Jumping into cold water? try the inverse belly flop method

Yes, the inverse belly flop method is your best way to jump into cold water. Whether it’s off a dock or off a sailboat, instead of diving or jumping, try this method.

Jump at about a 30 degree angle, kicking your legs out. The 30 degree angle is extra security so that your head won’t hit the landing from where you are jumping. Once air-born, as you kick your legs out, concentrate on having your tail bone hit the water first.

Then, at point of water contact, you can increase the surface area of your body hitting the water by flattening your body, moving from seated to laying position. As your body forms a natural “V,” depending upon how flat you lay yourself out onto the surface of the water, you can displace water in two directions:

• towards your butt and down the back of your thighs.
• towards the lower then upper back.

Depending on the “V” we can control a deeper or a more shallow entry. Spread out our “V” displaces a lot of water, a more shallow entry. With a tighter “V” our butt goes deeper in the water. A deep V can feel euphoric, but careful of water depth. Once in the water, we can spread out our “V” like a fishing bobber, coming right to the surface, effortless.

Displacing water via the Inverse Belly Flop Method is the best way to jump into a lake for the following reasons:

Safety

We’ve all heard horror stories of someone who dove into a pool or other water and has broken their neck by hitting the bottom. This won’t happen with the Inverse Belly Flop Method. The inverse belly flop is your safest way to enter the water. Instead of leading with your head or your chest, by leading with you butt and tailbone, we protect our head. Our head is about the last part of our body to enter the water.

A shallow dive is effective, yes. But if you don’t know the depth of where you’re diving, or there is the possibility of hitting an unsuspecting musky suspended off the dock, you are best avoiding diving, and using the Inverse Belly Flop Method.

Ear equilibrium

In addition to safety, the protecting of our head, the second benefit of the inverse belly flop is better ear equilibrium.

Swimmer’s ear is no fun. And there is anecdotal evidence that diving into water has an increased chance of pushing water into the ear canal vs. the Inverse Belly Flop Method. It is unproven, but for those who suffer from tinnitus, there may be association to water pressure in the ear. There is less pressure in the ears with partaking in the Inverse Belly Flop Method.

Wardrobe malfunction

In addition to safety and ear equilibrium, the third benefit of the Inverse Belly Flop Method for jumping into a cold lake is the minimization of wardrobe malfunction. As the primary point of water contact is the tailbone and then buttox region, there is no chance for losing ones Troxers or trunks or boxers when doing the Inverse Belly Flop Method.

Does the Inverse Belly Flop Method look goofy? We don’t think so. We think that the method is akin to a “jacknife” dive. The Inverse Belly Flop Method is our chance to show how we can displace water effectively, but understanding vector forces without the need of graphs or drawings showing arrows and percentages.

The Inverse Belly Flop Method is fun. You may even be able to direct the splash you leave behind to unsuspecting spectators.