Even BAD Judges Can See That!

ATTENTION ALL HIGH SCHOOL AND SUMMER LEAGUE DIVERS!

As you are all painfully aware, not all high school and summer league diving judges are as "competent" as we would hope but one thing is for sure -- even BAD judges can see!

We often see high school and summer league diving meets being judged (often reluctantly) by swimming officials who may not know much about diving. It is not unreasonable to assume that the only time they see diving is when they are sitting in the judging chair. However, regardless of their judging ability or knowledge of the sport -- they can and do see things! They CAN see things like non-vertical entries; bent legs; flat feet; big splashes; etc. Simple things like keeping your legs straight, feet together and toes pointed; going in straight on your dives with good entries -- these basic fundamentals are paramount to success in diving and should not be tossed aside as unimportant. They are of the utmost importance!

As I always tell my divers: "You need to be BETTER than bad judging"!

Diving Referee or Judges Should Help Teach Younger Divers

My kids are both on the third grade basketball team and for the most part -- it is a comedy of errors watching them "play" the game and learn the game!

Of course, teaching the kids how to play the game is the job of the coach but I like how the local referees take an active role of teaching the kids during the games. As you can imagine, the rules of basketball for 3rd graders are not very strictly enforced -- but when they are, I really like how the referee will squat down in front of the kid and tell him exactly why the whistle was blown or why the foul was called. This way, the youngster can get immediate feedback and learn the game one rule at a time.

Similarly, diving referees and judges should do the same thing -- especially in summer league diving. If a failed dive, balk or other penalty is called, the referee (or judge) should call the young aspiring diver over and explain exactly why the penalty was called to make sure they understand. In certain instances, I think even letting young diver repeat a dive that was failed is a great opportunity to teach the sport to them. Call them over, explain why the dive was failed and then let them try it again. This is a non-threatening and non embarrassing way to teach a young diver and keep them involved in the sport by taking a potentially humiliating experience and turning it into a positive situation.

Can A Judge Give A Zero If The Referee Does Not Fail the Dive?

The answer is YES -- a diving judge can score a dive "ZERO" even if the referee has not declared the dive to be failed. This somewhat rare situation is most likely to happen in a high school competition and when it does occur, it is usually on a twisting dive -- especially when the judges are seated on both sides of the diving well (as they should be).

A few notes:

• Scores in diving range from a high of "10" (Excellent) to a low of "0" (failed).
• Whenever possible -- judges should be seated on BOTH sides of the diving well.
• Whenever possible (and at all "big" meets) there should be both a referee and an assistant referee who are seated on opposite sides of the pool.
• The ASSISTANT referee makes the call (failed dive) and the referee either confirms it or does not confirm it. In order for the dive to be declared failed -- BOTH the referee AND the assistant referee should be in agreement.
• If the referee declares the dive to be "failed" -- all scores are "0" -- even if one or more of the judges does NOT think it was failed.
• A judge who gives a "0" to a dive not declared failed by the referee should be able to defend that score with an explanation other than "it was my opinion."
• All diving judges should watch as much diving as they are able in order to keep their "diving eye" sharp.
• All diving judges should know and understand the rules of the sport.
• All diving judges should first and foremost be completely neutral; judge what they see fairly and accurately and always give the diver the benefit of the doubt.

New Terminology for Judging Diving

As one of the officials selected to judge the Men's Big 10 Diving Championships this week at Purdue University, I had the opportunity (and honor) to hang out with a really good group of diving people -- namely Oscar Delgado, Woody Franklin, Amy Kwan, Don Mason, Kevin Sage and the legendary John Narcy.

In addition to our judging responsibilities; we ate meals together, we worked out together and best of all, we had a lot of fun together. One thing of particular note that we did was to come up with some NEW terms for judging diving based on our experiences while scoring these spectacular 1M, 3M and Platform Competitions.

For all examples below, we will assume the judging panel consists of seven judges -- although the same terms could be used with a five-judge panel. In diving judge "lingo", the only terms known to most diving people are:

• "BINGO" -- When all the judges give the same score for a dive. An example would be 8.0, 8.0, 8.0, 8.0, 8.0, 8.0, 8.0.
• "BINGO BUSTER" -- When one judge gives a score different than all the other judges for a particular dive. An example would be 8.0, 8.0, 8.0, 8.0, 7.5, 8.0, 8.0. (NOTE: Every diving judge knows that the "Bingo Buster" is sure to get some ribbing from the other judges AND rumor has it, that the judge who has the most "Busted Bingo's" picks up the tab later that night!)

