To determine strategies used to generate linear and angular momentum in armstand triple somersaults tuck, a two-dimensional, kinematic analysis was performed on competition dives of 19 elite male divers. The lower extremities were the major contributor to total body angular momentum for armstand forward, back and reverse triple somersaults tuck. Maximum hip flexion velocity was greater for the reverse (12.8 ± 0.5 rad/s) than the back triple (11.0 ± 1.2 rad/s) and the leg snap occurred earlier in the takeoff of the reverse triple (p<0.05). Chinese divers who performed the back triple scored higher than American divers. They also had greater knee flexion and extension velocities, hip extension velocities and downward CG velocities during takeoff (p<0.05). Elite divers use high velocity leg action, that may be combined with lean away from the diving platform and contributions from the arms, to elicit a platform reaction force that promotes angular momentum in the somersaulting direction and linear momentum up and away from the platform.