to close that gap before you can drive the takeoff.

The fix: try to keep your weight slightly more on your toes as you're driving through the hurdle step. Keep that bottom foot underneath your hips not reaching out in front. If your hurdle doesn't land at the end of the board, don't reach too far for it. Reaching makes it harder to get a strong takeoff because you're not on top of your feet as you jump.

If you do land back, you need to get your feet underneath your hips as you're landing and jumping.

Do this by pulling your hips forward as you land to get them over your feet as much as possible.

You are essentially realigning your hip position.

Fix #2: When You’re Landing Forward

Being forward is the opposite problem your weight is too far on your toes in the hurdle step, and now as you come up you have to fight your forward momentum to stay on the board. You can recognize this if you see arms drop at the peak of the hurdle or swing back behind you as a diver tries to keep their balance. 

This one is honestly harder to fix mid-dive. When you're landing back, the board is helping you lean more forward as it leans down. When you're landing forward, everything is pulling you off the end of the board and you're trying to sit and stay while momentum is working against you.

The cue here: chest up, shoulders back, sit into it like you're in a chair. Stay on your heels longer. You want to feel like you're holding your position on the board longer before you stand up and drive the takeoff. It's uncomfortable and it feels like you're going to fall, but that's the adjustment.

Fix #3: Front Takeoff Connection

Everything that happens on the hurdle landing feeds directly into your takeoff. The goal for a front takeoff is to have a straight line from your toes to your hips and then drive up from there. Sometimes a slight forward lean, but that's something you dial in with your coach based on what works for your body and the dive you're doing.

What you don't want is to be so far off on the landing whether back or forward that you're spending all your energy on the adjustment instead of the launch. The cleaner the hurdle, the more you have left to put into the actual dive. It's that simple.

Work on knowing which problem is yours. Most divers have one they default to. Once you know it, you can train the fix specifically and start catching it earlier and earlier until the hurdle just starts to sort itself out on its own.