Things Every Diving Judge Should Know (Part 1 of 3)

Now that the high school diving season is upon us, many parents (and swimming officials) will take their place in the judges’ chair. For many, this will be the first time that they have ever judged diving – and it can be somewhat intimidating. In order to lessen the stress associated with your first time sitting in the judges’ chair, I offer the following “Things Every Diving Judge Should Know.” (#1-#7 of 23 items)

1. Every Diving Judge should know and be able to identify the FIVE categories of dives. They are Forward Dives, Back Dives, Reverse Dives, Inward Dives and Twisting Dives.
2. Every diving judge should know and be able to identify the FOUR positions used in diving. They are Tuck position, Pike position, Straight (or Layout) position and Free Position.
3. Every diving judge should know and be able to identify a Starting Position, Forward Approach and Hurdle. Every diving judge should also know that there is no such thing as a “hurdle” on a backward takeoff dive.
4. Every diving judge should know that a Hurdle must take-off from ONE foot and land on BOTH feet simultaneously with the toes at or very near the end of the diving board.
5. Every diving judge should know that scores for a dive can range from TEN (“perfect”**) to a ZERO (completely failed dive). ** See #7 below.
6. Every diving judge should know the scoring descriptions for judging. They are: 0 Points – completely failed; 0.5 – 2.5 Points (Unsatisfactory); 3.0 – 4.5 Points (Deficient); 5.0 – 6.0 Points (Satisfactory); 6.5 – 8.0 Points (Good); 8.5 – 10 Points (Very Good).
7. Every diving judge should know and understand that relative to the scoring description chart stated in #6 above, a “10” is NOT a perfect score; rather, it is a score that is at the top end of the “Very Good” range.