Swimming Teaching

Backstroke and Raising shoulder

2012-02-07T11:29:00.000+11:00

I have a problem with swim teachers that spend an inordinate amount of time instructing new swim students to raise their shoulder just before they lift their arm out of the water to start their stroke.

Now don't get me wrong the idea of raising your shoulder out of the water when doing backstroke is great: it generates a small amount of rotation in the water; this increases your reach so that you are able to grab (or catch) more water, thus increasing you propulsion; it also reduces water resistance.

But, raising your shoulder is also reasonably natural if you are exerting enough force in the water with your pushing (stroking arm). So it is completely unnecessary to spend large amounts of time coaching in shoulder lift.

Instead learn to raise your shoulder when doing backstroke by making it a function of the amount of work you are doing under the water not as a separate action in itself.

In other word push harder under the water with you stroking (pushing) arm and you will end up raising your other shoulder naturally.

Simple really Enjoy Richard

Is Your Breaststroke Working For You? A Drill

2012-01-31T17:18:00.000+11:00

This site is not about coaching for swimmers so unless it has to do with learning to swim I try and stay away from coaching drills.

But this is a really simple little drill and if you are having trouble with your breast stroke then it's worth trying.

You don't need to be concerned if your breaststroke is looks or feel a bit funny or "out of wack"; you don't need to care if others are critical of your stroke. As long as you have the basics of breaststroke then this little drill can only help.

Go on give it a go it can't hurt and can only make you a better swimmer.

Enjoy Richard

I'm Cold in the pool but it's warm water

2012-01-24T16:45:00.000+11:00

It's so common to get parent saying "the pool is too cold" only to star at you with disbelief when you tell then that the pool temperature is 29 deg C (82 deg F) even when the water is at 32 deg C (89 deg F) it is not uncommon for swimmers and parents alike to question the temperature of the pool.

There are several things going on here:

Firstly there is a failure on the part of swimmers and parents alike to recognize that their body regardless of what temperature is around them is about 37 deg C (98 deg F). Therefore climbing into anything less than that is going to feel Cooler Depending on how sensitive you are to temperature change.

Secondly water dissipates heat faster than air, that is why we sweat to get rid of body heat faster. As someone in Yahoo answers put it: "Something feels warm or cool to your body based on how much heat is moved in or out of your body; if both the water and the air are 80 (F 27 deg C) degrees (both lower than body temperature) your body will give up more heat to change the temperature of the water than it gives up to the air. Because the water takes more heat from your body, it feels cooler."

Thirdly when you get out of the water because you are wet you are going to cool down really fast. All in all everything is conspiring to make you feel that the water is Colder that it actually is.

So next time you ask the life guard at your local pool what the temperature of the pool water is and it feels colder to you than what s/he says. Don't Get upset with him or her and accuse them of lying. Remember they are probable telling you the truth and it is your perception that is off.

Enjoy
Richard

When can I start swimming with my baby?

2012-01-17T16:40:00.000+11:00

Form the babies point of view there nothing stopping you form starting swimming classes as soon as you want provided; the water is warm enough. There is normally no need to wait until your baby is immunized or anything like that before taking your star swimming but if you have any doubt check with your doctor.

In my experience the earlier a child starts swimming lessons the sooner they develop a healthy respect for the water. Combine that with the possibility of your child learning to float or even sort of swim and you have some great fun and safety going on with the exercise of swimming.

Having said that, for the mother, it’s best that you wait until six weeks after your baby's birth before you go swimming; this is for your sake more that the babies. If you go swimming sooner there is a chance you may pick up an infection. If you’ve had a caesarean section or stitches your health visitor or GP may recommend that you wait longer than six weeks.

There is however no prohibition on your husband or other significant person tacking your baby swimming before that: but do remember the water has to be warm enough for your little one (about 32 to 34 deg C). Always remember that babies only have small bodies and the loss of vital heat is therefore more rapid than in those older.

The other thing to consider is what your expectations are of swimming classes with your child. A very young baby (one that is not rolling or moving about or even sitting up by themselves) may be taught how to float but that is about it and there is no guarantee that they will do that in an emergency.

So if you are looking to drown proof your baby there is no such thing and there are no Ian Thorps at 6 months old.

The bonding experience in a warm aquatic environment is like no other and the respect that your new born will gain for the water, thus making them safer around it, is priceless.

Enjoy
Richard

Frightened, Screaming Children in Swimming Class Part 3

2012-01-10T18:21:00.000+11:00

Last time we discussed the do s of dealing with Frightened, Screaming Children in Swimming Class:

This time I would like to talk about the miscellaneous aspects:
"Bribery works"
"Expect that they will do what you say"
"Do what you say and say what you will do"

Bribery works

When my children were growing up my wide and I read all the raising children books that we came across...well the truth be known my wife read them and underlined all the bits that she thought I should read and. The one thing that was put forward over and over was that you should never bribe a child, you should always contract with them; to this day I have never figured out the difference.

Bribery works, not all the time but enough to make it worthwhile making an attempt.

It is definitely Ok to offer a child something in exchange for their compliance. This is one thing that parents can be a great help.

Parents usually know what their child would consider a worthwhile swap. But there is a caveat. The reward must be realistic and it must be a available as soon as the new swimmer complies.

Twenty dollars in 2011 to three year old is ridiculous but a bright shiny 20 cents could be just the ticket.
A ride in daddy's new car when he comes home is too long to wait but a big hug from mummy now may be just the thing. Get the idea?

Expect that they will do what you say

When I was a church youth leader I had Many occasions where I organized weekends away for children and young people. On one such weekend I had one of my leaders come to me and say in frustration "why will the children never do what I say" to which I replied "that is the problem, you never expect them to".
Children are very perceptive and if they detect any wavering on your part you can expect them to capitalist on it.

