How to Do a Gainer off of a Diving Board

Step-by-Step Guide

1. 1

   Step 1: Practice your hurdle.

   The hurdle is the jump that will help you gain momentum, moving away from the board and up in the air, in order to have enough room and time to do a gainer.
   
   Before you attempt the gainer, you should be comfortable just doing the hurdle into the pool.
   
   You should also be comfortable doing a front and back flip.
   
   Here's how you do it:
   Take a few quick steps toward the edge of the board.
   
   Bend your knees and swing your arms up as you jump off the board Jump up and out Tuck your knees into your chest Fall straight into the water After you're comfortable with this skill, you can wrap your arms around you knees after you tuck them into your chest.
2. 2

   Step 2: Stand at the back of the diving board.

   The board should ideally be about 10 feet (3 meters) above the water.
   
   Keep your posture pretty straight but bent you knees just a bit to get comfortable with the bounce of the board.
   
   Your arms should hang at your sides. , Space your steps so that your stronger foot plants last, with your toes planted just behind the front edge of the diving board.
   
   These steps should be quick, enough to build momentum, but not so quick that you slip and lose your balance. , The first main motion for doing the gainer is the hurdle that you've practiced.
   
   To hurtle forward, reach the edge of the board with your feet and jump forward as you raise your arms on your last step and raise your knees to the height of your hips or higher.
   
   This combination will lift you upwards as high as you can go.
   
   You need to jump forward enough that you won't hit your head on the board but focus on going out and up, not just out. , Your head and chest will stay still as you're propelled forward.
   
   Lean back and let your tucked feet fall backwards over your head.
   
   Your knees should already begin to move closer to your chest and your arms should approach your knees. , You should begin to tuck tightly at the height of the jump.
   
   Wrap your arms around your knees into the tuck, which will help your body become more compact.
   
   You can think of this as curling into a cannonball. , Keep your body neatly tucked until you approach the water with your feet. , When you're just 1 to 2 feet away from the water (.3 to .6 meters), you can start to extend your legs, to get ready to land in the water feet first.
   
   If you don't do this, you'll land on your face or stomach
   -- not only will this not look so elegant, but you'll be in pain as your body slaps the water.
   
   Your arms can move away from your knees and approach your sides. , Right before you enter the water, extend your legs completely as you gracefully land into the water vertically with your feet first.
   
   Your arms should be nearly at your sides when you do this.
   
   As you improve your gainer technique, you can work on rotating your body a bit faster and tucking your knees to your chest for longer before you enter the water.
3. 3

   Step 3: Take three big steps forward.

4. 4

   Step 4: Hurdle forward.

5. 5

   Step 5: Swing your feet upward and over your head.

6. 6

   Step 6: Pull your knees into your chest.

7. 7

   Step 7: Continue rotating backward.

8. 8

   Step 8: Begin to extend your legs.

9. 9

   Step 9: Stretch your legs into the water.

Detailed Guide

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