Our panel of judges came up with some NEW terms that we think will making judging diving even more exciting (and possibly humorous) for the judges. Here they are in no particular order:

• "THE 7-10 SPLIT" -- Yes, this is a bowling term but now it is also a judging diving term too. This describes a scenario where the first and last judge give the same score AND the rest of the judges give the same score (but different than the first and last judge). An example would be: 6.5, 7.0, 7.0, 7.0, 7.0, 7.0, 6.5.
• "STRONG SIDE BINGO" -- In most cases, the judging panel is divided and positioned on both sides of the pool. With a Seven Judge Panel, one side of the pool would have FOUR judges (The "Strong" Side) and the other side of the pool would have THREE Judges (The "Weak" Side). A "Strong Side Bingo" occurs when all four of the judges on the "strong" side give the same score for a dive that is different than the scores given by the "weak" side. An example would be: 7.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.5, 6.5, 6.5, 6.5.
• "WEAK SIDE BINGO -- This is where all three judges on the "weak" side give the same score for a dive and it is different than the scores given by the four judges on the "strong" side. An example would be: 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.5, 6.5, 5.5, 6.0
• "DUELING BINGO'S" -- This is where you have a "Strong Side Bingo" AND a "Weak Side Bingo" on the same dive BUT with different scores. An example would be: 7.5, 7.5, 7.5, 7.5, 8.0, 8.0, 8.0.
• "DIVA BINGO" -- This term describes a judging panel made up of six men and one woman where the six men on the panel "Bingo" the dive BUT the woman judge gives the dive a different score. Since the woman is always right, she is NOT considered to be a "Bingo Buster" -- rather, the six men who scored the dive differently than she did are incorrect. OUCH!!
• "LIPSTICK JUNGLE" -- This term describes a judging panel made up of six women and only one man where the six women on the panel "Bingo" the dive and the man gives a different score. (NOTE: The man should NOT think of himself a male Diva -- rather, he is merely considered to be the dreaded "Bingo Buster"!!)

HAPPY JUDGING!!

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

Here are the last bits of information that I think Every Diving Judge Should Know:

1. Every diving judge should have a basic understanding of how to calculate the point total for each dive. With five judges, the high score and low score are dropped. The remaining three “middle” scores are added together and their sum total is multiplied by the “Degree of Difficulty” of the dive performed. For a three judge panel, the process is the same except that the high score and low score are NOT dropped.


2. Every diving judge should know that “Degree of Difficulty” is NOT taken into account when judging a dive. Judges are to score the PERFORMANCE of the dive – not the DIFFICULTY of the dive.


3. Every diving judge should know to be consistent with their judging and to not play favorites. If you are a “tough” judge – be “tough” on every diver.


4. Every diving judge should know that the safety of the diver is the number one priority and if they, the judge, see something that could result in injury to a diver they should immediately bring it to the attention of the coach, referee or pool manager. (Examples include broken or malfunctioning equipment, horseplay, lightning in the distance, objects floating in the pool near the diving boards, unsafe dives being attempted or repeated, etc.)


5. Every diving judge should know that judging diving is SUBJECTIVE – it is YOUR opinion. You may like certain things about certain dives that the other judges do not like and vice versa. Remember, YOU are the expert – do not be influenced by anything! (Crowd favorite; Hometown hero; well-known diver; etc.)


6. Every diving judge should know that the more times you judge diving, the better you get!


7. Every diving judge should know that in order to fine tune your “diving eye” you must watch diving on a regular basis. Visit a local high school, summer swim club or age group diving team and watch some practices. Practice scoring each dive you see. If you are fortunate enough to go with somebody, have them practice scoring too and then you can compare scores.


8. Every diving judge should know that you can never stop improving your judging. It takes time; it takes practice and it takes patience. Good luck and HAVE FUN!

Things Every Diving Judge Should Know (Part 2 of 3)

Here are the next seven items (#9-#15) of my total 23 "Things Every Diving Judge Should Know."