My favorite line in the movie kindergarten cop is "have no fear".

It's all about your personal presents. Say what you need to have done with confidence and say it in a way that there is no doubt that you expect it to be done.

It's not about raging like a fool or having an over abundance of courage. It's not about being overbearing. Rather it is having and portraying the confidence that you know what you are doing and have the well-being of your charges at hart.

If you believe that you are going to be ignored then you will be but if you respect and care for a person, particularly a child, then they are most likely going to respect you and if a child respects and cares for you they will do what you say.

It is kind of biblical really.

Do what you say and say what you will do

This to me is the most important thing of all. If you take nothing else away from what I have written here you Must take this.

Don't ever trick Or deceive your new swimmer into thinking you are going to do something and then do something else.

Don't ever tell a child you are no going to put them under water and then do just that. I know many a person has thought that if I can just get their head under water they will be fine and that may or may not be true but if you do it by deception, even if it works your credibility will be shot and you can expect resistance from then on. You can expect that the progress of your new swimmer will always be tempered by their lack of trust of you.

What's more, if you do something different from what you say you are going to do and it doesn't work you can forget about getting your student to do what you say for a Long time.

So make sure that you do what you say and say what you do. Do not deviate or deceive. Your relationship with any new swimmer depends on it.

In fact making sure you do what you say and say what you do should be your mantra no matter what level of student you teach.

Remember that the most important thing you can establish when you have a crying, frantic, frightened or screaming child is to establish trust. If you can't establish trust you are doomed to fail. But if you can establish trust you will not only gain a new student but a friend.

Enjoy
Richard

Frightened, Screaming Children in Swimming Class Part 2

2012-01-03T18:18:00.000+11:00

Last time we discussed the don't s of dealing with Frightened, Screaming Children in Swimming Class part 1:
Don't Panic
Don't try and do your lesson
Don't try to do anything

This time I would like to talk about the do s:
Do Talk

Do distract I used to use toys.
Do keep parents near by
Do listen to parents
Do let parents interact (mostly)
Do Talk

Talking is the second most calming thing that a person can do.

The most calming thing you can do is take a deep breath (this is a fact not conjecture), which you should do often.

Talk about anything that you think may be relevant to the child and ask lot of questions unless that is upsetting the child but although you must wait for an answer and even expect an answer, you must neither demand an answer nor be bother if the child chooses not to answer your questions

Do distract I used to use toys.

My favorite toy to use is red the bear. My next most favorite is my underwater viewer, but I have to make sure that it doesn't make things worse as some times even that act of be able to look is more frightening to some children than not knowing, so don't push it.

All my toys have names some of which the children themselves have named and I introduce all my toys to the children by name and offer each toy to them one at a time: if they reject them all I've lost nothing but if they get attached to one I have won a friend. Don't be upset if the child wants to take their favorite toy home because if they bring it back they may use it for comfort and if they don't you get to buy a new one (friend) to name.

I do encourage the children to leave the toys (new friend) behind but I don't get upset if they really, really want to take their new friend home. I have had children grow very attached to certain toys so I tell them that if they leave it behind it/he/she will be there waiting for them next time. Of course that means keeping a certain level of toy management so that the toy is their next time for that child.

I did have one child swimming student who would not swim without "red" for a long while; he made her feel safe.

I often tell the child that it is their job to make the toy feel safe and that often works really well. Toys are real people to children and I for one have no problem accepting that.

Do keep parents near by

Now I have to qualify this a bit: there are times when I have asked the parent to leave but only if I have tried everything else to get the child to focus me and not the parent; if the parent thinks it is a good idea, the parent may even suggest it and only for about 10 minutes tops to see if there is some settling of the child, if there is no gain in that time or it gets worse don't be afraid to surrender. You don't have to win every situation.

With that proviso you should always keep the parents close by. It is a great help to be able to say "it's Ok mummy/daddy (or whoever) is right there they are not going anywhere". It makes a child feel safe and that is a big, big factor in helping settle a child.

Do listen to parents

There is no guarantee that what they will have to say is helpful but if you don't listen you are never going to know. Too many swim teachers fail to listen to their students parents and the pay the price. Remember that parents spend a lot more time with their child than you do there is a good chance that they know more about what will help calm the unsettled beginner swimmer than you do. Very occasionally you will get a parent that really doesn't have a clue but truly you will never know this either if you don't ask or listen to them in the first place.

Then of course there is the difficult parent (link) but if you expect difficulty you will get it and you will be the cause. Your expectation may turn out to be why the child is upset in the first place.

Do let parents interact (mostly)

I have no problem allowing parents to get into the water with the swim student and I if that is what is necessary go calm the situation. I can't for the life of me work out what the obsession is that some parents and swimming schools have with excluding parents. It is important that you wean the parent out of the water as soon as you can but there should be no problem with it for short time if it helps.

If however a parent is fretful, always encouraging your upset new swim student to leave the water and always contradicting what you say then such parents is Not of the mostly group and your only hope is get them to leave the area.

Otherwise let the parents help you!

Next time I would like to talk about the miscellaneous aspects of Frightened, Screaming Children in Swimming Class :

Bribery works
Expect that they will do what you say
Do what you say and say what you will do

Enjoy
Richard

Frightened, Screaming Children in Swimming Class

2011-12-27T18:15:00.000+11:00

Frightened, screaming children can be a very traumatic for all concerned. Obviously for the child but also for the parent and the swim teacher.

After watching one teacher and child today struggling to come to an amicable settlement I just had to say sometime about it.

