It Starts With Flexibility
It Starts With Flexibility
Any discussion of a flathand must start with flexibility! To achieve the best flathand possible and a great rip entry, a diver must work on the flexibility of the wrists.
Without that flexibility, a diver's hands will look more like a ball and it will appear as if they are punching the water with their fist. Have you tried to punch the water before? Give it a try, you will find out that it is not a very effective method of getting in the water without a splash!
So practice that flexibility every time you stretch before and after practice. You are stretching before and after practice aren't you?
The Starting Point
To learn the proper technique for grabbing a flathand, start with the hands as shown in the picture - palms forward and thumbs pointing toward each other.
Now of course before we proceed, let me make it clear that there are as many ways to grab a flathand as their are divers. Different techniques work for different people, and those with smaller hands may do something different that those with larger hands.
The point of this exericse is to give a general overview, and a good starting point for divers who want to rip, and need to learn to how to grab and use a flathand.
Time and experimentation are two of the greatest tools that a diver has to find the right way to grab ... and rip!
Bring The Hands Together
Bring the hands together so that the area of the hand that runs from the pointing finger to the thumb, intersects.
Right hand over the left, or left hand over the right, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that as the two hands touch, the middle finger of the top hand should be able to lay across the knuckles of the lower hand.
Hands Together - Different View
This picture offers a different view of the hands coming together, before the grab. The thumbs appear to intersect while one hand covers the other.
Grab The Bottom Hand
In a diving flathand, the basic idea is that one hand will grab another. That is why when your coach asks you why you didn't "grab," he is refering to grabbing the flathand!
So as you might expect, the next step is the grab. If your hands are in the correct position, the top hand should be able to reach across the knuckles of the bottom hand while at the same time the thumb comes underneath allowing the diver to grab the other hand.
One of the important parts of the grab is that it adds a great deal of stability to the hands as they hit the water. Putting the hands on top of each other may get you a rip every so often, but more than likely at some point the water will move the hands and arms in directions that you do not want them to go. The result of that could be as little as a big splash, but as big as a torn muscle.
So always make an effort to get that grab.
The Grab from a Different View
This is essentially what the water sees when a diver with a flathand approaches. The palm is facing the water and one hand is grabbing the other.
Many divers have longer fingers that allow their index (middle) finger and thumb to touch, but that is not a requirement for a flathand. The only requirement is that the diver work to the point at which the palm of the hand can land flat on the water.
Which leads us to us to the next step...
Squeeze and Turn, what the heck is that? It's the final part of the flathand!
Once the diver grabs the opposite hand, the job is not finished! First they must squeeze the other hand as tight as possible. And remember, the tighter the better.
If a diver is hitting the water close to 35 miles per hour (as in the case of platform), the water has many tricks to get that diver to move his hands, arms, shoulders, or any part of their body in odd and unappreciated ways.
So the tighter the diver squeezes their hands (and arms, and shoulders) the less the water will affect their entry.
Finally the diver will need to turn the wrists so that the flat palm is perpindicular to the diver's body. An easier way to explain that is to picture a diver standing with a flathand over their head. If their coach puts a book on top of that flat palm, it should sit on the palm in perfect balance. If it doesn't, the diver needs to do a little bit less, or more turning!
The most successful and most used path to a rip entry starts with a flathand. Yeah, there are no doubt other methods used by a few divers, but those are usually very unique and very specialized to that one individual.
If you look at the vast majority of divers though, and especially those that rip day in and day out, they are always grabbing a flathand each and every time they hit the water.
And how did they fine tune that flathand, by practicing it following steps similar to these over, and over, and over agiain.
The act of grabbing a flat hand occurs in less than a second, so every diver needs to become comfortable with the grab, the squeeze and the turn.
So start practicing your flathand!
Any discussion of a flathand must start with flexibility! To achieve the best flathand possible and a great rip entry, a diver must work on the flexibility of the wrists.
Without that flexibility, a diver's hands will look more like a ball and it will appear as if they are punching the water with their fist. Have you tried to punch the water before? Give it a try, you will find out that it is not a very effective method of getting in the water without a splash!
So practice that flexibility every time you stretch before and after practice. You are stretching before and after practice aren't you?
The Starting Point
To learn the proper technique for grabbing a flathand, start with the hands as shown in the picture - palms forward and thumbs pointing toward each other.
Now of course before we proceed, let me make it clear that there are as many ways to grab a flathand as their are divers. Different techniques work for different people, and those with smaller hands may do something different that those with larger hands.
The point of this exericse is to give a general overview, and a good starting point for divers who want to rip, and need to learn to how to grab and use a flathand.
Time and experimentation are two of the greatest tools that a diver has to find the right way to grab ... and rip!
Bring The Hands Together
Bring the hands together so that the area of the hand that runs from the pointing finger to the thumb, intersects.
Right hand over the left, or left hand over the right, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that as the two hands touch, the middle finger of the top hand should be able to lay across the knuckles of the lower hand.
Hands Together - Different View
This picture offers a different view of the hands coming together, before the grab. The thumbs appear to intersect while one hand covers the other.
Grab The Bottom Hand
In a diving flathand, the basic idea is that one hand will grab another. That is why when your coach asks you why you didn't "grab," he is refering to grabbing the flathand!
So as you might expect, the next step is the grab. If your hands are in the correct position, the top hand should be able to reach across the knuckles of the bottom hand while at the same time the thumb comes underneath allowing the diver to grab the other hand.
One of the important parts of the grab is that it adds a great deal of stability to the hands as they hit the water. Putting the hands on top of each other may get you a rip every so often, but more than likely at some point the water will move the hands and arms in directions that you do not want them to go. The result of that could be as little as a big splash, but as big as a torn muscle.
So always make an effort to get that grab.
The Grab from a Different View
This is essentially what the water sees when a diver with a flathand approaches. The palm is facing the water and one hand is grabbing the other.
Many divers have longer fingers that allow their index (middle) finger and thumb to touch, but that is not a requirement for a flathand. The only requirement is that the diver work to the point at which the palm of the hand can land flat on the water.
Which leads us to us to the next step...
Squeeze and Turn, what the heck is that? It's the final part of the flathand!
Once the diver grabs the opposite hand, the job is not finished! First they must squeeze the other hand as tight as possible. And remember, the tighter the better.
If a diver is hitting the water close to 35 miles per hour (as in the case of platform), the water has many tricks to get that diver to move his hands, arms, shoulders, or any part of their body in odd and unappreciated ways.
So the tighter the diver squeezes their hands (and arms, and shoulders) the less the water will affect their entry.
Finally the diver will need to turn the wrists so that the flat palm is perpindicular to the diver's body. An easier way to explain that is to picture a diver standing with a flathand over their head. If their coach puts a book on top of that flat palm, it should sit on the palm in perfect balance. If it doesn't, the diver needs to do a little bit less, or more turning!
The most successful and most used path to a rip entry starts with a flathand. Yeah, there are no doubt other methods used by a few divers, but those are usually very unique and very specialized to that one individual.
If you look at the vast majority of divers though, and especially those that rip day in and day out, they are always grabbing a flathand each and every time they hit the water.
And how did they fine tune that flathand, by practicing it following steps similar to these over, and over, and over agiain.
The act of grabbing a flat hand occurs in less than a second, so every diver needs to become comfortable with the grab, the squeeze and the turn.
So start practicing your flathand!
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