The fins-first dive is used when a player wishes to dive to the bottom of the pool directly beneath where they are floating on the surface.
Steps to dive fins first:
The playing arm should remain stretched out towards the bottom of the pool throughout the entire dive.
The free arm should be moved in a wide arc starting at the hip and moving forward and upward in front of the player, pushing the torso downward. The free arm shoulder should be lower, or closer to the bottom of the pool as this motion starts, and as the arm moves through the arc motion, the player’s shoulders should rotate so that the playing hand shoulder is closer to the bottom. This increases the distance the free arm can cover to push the player down.
The legs should be pointing down, and as the free arm moves in an arc to begin the downward movement of the player, the legs should bend at the knee to aid the downward movement.
The playing hand and stick should be the first thing in contact with the bottom of the pool, and shortly thereafter the hips should reach the bottom as well.
The player should end up in a cobra position, right below their starting point on the surface.
This dive should be used as often as possible as it gets the player to the bottom of the pool in a very good body position with their hips low to the bottom. This gives the player more strength if they receive the puck and allows them to see what is around them much better than if their hips are up off the bottom.
This kind of dive is also the fastest way to get to the bottom of the pool, and is therefore commonly used for equal pucks where players are racing from the surface straight down to get to the puck first.
The fins-first dive may not be the best option if the puck is fairly far away from the player or they are chasing an opponent who is swimming away from them. If that is the case, the player may wish to do a dive while swimmingwhich allows the player to follow a more direct path to the puck.
Player #9 is taking the puck on the advantage and does a fins first dive to get to the puck.
In this play, the black team has the advantage and the two players behind the puck (#9 and #6) both do a fins first dive. Almost all the players in front of the goal also do a fins first dive.