Over the next couple of posts I'm going to go over some Do's and Don't and some miscellaneous aspects of dealing with Frightened, Screaming Children in Swimming Class:

Don't Panic
Don't try and do your lesson
Don't try to do anything

Do Talk

Do distract I used to use toys.
Do keep parents near by
Do listen to parents
Do let parents interact (mostly)

Bribery works
Expect that they will do what you say
Do what you say and say what you will do

Don't panic

Children are very sensitive to the vibes (feelings and moods) of those around them. Anyone who works with children knows this and if you don't work a lot with children and you want to know just how sensitive children are to the mood of a place then just ask someone who does about the first time they were in a room full of children and one began to cry for a reason they were never quite sure of and soon every child was crying and you were quite sure they didn't know why other than the first child was crying

It is therefore vital that you convey calmness and confidences no matter what calamities are going on around you. Children will never trust you if you don't trust yourself.

Don't try and do your lesson

Your job is to get the child to trust you so forget about your lesson plan. Take the time to get go know the child, at least as far as that particular child is concerned. I have very vivid memories of watching one swim teacher holding a child that a parent had given her, looking up at me with pleading eyes for help as the child screamed and carried on; I tried to advise the teach through her supervisor; but despite her look for help she insisted on trying to do her lesson with the child the moment he started to settle down; resulting in the child getting even more agitated and the lesson eventually being forced to be abandoned. If the teacher had just been that little bit more patient and waited for the child to be ready to do something she would have not only won a new student but also a friend.

Don't try to do anything

I have had swim students were I spent two to three lessons just nursing them in my arms or letting them sit whilst I worked with other students all the time talking with them about anything but swimming.Other times I've done nothing but walked up and down my area nursing a screaming child and talked quietly in the child ear, reassuring all the time.

Next time I will talk about the Do's of dealing with Frightened, Screaming Children in Swimming Class

Do distract (I used to use toys).
Do keep parents near by
Do listen to parents
Do let parents interact (mostly)

Enjoy
Richard

Swimming, Skin and Pool Chemicals Part 2

2011-12-20T17:37:00.000+11:00

Last time we talked about some of the effects that long term exposure to pool water can have on your skin.

So what can you do if you are suffering from dry and itchy skin in the pool?

Well there are a number of things you can try:

Use a wet suit.

I did this for quite some time as a swim teacher. Now you have to you have to plan this because the chlorine will cause the wetsuit to have a much shorter life span that it would normally. But there are ways that you can minimize that:

Buy three wetsuits at once and rotate them so that they are in the water every third day.
Now I know that sounds expensive because you can't buy the really cheep wet suits as they die too quickly; but you don't have to buy the expensive ones either. I have found that in the pool water the mid range price ones last just as long ans the expensive ones.

The other alternative that have never been game to try, was to throw the wetsuit into the washing machine each night after use. A fellow swim teacher used to do this to her wet suit and she swore by it. I also have to say that her wet suit seem to keep its color much longer than mine but I was never able to determine the long term effects of it as she left before I had a chance to see.

Regardless this is only a partial solution however as you hands and feet are still exposed to the pool water.

Use petroleum jelly (Not the Vapor Rub kind)
This works great except or until your skin is so sensitized by the pool water that you get an allergic reaction to the jelly or if you are just plan allergic to petroleum based products. You also have to be careful that you rub the jelly off and into you hands so that the students are not too slippery.

I have one more alternative that I will talk about next time

Enjoy
Richard

Swimming, Skin and Pool Chemicals

2011-12-13T17:00:00.000+11:00

If your eyes are sore from the swimming pool it’s probably you own fault; don’t rub those eyes. This is by far the most common cause of sore eyes because most commercial pool owners are very responsible with balancing the chemicals in the pool.

If all you’re getting is sore eyes because you are rubbing them then the chlorine levels are almost certainly ok because otherwise you would be suffering from chemical burns on your skin, your eyes and nose would be burning, your swimwear would be fading and perishing all in a matter of hours. Most swimmers have guessed this if they didn’t already know it.

Chlorine levels that are too high will burn you so when swimmer blame the chlorine being too high as the cause of their sore eyes it's probably not because chlorine levels that high are likely to do more that give you sore eyes. Any itchiness you get from high chlorine is probably from chemical burn. Unless of course you are allergic to the pool chemicals.

What most swimmers don’t realize however, is that chlorine levels are not the only concern. You can have can very low chlorine chemicals in a pool but high pH levels and you will suffer from your eyes, nose and skin all drying out and can getting very itchy.

For those of you with a more technical bent, I have an article covering all the different measurements in the pool.

I worked for one privately run commercially run pool owner who used a method of called super saturating his pool over night. That is he used very high levels of chlorine over night so that he could maintain low levels of chlorine during the day. His theory was that all the bugs would be killed over night and the pool would therefore be safe for patrons during the day. Personally I’m not convinced it worked because I lost 2 fingernails and 2 toenails from fungal infections whilst I was there.

More than that in order to cut costs by minimizing the amount of acid to control it kept his pH levels at the highest allowable levels. I suffered terrible itching and dryness of skin at that pool; my nose was itchy as well and I was always sneezing.

Every pool owner has to sanitize their pool and no commercial pool owner will ever get the chemical levels in their pool 100% right; it’s just too hard. And as I’ve said if you are only getting sore eyes because you are rubbing them instead of blinking them then you probably have nothing to complain about. But if you are suffering form itchy and dry skin as well as itchy and dry eyes or a rash after being in the pool, have every right to ask the owner to check the pool levels.

And sometimes there are unscrupulous owners out there that need to be prosecuted.

Next time I will discuss some of the things that you can do as a swimmer or swim teacher if your skinis not dealing well with lots of exposure to the pool water.

