Wellington Diving Club

The variety of dives is quite vast, most can be performed in A, B and C positions from any different springboard (1 or 3 metre) and platform (5, 7.5 or 10 metre) height.  The degree of difficulty (DD) is the rating of how difficult a dive is to perform correctly in a certain position from a certain board height.

• Tuck is regarded as the easiest position, as the body in a tuck position is capable of spinning and rotating quicker.
• Pike is regarded as a little harder, as the body is not so compact (harder to rotate)
• Straight is regarded as the hardest position

An example of how the dive position (aerial position) can influence the DD of a dive at the certain height is given below:

203 back one and a half somersault on the 1 metre board

• C = tuck position        DD = 2.0
• B = pike position         DD = 2.3
• A = straight position   DD = 2.5

203 Back 1½ somersaults

• Board/platform           A Position       B Position       C position
• 1 metre                        DD = 2.5         DD = 2.3         DD = 2.0
• 3 metre                        DD = 2.4         DD = 2.2         DD = 1.9
• 5 metre                        DD = 2.5         DD = 2.3         DD = 2.0
• 7.5 metre                     DD = 2.4         DD = 2.2         DD = 1.9
• 10 metre                      DD = 2.4         DD = 2.2         DD = 1.9
• 10 metre                      DD = 2.4         DD = 2.2         DD = 1.9

From these figures you can see that the higher the board (more time to complete the dive) and the easier the position (tuck rotates faster) then the lower the DD becomes for the dive. However this is not a hard and fast rule.  In some dives the DD scale works the opposite way for different reasons. 

Usually, with the more basic dives like the 301A (reverse dive-straight), it is considered harder to maintain the dive for a longer period of flight as there is minimal control for adjustment during the dive.  Therefore it has a higher DD on the three-metre board than on the one-metre board.