How to Score High School Diving

Scoring high school diving is at once both simple and complex. As dives have become more complicated, with greater difficulty levels, scoring has become more challenging. Maintaining a standard that all involved deem as fair is an onerous task. The scoring system has not changed for about 100 years, when diving first became a competitive sport. Though the scoring has not changed, the dives have.

Things You'll Need

  • Scorecard
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Instructions

  1. Scoring the Dives

    • 1

      Select three judges. Theses judges must be knowledgeable about the sport, preferably with a diving background. In addition to scoring, they must be able to access the difficulty of the dive. Some dual meets, or meets between two schools, can sometimes be judged with two judges. Refer to the high school league rules for clarification of number of judges for specific kinds of meets.

    • 2

      Judge each of six dives on a scale of one to 10. To award the score, five elements are considered in the dive: starting position, approach, takeoff, flight and entry. Each judge will score each element differently, and the total will be an average of the score of those elements. Because the dive happens quickly, with no instant replay, judges must know what they are looking for with little variation in order to quickly assign the score.

    • 3

      Award a point score for the dive. The points are: 0 if the dive fails, perhaps a slip off the board; 1/2 to 2 if the dive is unsatisfactory; 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 if the dive is deficient in any way (perhaps 1 1/2 flips were to be done and the diver completed one); 5 to 6 1/2 if the dive is adequate; 7 to 8 if it is a good dive; 8 1/2 to 9 1/2 if it is very good; and 10 if it is excellent. Rarely in high school diving is a dive scored a 10.

    • 4

      Tabulate the score of the judges. Add the score of each judge together with the others. This calculates the raw score. This score is then divided by the degree of difficulty. The degree of difficulty is designated mostly using the components incorporated in the flight, but it can include the takeoff if it is unique. A double flip with a twist is more difficult than a single flip. Each component is awarded a degree of difficulty on a standard scale, and these are added together before the dive begins (the divers submit their dive program in advance).

    • 5

      Combine the scores of the total number of dives for each diver. The diver with the highest number is the individual winner. Individual competitors' scores are then added together with others from the same school to award a team number. The team with the highest number wins the meet. Scoring high school diving is very subjective, with each judge having her own idea of what a perfect dive looks like. Keeping scoring consistent and fair is always a challenge.