Enjoy
Richard

A Beach Game

2011-12-06T14:20:00.000+11:00

One of the games that I used to love down at the beach, I called race tracks. I mention this because I don’t see any children play this any more.

We spent every summer break at the beach when I was a child; we all loved it. We played lots games and there was always some sort of carnival at the camping grounds. Evening time I either spent time was with my Mum or Dad but mostly Mum because Dad would go back to work during the week and back to us at the weekend; playing board games and card games.

On the evenings we didn’t play games I visited beach mission or the local picture theater to catch up on all the movies that I had missed during the year.

I taught myself to swim at the beach and there were of course the obligatory sand castles, holes and tunnels under them or by themselves. They were no sand sculptures but they were fun. But the most fun was being outside the box creative with the sand and building race tracks.

A race track had straights and turns and the designs were limited only by your imagination because you had all the time in the world and you hands were the only tools you needed. Some of the turns have banks high and low and nothing was more exhilarating than running around the high bank at such a speed the your whole body was on an angle and you had no fear of falling at high speeds cause you were on the sand.

Of course the beach was too crowded on hot day for such grand use of space but on cooler days the beach was my own and it was great.

Enjoy
Richard

Reward Yourself with Baby Swim Lessons

2011-11-29T14:15:00.000+11:00

Teaching a baby to swim is a most unique and rewarding experience! It isa long term process however but the final goal should be the journeyitself.

As the child develops and accomplishes each of the many skills on thisspecial journey, it gives the parents a great sense of pride and personalsatisfaction which makes the whole experience so worthwhile.

Babies originate from the warm liquid environment of their mother's womb,and if we can maintain the newborn's natural affinity for water through theirinitial bath times followed by the progression to early infant lessons, theywill learn to love and respect the water from an early age. Maintainingcontinuity of lessons will also prevent the child developing a fear of the water asthey grow older.

There are several factors to consider when parents are choosing a swimschool for your baby - class size, teacher rapport, pool temperature, cleanfacilities etc. A heated pool will ensure that not only is the water warm, butthe air temperature is warm and comfortable also. Young babies can become coldvery quickly, so they should be kept in the water throughout thelesson and away from cool drafts. Upon exiting, your little one, should be immediatelywrapped in a towel and dressed appropriately.

Parents will find that swimschools have different philosophies and teaching methods, therefore they willneed to choose a program that they feel will benefit their baby the most andwhich fulfils their own expectations. Each child is unique and individual, andthe program should allow for the child to develop and acquire skills at theirown natural pace.

Babies will learn breath control, submersion, floating, propulsion, watersafety skills etc. They enjoy the feeling of "freedom" that the waterprovides and are therefore able exercise more muscles in water than on land.Subsequently, infant lessons will enhance the baby's physical development andquite often they will tend to walk earlier than usual.

Lessons should be interactive and fun-filled activities that will build and strengthen the bondbetween parent and child and will also enhance the child's balance andco-ordination, as well as their alertness, concentration and cardiovascularsystem. The level of activity involved in infant lessons gives the child a goodphysical "workout" and parents may find there is a tendancy to eat andsleep better on swimming days.

The group structure of infant lessons enhances the child's socialdevelopment through interaction their peers, teacher and other parents. Thelessons also provide parents with the opportunity of establishing newfriendships.

As infants learn to maneuver and propel themselves through the water ontheir own, it will contribute to the development of an abundance of independence and self-esteem, and thisfurther stimulates their interest in learning and experiencing new and moredifficult tasks.

The immense enjoyment children experience through their lessons may help givethem a positive attitude towards continued participation in exercise and sportas they grow older.

There is no such thing, ever, as "drown proofing". Vigilance, Supervision, Barriers and Swimming Lessons from an early age will givethem the best protection in and around water. And just to make sure you have ahealthy respect for the water Learn How to Resuscitate (CPR). The earlier achild commences their lessons, the sooner they will develop and acquire thesafety skills they'll need to put into practice if they happen to experience anaccidental submersion.

Enjoy
Richard

What Age Should You Start Swimming Lessons?

2011-11-22T14:07:00.000+11:00

So much nonsense goes about when it comes to claims about the benefits of getting your child in the water very young. None of it has had any studies done on it and yet it is calmed to be fact. There is one thing that I am convinced: children of any age have a much greater respect for the water when they spend quality time in it; especially with their parents. But I will be honest I can’t prove it.

Personally I prefer lessons to start at around 6 months as they are starting to crawl. But if your child is older than that you have not missed the boat. What ever age they are get your children in the water for swimming lessons. The water is a very natural and fun place to be if you obey it rules and learning to swim is part of that.

There are schools that start their babies in the water at 3 months and I have taught at some of those schools but I’ve become very disillusioned with such approaches.

I saw a video where one school promoted learning to float at three months. It’s a very impressive feat if you can pull it off. I managed to do it myself once or twice but it all seemed a bit pointless for 2 reasons:

Few children in my experience retain the skill once they start to explore their own movement. Whether they retained the skill and are just too busy to be interested or whether they have lost the skill and need to be re-taught it later is a matter for debate. In either case babies float skills have to be constantly reinforced and until they learn to rollover in the water or how to propel themselves. It’s all a bit pointless because they don’t learn any faster and it makes no difference to their safety; which leads me to my next point.
Babies of any age who learn to float are NOT safe if they fall in the water. The only way to keep your baby safe in the water is constant and vigilant supervision. “THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS DROWN PROFING”; that is a fact. Even if your 3 month old can roll over and float in the water and very few if any can (most 3 month olds have only just learn to roll over on land if that, let alone in the water) there is no guarantee they will and conscious propulsion in the water at that age is extremely rare if it exists at all.

