From Steve Voellmecke
When a diver enters the water with little or no splash, the result is usually a rip entry, high scores from the judges, and wild applause from the crowd.
To get that classic "rip," a diver must grab their "flathand," line up the entry correctly, and remain tight through the water. The final piece of the "rip" puzzle comes when the diver splits their hands as soon as they touch the water, and swims (bringing the arms to their hips laterally following the body) through the entry. This in effect opens a hole through which the diver enters.
Any coach can tell if the diver is splitting their hands simply by watching the bubbles where the diver enters the water. There should be three sets of bubbles:
- The middle bubble is where the diver enters the water.
- Two sets of bubbles to either side of the middle bubble that are generated by the diver splitting their hands, and swimming their arms toward the surface.
If a coach only sees one set of bubbles, this means the diver is not splitting their hands apart on entry. If the coach sees three sets of bubbles but the two sets of side bubbles take a few seconds to reach the surface, then the diver is splitting too late.
Many times new divers will split their hands before they hit the water. This will be very easy to spot as the splash will be big and the diver will probably complain of a headache when they get out of the water!
Of course, if there is no splash, that will work also!
