How Deep Should A Pool Be To Jump In?
The safe pool depth for jumping is a minimum of 4 feet. By calculation, this depth holds enough water to absorb the impact.
When people are building a pool, they ask: How deep should my pool be? The reason for this is that they want the pool to be deep enough to accommodate all of their activities.
Standard pool depth for jumping
THERE IS NO STANDARD DEPTH FOR POOLS. Thus, you can build yours the way you want (going by the laws), and depending on your needs.
When designing the pool, tell your designer everything you intend to do with the pool, or your intended purpose and usage.
Think about the children’s play area, the area for hanging out during the summer with the water reaching to your waist, and the area for jumping.
For serious diving in the pool, the depth can go up to 12 feet and should be at least 9 feet.
If you have children, you might want to design the pool with a sun shelf where children can play in the water without danger of drowning.
But in this case, we are considering the minimum water depth for jumping, and we have already said that the recommended depth is 4 feet. However, that is the minimum. So you can as well go as deep as you like.
Jump into the pool meaning
Just what does it mean to jump into the pool? This simple phrase has many and nasty meanings on these streets. However, away from the nasty innuendos, it means to jump or dive into the swimming pool.
There are so many ways to jump into the pool. You can do it feet-first or head-first. Some people just like to bend their legs below them as they jump into the pool.
Some people like to do the belly flap when they jump and hit the water with their belly. This creates quite a splash.
Another way is to draw the legs and fold them into the chest. There is also swan diving, forward flip, dead man twist and helicopter.
Some of these techniques are to be used by experts only. For instance, the forward flip style of jumping into the pool is recommended for experts only.
Here is a very good list of 50 ways of jumping into the pool.
Remember, before you do a pool jump of any sort, safety is the most important consideration. Also, don’t be too crazy to try techniques that are way ahead of your skills.
Jumping into pool poses
There are so many ways to jump into pool poses when you are ready to dive. The pose you take depends on the type of jump you want to make.
Don’t believe everything you see online because, with today’s technology, people can photoshop themselves into anything. So, if you see a funny jumping into a pool pose with a person captured midair, just know it’s camera work.
The secret to getting your poses captured is to have a nice camera and a photo person who knows what they are doing.
You must also be willing to try new jumping techniques so that your camera person can capture great moments when you are in the air.
You can also pose before jumping in the pool. Children like to adopt the superhero jumping poses, while adults like to try the poses that rhyme with the type of jump they are making.
Overall, there are hundreds of jumping-in-the-pool poses that you can try with your friends, family, or even alone. They break the monotony of swimming.
The best depth for a pool with jumping rock
The ideal depth should be 8 feet. However, you can never go deeper since you want a lot of water to prevent you from sustaining head, leg, and other injuries.
The best pool depth for jumping, therefore, should start at 4 feet, for jumping feet first. That amount of water is sufficient to absorb the impact that would otherwise have gone to your feet.
Today, pools are designed in such a way that they slope away from the shallow end, going deeper on the other end. Thus, for jumping or treading water, you can use the deep end. For swimming with young kids, you can use the shallow end.
On the shallow end of the pool, the water is usually 3.5 feet. However, the sun shelf can be narrower since it is made for young children to use.
The deeper end of the pool is about 5 feet. But as we said, it is not really about standard pool depth. It is about what you want in your pool design.
Just make sure that the minimum water depth is for jumping.
How deep do you go when jumping into water?
For the swimming pool, we have said that it should be at least 4 feet. However, when jumping into the water off a cliff, the dynamics change a lot.
For instance, the minimum depth when jumping off a small cliff is 8 feet. If the cliff is really high, you need to add 2 feet of water for every 10 feet of cliff.
Depending on the size of the cliff, the depth of the water that you are jumping into can change tremendously.
How deep should a pool be for a diving board?
Jumping into the water feet-first is easier and safer. When it comes to diving into the pool with your head, the dynamics really change!
Your pool should be 8 feet deep if you want to install a diving board. Perhaps deeper would be better, but 8 feet is the recommended minimum.
The main concern when you are diving in the pool is to keep your head safe from injury.
Something else that most people ask is: Can you dive in a 5-foot pool? And the answer is no. Actually, some organizations, such as the American Red Cross, recommend that you dive in 9-foot swimming pools. However, other sources say that you should not go deeper than 8 feet.
That is why we said that you should make the swimming pool at least 8 feet deep. If the water is less than that, even if it is 7 feet, please avoid diving in it.
Is diving in a pool dangerous?
If you adhere to the recommended diving pool depth, there is not much danger involved. However, diving in the shallow pool can be truly dangerous.
If you land badly and hit the bottom of the pool with your feet when jumping, you could end up with paralysis below the neck.
If you hit your head against the bottom or side of the pool, you could end up with serious brain and head injuries. Therefore, to enhance your diving safety, you should not dive when you have just learned how to swim.
It would be better to start by jumping into the pool. That way, you can get used to the impact of your body hitting the water.
Pool slope from shallow to deep
If you have decided to build an above-ground swimming pool, or even an in-ground one, you might want to know the pool slope from shallow to deep.
Usually, the slope starts at 3.5 feet on the shallow end, and it ends at 8 feet. However, some swimming pools are 9 feet on the deep side.
The longer the pool is, say, about 30 meters, the gentler the slope is going to be. If the pool has a shorter length, the slope will be quite steep.
You could also design a swimming pool that has multiple depths, especially if you have kids in the family. Resort and hotel pools also come with multiple depths to allow various uses.
For instance, to play games such as volleyball, basketball, or train in water aerobics, you need a pool depth of 3.5 to 6 feet.
You can also create a kid’s play area in the pool with less depth. The recommended depth for this area is 18 inches to 3.5 feet.
Pool designers call the kid’s play area the play ledge. The low amount of water makes the kids feel comfortable, so they can play with their swimming pool toys.
Depending on the age of the children using the pool, the bigger ones can play in the 3.5-foot side, while the younger ones play in the shallow end, measuring 18 inches or 1.5 feet. Please remember, you should never leave kids unsupervised in the pool.
Another pool depth worth considering is that of the hanging-out area. When summer kicks in, you want to hang out in the pool with soda, to cool off from the high temperatures.
Pool designers prefer to make the hanging out 3.5 to 4 feet deep, which is enough to let you relax with the water reaching up to your waist.
Conclusion
That is it for the safe pool depth for jumping. It is very important that you jump off the deep end. A jumping swimming pool will be deeper than a lounging swimming pool. Thus, be very sure about the purpose your pool is intended for.
If you are a pool maintenance manager in a resort, school, or other facility, ensure there are signs indicating the pool depth.
How deep should a pool be to dive? As a general rule, never shallower than 8 feet on the deep end.
Always ensure that before you dive head first. For jumping feet-first in the water, ensure the pool depth is at least 4 feet.