So why do I think it’s good for a child to start swimming lessons as early as 6 months? Because it’s fun! At that age they are crawling or about to and their ability to explore makes it fun for them and everybody in the lesson.

Add to this, because they are starting to move they can begin to learn really useful and potential life saving skills; like learn to paddle resulting in real propulsion.

Also and most importantly they learn respect for the water.

As a life guard I see kids and adults who know how to swim and those who don’t and trust me those that do have much more fun in the water and are much more constructive and safe in their play around it.

Learning to swim is learning to respect and love the water. If you respect the water you don’t have to be in constant fear of it. One thing I am convinced of is that a child that spend time in the water with their parents learning how to respect it, no matter how young will always be safer even though not completely safe, in the water than a child who hasn’t.

So any age is a good age but 6 months in my opinion is one of the best.

Enjoy
Richard

When is the Best Time of Day for Swimming Lessons?

2011-11-15T14:01:00.000+11:00

Older Children

Let’s face it, nobody cares! Well for most children anyway. Toddlers are a different matter. But even for non toddlers You are not doing your child any favors if you have the lessons when the child is hungry, thirsty or tired. Like everybody else the fresher you are the better you learn.

I know it is not always easy to organize a lesson at optimal times, conflicting schedules not to mention lesson availability are always going to be factors but if you keep in mind the hungry, thirsty or tiredness of your child factor then it only takes a bit of creativity to make it work.

A snack, a short rest, a bit of a quite time before lessons can all help to stave off distracting misbehavior or restlessness during a lesson. Be weary of too much TV before any type of lesson: some studies have shown that more than an hour of TV before any kind of schooling may impair optimal learning.

Toddlers

Having said all that when it comes to toddlers, if your timing it just right and you organize your lesson just before a meal time especially if that meal time is the one just before their routine sleep, you may find some decided befits.

This is not critical but has some scheduling benefits:

Your child associates the pool with other pleasurable activities even if they don’t like bed time, the routine and play will help
You are less likely to have bowl movement or throwing up issues

So just remember, you can do swimming lesson at any time but depending on the ages of your children there are some times that are more optimal than others.

Enjoy
Richard

Why Learn How To Swim?

2011-11-08T13:47:00.000+11:00

Water has rules!

There are lots of reasons to learn to swim: fun, exercise, the experience of the liquid environment has a freedom and indeed a sort of sensuality of it’s own that only swimmers who have learned to respect the water can truly expect to know.

I have found that whilst it does not apply to all young people who don’t know how to swim, those who don’t know how to swim properly are always in amongst the biggest troublemakers at the pool and I believe that is because because they don’t truly know how to have fun in the water.

But the biggest reason of all for learning to swim is respect, respect of the water. An appreciation of such a respect of the water can have a profound effect on the respect you show to others and to the world that surrounds you.

As a swimming pool life guard and swimming instructor I see a lot of people who don’t know how to swim and because they don’t know how to swim they don’t understand the rules of the water.

I’ve taught adults whose fear of the water is so intense, that it is an amazing act of courage for them to even get into the water when they can easily stand on the bottom of the pool. Think of the expression "it put the fear of God into them" and realize that it doesn't apply here, as the kind of fear that I have just mentioned goes way beyond the kind of fear that God the farther ever intended for him.

I published some posts of one of my students who went on thejourney learning to swim called Peter’s story and you can read his progression. Has Peter gotten rid of his fear of the water? No, he has learned to respect the water however.

If ever he chooses to ignore his fear of the water and therefore disrespect the rules of the swimming he will face the full wrath of the water and consequences of disobeying the rules. Loss of mobility, loss of limb, loss of clear thinking, even pain and suffering not to mention, loss of life are all consequences of disrespecting the water.

But Peter would only disrespect the water if he gave away his fear of it. Peter loves being in the water now I see him regularly at the pool having a great time.

Peter is always challenging himself too but when he does so he is never reckless about it because he always had someone watching (like me) in case he gets into trouble. He respects the water enough to keep a healthy fear of it.

Learning to swim is not only about learning to love the water but more importantly, it is about learning to respect not just the water but a whole lot more and that the biggest reason to learn to swim.

Enjoy Richard

Some of The Benifis of Swimming

2011-11-01T01:20:00.000+11:00

There are a lot of claims made about the benefits of swimming: some are nonsense; many I am very dubious about; some are just as true for other sports and sometimes after I have read what I consider to be exorbitant claims, I begin to wonder if swimming has any more value than any other sport. Then occasionally I read something like this article called

Swimming an Escape from the Cell Phone

There is nothing like the water to be able to naturally block out the sounds of life. The white noise factor is unique to swimming.

The ability to to think in the pool environment is, when you are in the mood for it what amount to meditation. Even being in the pool, so long as you are warm enough often brings an element of calmness within your self and relaxation in the body that is equivalent to non.

Some say that it is because we come from the sea and others like me don't care but are very happy to partake.

I'm convinced that one of the reasons that people gravitate to Learning to swim and one of the reasons young Mums and Dads are attracted to the bonding with their baby in swimming classes more than other ways, is because of the natural calmness that is inherent in the warmth and the water.

Of course if you can't part yourself from you mobile phone but you want the calmness of the water, you could always download and app with water sounds on it.

Enjoy
Richard

Halloween Safety and Swimming

2011-10-27T12:05:00.003+11:00

This is mostly for the USA readers mostly because Halloween is only just beginning to catch on in Australia and so what I'm about to say is not really relevant to readers in OZ.
The Halloween “Trick” that will “Treat” you and your family to safety all year long Is the slogan of One Million Safer Kids campaign this Halloween season.

