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What is Modelling in Diving?
Modeling in diving refers to mentally or physically rehearsing a dive with focus on form, timing, technique, and feel. This can include visualization (seeing and feeling the dive in your mind), slow-motion walkthroughs, or dryland imitation of dive mechanics.
Divers often model a dive before getting on the board, practicing arm positions, mimicking takeoffs, or mentally rehearsing each phase from approach to entry. It helps reinforce the motor patterns and precision required for consistent execution.
Why is it Important?
Because diving happens in seconds, there’s little to no time to think mid-air. Your body must already know exactly what to do. Modeling helps build the necessary muscle memory. It strengthens the connection between your brain and body, so that when it’s time to compete, your dive feels familiar, practiced, and controlled.
Modeling also boosts confidence, improves focus, and allows divers to keep training even when they’re fatigued or injured, like Olympic gold medalist Laura Wilkinson famously did. It’s one of the most powerful tools a diver can use, and it costs nothing but attention.
Meet Laura Wilkinson: a modelling master
Laura Wilkinson is one of the most iconic figures in American diving history, not just because she won Olympic gold in 2000, but because of how she did it.
In the months leading up to the Sydney Olympics, Wilkinson broke her foot during training, a devastating injury for any diver, let alone one preparing for the biggest stage in the world. She was unable to train on the platform for over a month, and with her body sidelined, she turned to the one tool she could still control: her mind.
Wilkinson began mentally rehearsing every dive she would perform in competition. She visualized the timing, feeling of the air around her body during twists and flips, the moment of extension, and the precision of her entry. She modeled her dives repeatedly in her head, with the same focus and intensity as if she were actually performing them. Her brain, in effect, kept practicing what her body couldn’t: reinforcing movement patterns, sharpening timing, and keeping her competitive edge alive.
By the time the Olympics arrived, she was mentally sharp, emotionally locked in, and physically healed just enough to compete. Against all odds, she won gold on 10m platform, becoming the first American woman to do so in 36 years.
Wilkinson’s story isn’t just about toughness or talent. It’s a blueprint for elite-level visualization, which proves that modeling dives mentally with consistency, detail, and emotional control can truly shape outcomes at the highest level.
She didn’t just dive to win. She thought to win.
Now it's your turn!
Learn how to model by viewing the videos below!!
Fronts
Backs
Reverses
Inwards
Twisters
In this MRDC dryland session, the focus is on modeling technique to refine twisting dives, specifically the front 1½ full (5132D) and back 1½ with a half twist (5231D). Coaches walk athletes through the importance of piking up to initiate somersaults, maintaining head and chest position, and using precise arm separation and timing to control twist initiation. The session emphasizes the mechanics behind twisting from the feet up, leveraging lower-body power (80% of rotation), and syncing somersault with a controlled wrap. Key tools like the "pyramid cue," "windshield wipers," and wall drills help reinforce muscle memory and coordination. The message: repetition is the mother of all learning. Consistent, correct modeling is critical for nailing these complex skills on the board.
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