The Reverse Takeoff Explained — Step by Step Animation Breakdown

A lot of people reached out after the reverse 1½ tuck video asking about the animation in the middle of it — it goes by pretty quick and there's a lot happening. So this video slows it all the way down and walks through everything from the landing to the kickout, step by step.

This applies to every reverse dive, not just the 1½. The takeoff mechanics are the same across the board, so whatever reverse dive you're working on, this is worth your time.

Watch the Full Breakdown

What You'll Learn

• Fix #1: Hollow hips and tight core — this never turns off through the whole takeoff
• Fix #2: Arm swing done right — activate on the way down, relax at 6 o’clock, let momentum carry you back up
• Fix #3: Spotting and kickout decisions — how to read the dive mid-air and place your kick accordingly

Fix #1: Hollow Hips, Tight Core — The Whole Way Through

The first frame of the animation shows the diver straightened out with arms pointing straight up. That's the reference point. From there, everything is about maintaining that body line while the board does its job.

As the diver starts to fall back toward the board for the press, that's the cue to lock in hollow hips. If the hips are open going into the press, it tends to cause falling forward — which throws off balance and sets off a chain of errors. So you're tightening the core and rotating the hips slightly before contact.

And then here's the key thing: that core never relaxes. The board is going to push up with a lot of force, and if your core is loose when it happens, it will break your position. You need to be braced and strong through the entire press so that when the board pushes you up, everything moves together instead of folding.

Fix #2: The Arm Swing — Activate, Release, Carry

The arm swing is all about timing your energy and then letting it go. Here's the sequence:

As the arms swing from 12 o'clock down toward 6 o'clock, you're engaging — adding energy into the swing. Core is still locked. Hips still hollow. The arms are moving with purpose.

Then, the moment they hit the bottom — the 6 o'clock position — you release the shoulders. Stop muscling. Let the momentum that you just built carry the arms all the way back up. If you've timed it right, the arms will swing back up to the top on their own. Your shoulders don't have to do much at all. They just relax and ride.

This is the same thing we talk about in the hurdle series. Using momentum instead of muscle keeps you in alignment, saves energy, and gets the arms above the head before the board is ready to push.

When you muscle it — when you try to fight the arms up — you pull your body out of alignment, waste energy, and usually end up leaving the board early.

The C-Position and Why It Matters

At the top of the jump, you're going to be in what coaches call a C-position — sometimes called the banana position. Arms fully extended behind the ears, hips slightly out in front of the rest of the body, core still engaged. This is the position where your center of gravity (your hips) is doing the work of pulling you up and away from the board safely.

The hips leading is what creates rotation. That's the throw. If your hips aren't out front in that slight extension, you're leaving a lot of rotation on the table. But the arms have to be up and behind the ears at the same time — otherwise you're losing the throw in a different direction.

When the knees go forward early, none of this happens. You leave the board before the hips can complete that movement, the knees break out in front, and all that potential energy just goes sideways instead of up into the dive.

Fix #3: Spotting and Kickout Decisions

As you come around for the first flip, you're peeking up over your eyebrows looking for the water below you. You find it. You track it. You stay with it as you come around.

Then, as you're approaching vertical, your eyes shift to where you want to place the kick. That's the second target. And here's where the in-air decision-making comes in: every takeoff is a little different, and you have to feel what you got.

Did your knees come up fast and you felt a great push from the board? It might be a little quicker. Did the knees go forward early? Probably a bit slower, might need to kick a little earlier. Did you feel an especially hollow, tight connection? Faster. You make that read in a split second and you adjust the kick placement accordingly.

The kickout is not a fixed thing. It's a decision based on what the takeoff gave you. The more dives you do, the better your reads get. Trust what you feel and practice making the adjustment — that's how spotting becomes instinct.

What the "Wrong" Animation Shows

The bad version in the animation breaks at exactly the points we've been talking about: the core isn't braced so the board force knocks the body forward. The chest drops. The arms don't get up in time because they were already behind. The knees go out instead of up. The hips never get to lead.

It's a chain reaction. One thing goes wrong and everything after it gets harder. Which is why the fix isn't "try harder" — it's going back to the foundation. Hollow hips before the press. Arms on the right timing. Core never off. Do those right and the rest follows.

I Hope This Helps

Good luck with your diving! If you need any extra feedback specific to your situation don't hesitate to reach out!

You can always send videos in to get tailored feedback with my dive feedback page!