I have followed Kidpower as an organization for years as they have as their Goal to teaching kids how to be safe: they have asked that we blog about their new campaign and I am enthusiastically doing so.

What has all this got to do with swimming? Well I sorry I kind of Tricked you all if you have got this far because it really has nothing to do with swimming really. Except if you have read my blog for any period of time now you would know that Keeping Kids safe is a passion of mine and that is what this campaign is about.

It give me great pleasure to endorse this campaign and encourage you to get involved. I wish all Trick or Treaters a fun time but I also want to remind you that fun and safety go hand in hand. If you are not safe the fun stops.

Enjoy
Richard

A Good Kick, Does it Matter To New Swimmers?

2011-10-25T01:03:00.000+11:00

Does it matter if a beginner kicks properly?

You know you can do without kicking at all and still learn to swim!

Let's Face it lots of people learn to swim and never learn to kick properly and then there are others that are unable to kick; not just people with disabilities either. I had one student that was "normal" in every way out of the water. He ran and jumped and played like every other child but he could not kick no matter what I did to help him.

But now that I've set he cat amongst the pidgins, let me state that the whole process of learning to swim is much harder if you don't kick.

Kicking makes swimming easier for beginners for one major reason: it helps to keep your body level in the water.

Now there are other reasons: improved propulsion and better directional control as well as better stability in the water. But compared to keeping the body high in the water they are just minor.

A swimmer who's body is high in the water has better streamline and way less friction whilst swimming

Now there are some coaches that train their athletes to swim at about 45 deg in the water and that may be great for elite swimmers but for those who are not at that level yet, you need to reach a point, where you are moving through the water with relative ease, before you can expect to move on to more advance techniques.

If your Legs drop in the water you are confronting a whole lot more water resistance than if you are swimming level in the water. The reason that some coaches work at training their athletes to swim at a 45 deg angle is that they maintain that once in that position you can travel a lot faster just as an hydrofoil does. This may or may not be true but one thing that is for certain, getting into that hydrofoil position requires a lot more power than the most if not all beginner swimmers can generate.

Therefore as a new swimmer it is much better to establish a good streamline body position and that is most easily acquired from a good kick.

Enjoy Richard

Get Swimming Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke Right

2011-10-18T22:32:00.000+11:00

Get It Right Not Fast

No matter what I'm teaching, swimming, judo or whatever it became a catch phrase of mine to "slow down".

I got sick of that catch phrase to slow down: besides it didn't truly express what I had to say, so I came up with a different one and it goes like this:

"Get it right don't get it fast"

The part that fascinates me the most is that New swimmers are not exclusively the worst at this; experienced swimmers are just as libel to do their drills too fast as much as anybody.

It is imperative, particularly when it comes to learning a new skill, that you slow down your stroke or kick as the case may be and get the action correct from the start rather than try to fix it latter.

Now whilst it is true that, as I have said in other posts, "all drills introduce faults of some kind" the idea of a drill is to build on the previous one so that in essence each drill fixes a fault that the previous one has introduced.

Alternatively a drill introduces a skill that the swimmer has not had before or that they have had and it is poorly developed: thus that skill is initially bound to be floored and the drill is required to fix the floor.

A drill therefore is a planed progression.

Where many get it wrong is that they try to do a drill too fast thus introducing unintended faults or actions that the next dill is not designed to fix so the coach has to spend way more than the planed time, fixing unintended faults before the swim student can move forward.

So when I say "Get it right don't get it fast" I mean it. Slow down your stroke or kick enough to let the drill have the opportunity to do its work and correct the fault that it is intended to correct. Over time, as your skill improves, you will get faster at that skill but let it happen naturally and it will happen faster than if you rush it.

Enjoy
Richard

Dealing with Bad Behavior in Swimming Lessons? Part 4

2011-10-11T18:23:00.000+11:00

Last time I talked about how:

Punishment must be age appropriate

Praise Lots

and

Reward good behavior

Now I would like to finish this series with:

Don't reward bad behavior
Despite my misgivings about those who minimize praise on children, you can over praise: in that if you praise children even when they are misbehaving you are just sending the wrong signals. I had one child that was bought to me that every teacher in the whole swimming school was struggling with. I soon discovered why.

The parent praised the child for absolutely everything. I had a chance to talk to the mother and explained how she was over praising. I thought that we were making progress until one day when the young boy had been particularly feral, I explained to the mother that she was not to get him his usual ice cream on the way out.

The child was most upset but had started to toe the line in class.

After the swimming lesson I saw the child and mother leaving. The mother said "you have been such a good boy today so you can have your ice cream after all".

The next day the child was worse. Remember what I said about following through: this would have to be the worst kind.

So the lesson is clear, praise lots reward good behaviour and don't reward bad behaviour. In fact if you are doing a good job at praising and rewarding good behaviour you can usually afford to ignor bad behaviour altogether: provided of course you don't ignore unsafe practices.

Recognizing that a good swim teacher sees everything, for safety sake, even if you are ignoring it; ignoring bad behaviour more often than not a child is misbehaving in order to get attention and if you ignore it, it looses its point and stops.

Having said that, remember we are talking about the swimming pool, children will often do stuff that to their mind is not misbehavior.

Which brings us full circle to what I said at the start of this series.

So to sum up we have talked about:

That you have to distinguish between bad behavior and fear and how you can do that.

We have also talked about how:

The Punishment must fit the crime
The Punishment must be pool appropriate
The Punishment must be age appropriates
You must Praise lots
and
Reward good behavior
but
Don't reward bad behavior

I realize I have only touched the surface on the subject of discipline in the pool. There is a lot more that could be said and I hope will be said in the comments. It took me many years of working with children, raising 4 boys and 3 grand children to learn what I know now about discipline and what I know could fill a book.