1. Every diving judge should know that diving is a sport of aesthetics – dives that “look good” score higher.
2. Every diving judge should know that any action a diver does beneath the surface of the water is not taken into account when scoring the dive.
3. Every diving judge should know that a higher dive is a better dive. If two divers do the exact same dive with the exact same form, at the exact same distance and with the exact same entry -- but one of the divers went higher in the air, THAT diver should receive higher scores than the other diver.
4. Every diving judge knows that a dive performed too close to the board is NOT a good dive. TOO CLOSE IS TOO DANGEROUS and should not be rewarded with high scores – even if all other aspects of the dive were good.
5. Every diving judge should understand and be able to identify a “crow hop” and should know that if two divers perform the exact same dive the exact same way, except for one of the divers “crow hops” on the takeoff, then that diver’s scores should be lower than the scores for the diver who did not “crow hop.” (A “crow hop” is defined as the lifting of one or both feet off of the board during a back or inward takeoff dive but prior to the actual takeoff for the dive.
6. Every diving judge should understand the concept of a “balk” in diving and how it DOES NOT affect the score they give for the dive. (A “balk” is declared when a diver, after assuming a starting position, makes an obvious attempt to start the dive and then stops for any reason. If a diver “balks” they get to try the dive one more time. Upon successful completion of the dive on the second try, each judge scores the second attempt as if nothing happened but the REFEREE instructs the announcer to reduce each judge’s score by TWO points as a penalty for the balk).
7. Every diving judge should know to show their score immediately upon command of the announcer. All judges should show their score for each dive simultaneously. NO PEEKING AT THE OTHER SCORES BEFORE YOU SHOW YOUR SCORE!!

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.

Learn From The Judges?

One of the best young diving coaches in the United States is Loren "Buck" Smith -- the very accomplished coach at Eastern Michigan University. I had the honor and pleasure of judging the Olympic Diving Trials with Buck. Before and after each event at the Olympic Trials, the judges had a briefing and de-briefing -- where we discussed things we saw or wanted to review or discuss -- it was very informative for all and really seemed to help "fine tune" the judging.

During one of our de-briefings (which occurred after each event) Buck mentioned what I think is a GREAT IDEA -- that is, the JUDGES should write reports TO THE COACHES at the completion of certain big meets -- to tell them what they feel would improve their divers and ultimately improve their position in the standings. If the coaches could be handed a sheet at the end of the meet that told them WHY the judges scored certain dives in certain ways, as well as a list of things that the judges liked AND disliked about their divers and the dives they did -- Buck (and the rest of the Olympic Trials Judges -- including me) think this could be very beneficial to the continued improvement and progress of diving in the USA.

Only time will tell if the coaches will embrace such a cutting edge idea.

The Last Thing the Judges See!

The outcome of a diving meet is determined by the diving judges. The scores they give for each dive directly affects the final scores and places.

The goal of the diver should be to perform each of their dives in such a way that the judges will reward them with high scores. This is NOT POSSIBLE if a diver gets sloppy or lazy at the end of the dive. I firmly believe that the last thing a diving judge sees on each dive he or she judges leaves an overall impression (good or bad) about that dive. Let's say a diver jumps high, spins fast, is good distance from the board and enters the water vertically but loses their feet on the entry (feet come apart) -- it is my opinion and experience that the judges will not reward that dive as well as they should because they formed an overall negative opinion of the dive simply because the diver's feet came apart on the entry. The judge starts thinking that there must have been other things wrong with the dive as well. The same could be said for similar dives as mentioned above that go in the water with flat feet, or a slight twist or a bad entry. Everything about the dive is good EXCEPT for the last thing the judges see.

Coaches need to constantly reinforce (and divers need to be constantly reminded) that the dive is NOT OVER UNTIL THE TOES DISAPPEAR UNDERNEATH THE WATER. The diver must be taught to maintain GOOD FORM (legs straight, feet together, toes pointed) for the entire duration of the dive and they must try to enter the water with as little splash as possible each and every time they do a dive.

These little things that separate "good" divers from "not-so-good" divers do not occur accidentally -- they must be practiced and perfected over time.

FINISH THE DIVE!!

This week, I had the opportunity and privilege to judge at the 2008 FINA Grand Prix International Diving Championships at the Hall of Fame Aquatic Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL. During the first of our daily judges' meetings, we discussed a number of things about the events from the previous day. One such topic that we discussed I felt was very relevant to diving at all levels from beginner to international elite and that topic was how some divers did very good dives but they did not FINISH them well and therefore the scores from the judges were not as high as they could have been.

WHAT IS THE LESSON?

The best divers know how to finish their dives.

REMEMBER: The dive is not over until your toes have disappeared underneath the water. Make sure your divers are taught and learn to stay TIGHT with legs straight, feet together and toes pointed all the way through the entry. The extra half point or point they could receive from the judges could make a huge difference in the final results -- it sure did at the FINA Meet!