A Method for Identification of Some Components of Judging Springboard Diving

Abstract

This article presents a method to analyze the scoring of judges in springboard diving by identifying some of the components of a dive which are useful in predicting the scores of the judges. A videotape recording of 26 divers doing the front dive half-twist was made at the 1979 men's A.A.U. prequalifying meet, held at Ohio State University. The method of measurement involved the use of clear plastic grids placed over the video monitor. The maximum height of the diver above the board, distance out from the board, size and duration of splash, numerous body angles at various times during the dive, as well as deviation of twist from 180 degrees were measured. A Stepwise Multiple Regression program was used to generate a prediction equation using a subset of these variables which would best predict the total score of the judges for each dive. The equation generated included height, distance, twist, and lower body angle at the point when the diver's head was opposite the board; the equation predicted the scores of the judges with a multiple correlation coefficient R = .80. The particular variables identified would of course be different for other types of dives, and might very well differ for a new set of data for the front dive half twist. However, the method presented provides the diving community with a procedure for identifying some of the components in a particular dive that partially explain what is in the judge's mind.