On the other hand what I don't know could, I'm sure fill at least fill several books but I hope that for now I have contributed significantly to the discussion.

Enjoy Richard

Dealing with Bad Behavior in Swimming Lessons? Part 3

2011-10-04T18:12:00.000+11:00

Last time I discuss how:

Punishment Must Fit the Crime

and

Punishment Must be Pool Appropriate

This time I want to talk about how:

Punishment must be age appropriate

how we should

Praise Lots

and

Reward good behavior

Punishment must be age appropriate
One of the great things about the 30 second punishment is that it is age neuter. It doesn't matter how old the student is the punishment is just as effective and for all the same reasons that it is effective with younger children.

Praise lots
Whilst browsing the Internet one day, I came across a forum for those who practice minimum praise with their children, arguing that in the real world you don't get lots of praise so children should be prepared now by keeping the praise to a minimum.

Personally I am very skeptical that this formula for raising children has any real validity. I am however aware, that there have been studies that show, you can do harm to your Child's self-esteem if there is not enough praise in their lives but I don't know how much is not enough. I do know that if you want good behavior in the pool you have to praise lots for every good thing your swim student does.

Reward good behavior
There are many more ways to reward good behaviour than just praise. In my opinion the best reward in the pool, is a game at the end of the swimming lesson. I know of some teachers that give out tokens during class that go towards some sort of special consideration at the end of class either in the game or something else.

A game at the end of class can be an effective way of managing a class as long as any misbehavior is dealt with at the instance of it occurrence. If the only threat you ever issue is "you will miss out on the game at the end" your discipline is doomed to fall a part at some point because children only work in the immediate, what happens in the future is too far removed from there thinking. If you are towards the end of your class, then it will probably work but if not, you need some other incentive such as the tokens.

Just a note here, by tokens I mean some sort of plastic chip or something similar; not sweets. Except for special occasions such as Christmas or Easter (and even then you have to make sure you defer to the parent in case they have some sort issue with it) you should never give out sweets or any kind of food as a reward. Apart from all the food addiction issues of our society, you can end up confronting allergy issues that can literally cause health or even the death of your new swimmers.

But if you do resort to tokens or something similar, make sure you only reward good behaviour.

Don't reward bad behavior
Which we will talk about next time

Enjoy
Richard

Dealing with Bad Behavior in Swimming Lessons? Part 2

2011-09-27T16:43:00.000+10:00

Last time we talked about how we should

"Distinguish between bad behavior and fear"

This time I want to discuss how:

Punishment Must Fit the Crime

and

Punishment Must be Pool Appropriate

Punishment Must Fit the Crime
At some point all swim teachers have to acknowledge that discipline in a swimming class is not the same as outside the swimming pool.

For example: outside the swimming pool you may use a naughty corner as your primary discipline method of children.

If that is the case you would specify that a child of 4 years of age would spend 4 minutes in the corner for a punishable action or 5 minutes for a 5 year old etc. When you have a half hour lesson trying to get a child to stay on the edge of the pool, even for three minutes for a 3 year old is like asking a bird not to fly: you are going to spend most of your lesson maintaining the discipline and not concentrating on the class.

The attraction of the water is so strong that the temptation to get in, is going to be overwhelming. Not to mention that your student's parent is at some time going to be disgruntled, especially if you have to repeat the discipline and if you have to ask the parent for help you loose your credibility.

Punishment Must be Pool Appropriate
With all this in mind personally I opt to only have a child out of the the water for 30 seconds at a time when I punish them form misbehavior. Thirty seconds is usually more than sufficient for the vast majority of misbehavior because the act of removing the swimmer from the pool is a big deal for them. The loss of face in front of their classmates and removing them from the fun and pleasure of the water usually have very sobering effects in themselves, given that you are removing the child from something they enjoy in front of their peers.

More than that it doesn't matter how old the child is, 30 seconds still works because of the draw of the water is usually so strong the children do not want to be out of it for any time at all.

The beauty of a 30 second removal from the pool is that it is repeatable and not only is it about 90% effective, with the possibility of it being done again it is a deterrent. Doing it repeatedly means that often the parents see this happening and they get involved: thus increasing the effectiveness to say 95% and avoiding the potential of the parent’s wrath because the child is not getting their lesson and the child is getting too cold.

Once you have established the rule however you must follow through. The best way to undermine discipline is to not follow trough with what you say or to be inconsistent with your follow through. "Do what you say and say what you do" and never give more than two warnings if that.

Next time I want to alt about how:

Punishment must be age appropriate

and that we should:

Praise Lots

and

Reward good behavior

Enjoy
Richard

Dealing with Bad Behavior in Swimming Lessons?

2011-09-20T16:28:00.000+10:00

Sorry!

I don't wish to be boring but this is a huge subject and there is only one way I know how to deal with a subject as big as this appropriately: I'm going to do it in a very formal way.

So over the next few weeks I'm going to tell you:

That you have to distinguish between bad behavior and fear and how you can do that.

I am also going to talk about how:

Any Punishment must fit the crime
The Punishment must be pool appropriate
The Punishment must be age appropriates
You must Praise lots and
Reward good behavior but
Don't reward bad behavior

Now lest get into it:

Distinguish between bad behavior and fear

One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a swimming instructor is to not know the difference between fear and bad behavior.

If you have trouble with distinguishing the difference between fear and bad behavior then you have the problem not your new swimmer. Look in the eyes of your student, if they are wide open and even the pupils are dilated then you are definitely dealing with fear. In contrast if the eyes are set and defiant then you are probably dealing with bad behavior.

