Game version
Picture-it pairs: on the deck, tell your partner what your perfect dive looks like, then swap. Breathe slowly together first.
Small Steps Ladder
Break a new dive into small steps with your coach, so each step feels possible before the next one.
By Coach Evan Waechtler Youth coach (U11, Cache Valley, Utah) and founder of SSTracker Updated October 30, 2026
Set up
With your coach, write the steps from dryland to the side to the board.
Core: Three. Beat your own calm.
- Ages
- 11 and up
- Time
- 15 min
- Space
- Pool
- Bring
- Notebook, diving coach
- Level · skill
- Developing · Focus & Courage
The steps
How it works
- With your coach, write the steps from dryland to the side to the board.
- Do only the step your coach picks today.
- Tick it off when you and your coach both feel ready.
- Talk about the next step at the end of practice.
Coaching point
One step at a time.
Safety: Your coach decides when a dive is ready, and saying "not yet" is fine. Only 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 alone.
Make it fun
Play it, don't drill it
Challenge
Pick a level: Less (one deep breath), Core (three), More (picture a full dive). Beat your own calm.
Story
You are a movie director picturing your best dive.
My best
Beat your own count
Beat your own calm. 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.
14 days free for a family, no card · Running a team is always free
Does your child's coach know about this?
An email from you to the coach, with the words ready. Nothing is tracked and nobody is rewarded.