Pool safety is an important lesson for everyone, especially younger children who are unaware of the dangers certain behaviors can create. Swimming pool diving is one of those potentially dangerous activities if your child hasn’t learned properly. Knowing how to teach your child to dive is essential to ensure they know how to do so safely.

The Sitting Dive

It’s important not to dig right in with a standing dive because failure to execute the dive properly can easily lead to a severe injury or worse. Instead, it is recommended to start learning pool diving from a sitting position. While sitting on the edge of the pool with feet in the water and against the side, instruct your child to raise their arms with palms facing up and arms against their ears. Bend forward until the hands almost touch the water and then push off from the wall, diving down into the water.

The Kneeling Dive

After perfecting swimming pool diving from a seated position, your child can move on to the kneeling dive. With arms in the same position as before, your child should place one knee on the ground with the foot flexed under them and the other foot flat on the floor with their knee against their chest. As before, your child should then lean forward, gently rolling into the water, hands first.

The Standing Dive

Finally, your child will be ready to perform the standing dive. To properly execute this dive, your child should stand at the edge of the pool, toes curled over the edge. This will reduce the risk of hitting the wall. They should tuck their chin lightly to their chest and slightly bend and relax their knees. When they are ready to execute the dive, they should bend at the waist and push off with their feet.

Important Tips

There are several additional important tips to keep in mind as you teach your child to dive. First and foremost, teach them to pay attention to signs posted at the pool. Most pools will have clear “no diving” signs posted if the water is not deep enough for diving. Your child should never ignore these signs. Also, don’t be discouraged if your child is unwilling or unable to learn from you. Some children do better when learning these activities from a certified instructor who isn’t also their parent.

If your child is ready to learn more about pool diving, here is a video where they can watch a professional explain and demonstrate the techniques explained above.Click here to watch the Video