Diving – Points to Note

The following two points play a crucial part in any type of diving −

• The path of trajectory followed for diving

• The effect of angular momentum.

This is because in accordance with law of conservation of energy, by changing the body angle with sufficient speed, the total amount of rotation can be varied.

Path of Trajectory

Trajectory is a path on which a diver travels from the springboard to the swimming pool. For safety purpose, it is good to maintain some distance from the diving board.

The athletes are penalized if there is much distance between him and the board. If you want to achieve highest height, then you must show your concern over these −

• A good height should be aimed for because this will fetch you a good score from the judges.

• As the height increases, you get more time to manipulate your body to show some good acrobatic skills.

• If your height of dive is more, then the forward travel distance will be consequently less.

The Effect of Angular Momentum

Diving is a sport of angular momentum which is the product of rotational velocity and moment of inertia. Moment of inertia depends upon the radius of body flexibility. Now coming to the rotational velocity, it depends upon the compactness of the body directly. That means if the athlete wants to increase his rotational speed, he will compact his body and for reverse he has to make it straight.