What are the reasons why some people are afraid to dive in the water?

Question

What are the reasons why some people are afraid to dive in the water?

Answer 1

I wish I could answer this.

my son is an excellent swimmer but fears diving.

I have been puzzled by this also.

Answer 2

I think it is the fear of doing it wrong and wind up getting hurt and/or is the pool deep enough?  It's the whole "head first" thing that is used as a metaphor about life situations - there is a full level of committment involved. The high diving boards require a little bit more confidence as there is more time to keep your body in proper form before hitting the water.

Answer 3

I teach kids how to dive and what I think is just the idea of going in head first.  It isn't a natural thing to do.  What I do with the kids is take them to a dock that is low in the water (I work at a beach).  And I have them start off with the knee dive.  Even if they don't want to go in that lesson, I at least have them practice the stance over and over so that they become more familiar with the stance.  If they are still worried, I get them prepared by doing front glides, or even diving while they are standing in the water (jumping up and "diving" in), or I may have students use the ladder to push off from to help them get use to the feeling.  I think also, some people are afraid that they will get hurt, such as doing the belly flop.  Our lake is also very clear, so kids can see the bottom.  Even though it is over 8 feet down, they see the large boulders and are afraid that they will hit their head on them.  Also, I think some kids are worried that they will run out of air before getting back up to the top.  For this, I'm usually in the water with the kids, to let them know, that I can pull them back up quickly if they are not coming up fast enough.  Finally, I think that people are worried about getting water up their nose.  I tell kids two tricks to this.  One, keep their head glued to their chest (figuratively that is).  If they raise their head, water will go in, also, there is a greater chance that by doing this, they will raise their arms, which means they will be diving out instead of down, which increases their chances of doing a belly flop.  Two, I tell kids to blow out through they nose as soon as they feel their head going in, that way the pressure will keep the water out.