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Short and Long Entry Saves

Learn what to do under the water when a dive goes in a little short or a little long, guided by your coach.

By Coach Evan Waechtler Youth coach (U11, Cache Valley, Utah) and founder of SSTracker Updated October 30, 2026

Set up

Your coach explains one save for a short entry and one for a long entry.

Core: A dive you know. Beat your own quietest entry.

Ages
14 and up
Time
15 min
Space
Pool
Bring
Springboard, deep water, diving coach
Level · skill
Advanced · Entry

The steps

How it works

  1. Your coach explains one save for a short entry and one for a long entry.
  2. Practice the movements on dry land first.
  3. Do simple dives and feel whether each one is short, long or right.
  4. Tell your coach before they tell you; do 8.

Coaching point

Feel it, then fix it.

Safety: Only on a board or platform with a diving coach watching, in water your coach has checked meets the diving depth standard (about 12 feet under a 1 yard (1 m) board). Never in shallow water, never alone.

Make it fun

Play it, don't drill it

Game version

Quiet-entry game: a partner watches from the side and gives a thumbs-up for a straight line and a small splash. Swap. Only dives your coach has cleared.

Challenge

Pick a level: Less (feet-first from the deck), Core (a dive you know), More (the same dive from higher, with your coach’s OK). Beat your own quietest entry.

Story

You are a needle slipping into the water without a ripple.

My best

Beat your own count

Beat your own quietest entry. Only your own number counts: today against last time.

Practice makes progress

Print it now, or save it free

Free for families and teams

Save this drill to your child or team, free

Sign up and the free diving week for this age opens in your child's planner, kept to healthy limits. A coach can send this drill to the whole team as homework, and parents see every session logged.

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An email from you to the coach, with the words ready. Nothing is tracked and nobody is rewarded.