Squad Training
Why a squad system?
A squad system ensures effective coaching for all divers as coaches train divers of similar ability, attitude, and commitment together. The coach is able to give more individual attention to a diver’s specific needs and provide suitable levels of support and encouragement.
A squad system, based on achievement and attitude, motivates and encourages divers. It promotes an appropriately challenging environment in which divers want to achieve and attain goals and are directly rewarded for doing so. Divers enjoy training and are spurred on not only by their own success but also by that of their peers.
Our squad system provides opportunities for divers to participate recreationally and at a range of competitive levels. The divers in each squad will be targeting similar goals, whether that is to learn all the skills for a Grade or to earn the qualifying score for a particular competition.
At the top level, our squads are split into Masters (adult diving), Learn-to-Dive (LTD), and Competition, to provide space for everyone to realise their own potential in diving.
Learn-to-Dive (LTD)
Our LTD squad divers will focus on working their through the Albatross Diving Club Grading System. Divers start with 30-minute pool sessions per week and have the opportunity to increase their sessions as they progress through the Grades.
Competition Squads
Every 4 months (August, December, April) we hold Competition Squad Tryout sessions, open to all members of the LTD squads. These sessions involve a series of skills performed in the dryland and pool, allowing our coaches to assess suitability for a competition squad. Divers selected will be offered a place in a Development or Talent Identification (TID) squad, where they will work on the skills required to compete at regional events.
Development
The Development squad is for divers learning the skills to compete at regional qualifier events and working on improving their dives to achieve the qualifying score to compete at the National Skills Final. Details of the skills required for different ages (including videos) and the points required for the final can be found here:
TID (Talent-Identification)
The TID squad is similar, but focused on younger divers. These divers have more time to learn the required skills, so more time is spent in the dryland to condition the body for diving, building strength and flexibility, while developing the fundamentals in the pool. A focus on fundamentals when divers are younger allows them to quickly pick up more technical dives as they grow.
Skills
At the coaches discretion, divers are selected for the Skills squad based on their attitude to training and performance at regional events. This squad focuses on improving their competition list to compete at Skills-level events, while working on more technical dives to compete at the Age Groups level or when they move into the next age category.
Advanced
Divers who display an excellent attitude to training and are ready to compete at the Age Group level or higher will move to the Advanced squad. These divers will learn even more technical dives, with the goal of qualifying for the National Age Groups Championships or moving up to compete at the Next Generation Championships — the highest level of diving for juniors in the UK.