What Physical Qualities does Diving Develop in my Kids?

If your child is considering training as a diver, it is a sport well worth the effort. With the opportunity to meet new people, gain new skills, and, if they’re dedicated enough, make it to the top, it’s a fine choice. What’s more, before they can think about diving, your child must have reached a particular stage as a swimmer, which will give your child a fantastic set of physical qualities. 

All children are born with different levels of ability; however, everything mentioned in this list is qualities your child can work at, build on and improve. Highboard diving is like gymnastics of the water; if your child sticks with it, they will have a similar set of skills. Whether or not they make it to the top spot for this sport or just have fun, they will be physically and mentally better for participating.

If you’re unsure how diving will support your child and what physical qualities they develop along the way, here is a quick insight into the physical benefits.

Strength

Diving will build muscle strength throughout the body. To dive, your child must swim, so they’ll already have arm, leg and core strength that will continue to develop the more they dive. Having all-round body strength will help your child in all areas of life and any other sports they wish to play.

Swimming and diving also help your child’s heart and lung strength, making them healthier. Again, this will keep your child’s general fitness levels up and support anything else they choose to participate in.

Balance

A diver can only succeed in the sport if they have developed incredible balance skills and can control themselves whilst standing and preparing on a diving board. One slight wobble could jeopardise the entire jump and even make the sport dangerous because they won’t jump as they intended to. Balance goes hand in hand with strength because it requires complete body control to balance as well as divers do.

Coordination

As your child progresses as a diver, they will learn acute body awareness and know how to move and shape it in ways that non-divers wouldn’t. As your child learns and improves in the sport, they will develop coordination, place their bodies in the perfect position and make their jump aesthetically pleasing and technically perfect. They will use their coordination, from their feet touching the diving board to climbing out of the pool. With coordination and body awareness, they can quickly move their bodies into the perfect position to reach top speeds and enter the water with little more than a tiny splash.

Flexibility

Another physical quality your child will develop as a diver is flexibility. Divers need the flexibility to create the shapes and have the propulsion from the board and enter the water the way they intended. Everybody is born with a different level of flexibility, but your child can stretch and improve this quality to dive at their top level with hard work.

Photo by Guduru Ajay bhargav