But it's not always that clear and you have to learn to ask questions. The simplest question is’ “Are you frightened”?

I am constantly amazed that teachers and parents alike don't think to ask questions.

It is probably too vague a question to ask a child, "What's wrong?" It's quite possible that they don't know themselves what's wrong. However it is quite possible you will get an answer that you can work with if you ask, "What can I do to help you feel safe/better/fix this?"

The one thing I have learned after raising 4 boys to adulthood and now having grandchildren is that children's good behavior is not always about good parental control. Sometimes it's about backing off and trying to negotiate a better outcome for all.

So unless it is a safety issue your first response should be to mentally step back form the situation rather than trying to win.

Having said that it's not about winning all the time it also has to be said that you can't always be a Child's friend. Sometimes, particularly when it comes to class management and safety, you have to be the adult the responsible one so sometimes you have to win.

Next time I'll talk about how the:

Punishment must fit the crime
and

Punishment must be pool appropriate 


Enjoy
Richard

When Do You Teach Dog paddle ?

2011-09-16T16:11:00.002+10:00

Quality Childrens Wetsuits Keep your baby warm in the water

Question Do you think the dog paddle is a good, basic beginner stroke to learn?

Someone asked recently: "when I learned to swim, I was taught to dog paddle first. After that, it was pretty easy to learn the other strokes. I have seen too many people who learned the freestyle stroke first and they fight the water and have no endurance. The dog paddle teaches you to stay up without getting exhausted".

Most swim teachers would agree now days that it depends on how old you start to learn to swim.

Teaching dog paddle is a very useful thing up to the age of 3 (some would say up to 5 years old) as that is well within the limits if a child's physical development to that age. After the age of about 3 years old children are developing enough strength and dexterity to be able to begin stroke like actions and by the time they are 5 in most case are more than capable of doing full swimming strokes.

Therefore it seems that it is best to teach dog paddle to children up to the age of between 3 to 5 years of age and after that age teach them to do proper stroking action. Always remembering that until a child reaches that age of 5 their stoke is only going to resemble the correct action.

In answer to the comment, "I have seen too many people who learned the freestyle stroke first and they fight the water and have no endurance. The dog paddle teaches you to stay up without getting exhausted", I would never teach freestyle in isolation but as part of a set of strokes.

If it could be said that I teach anything first it would be floating on the front, as in torpedo and on the back, followed by backstroke because you don't have to worry about learning to breath. The biggest cause of people struggling in their swimming (or fighting the water) is that they have not been taught how to work with the water. The credit given to dog paddle may have more to do with your sense comfort in the water not the actual dog paddle.

The reality is that for someone over the age of 5 you could have taught them to swim using a variety of full strokes in way less time than the student could learn dog paddle if they were taught properly.

Enjoy

Richard

When Do I Start Baby Swimming

2011-09-02T23:43:00.000+10:00

I must say that well written with accurate information on introducing your baby to swimming turns out to sometimes be, in fact too often, quite a task. There is so much mythology out their about teaching your baby to swim that it can be quite confusing.

In contrast I was very please to stumble across this article:

http://www.babycenter.com.au/baby/development/swimming/

When can I start swimming with my baby?

What will I need to take?

How do I keep my baby safe in the water?

I'm taking my baby to the pool on my own. Any tips?

I’m not confident in the water, should I still take my baby swimming?

What happens at baby swimming classes?

How do I find out about baby swimming lessons?

Ideal Temperature of the water for your baby to swim in
Nappy's for swimming
Times to take your baby swimming

are all touched on in this article.

Now I intend to cover these topics in much more detail in this blog in the near future but in the mean time this article is well worth a read.

No Kickboard Verses Kickboard

2011-08-30T14:11:00.000+10:00

Quality Childrens Wetsuits Keep your baby warm in the water

Don't use that Kick board to learn freestyle!

I am not a fan of using a kickboard to teach someone how to learn freestyle arms.

Now I know that this sounds like I'm contradicting myself as I promote the idea in one of my freestyle video and I have not changed my mind about its use, but if you watch the freestyle video you will see that the kickboard is not used all the time. Swim students and swimming teachers must limit their use of the kickboard or you end up with non completion of strokes.

What do I mean by non completion of strokes?

Well basically it's too much bent arm action.

"Wait a minute" you say "Don't you want bent arms?" Yes but you want a bent arm action out of the water not to start with, under the water . That is you want a bent arm action in the recovery phase of your stroke not to start with in the catch and pull through and push phase of your stroke.

The problem is that, way too often those who learn to do their freestyle stroke (or front stroke) using a kickboard usually don't complete their stroke under the water, which results in an incomplete stroke at the end of the pull through and push phase. An incomplete pull through and push phase means that you are not pushing enough water with your stroke.

Observe from the picture (left) how the arm is leaving the water still bent rather than coming out more or less straight and then bending. Thus less distance in the water and there fore not enough water is pushed.

If you are not pushing enough water you are not generating as much thrust as you can. If you are not generating as much thrust as you can you are not moving through the water as efficiently as you can.

Not moving through the water as efficiently as you can you are most likely to be having problems with tiring more quickly than you need to and with your breathing. Or both.

Thus if you want to swim freestyle better you must finish your stroke.

To encourage finishing the stroke underwater I teach either catch up stroke (link) or a windmill action (link) without the use of a kickboard.

Having said that never throw away a tool.

I've been disappointed more and more lately at the quality of teaching that some swimming organizations are giving their new recruits. These organizations insist to their new teachers that you must not teach catch up stroke and you must not teach freestyle with a kickboard. Worse most of the time they don't provide an alternative.

Whilst I have clearly pointed out the pitfalls of depending on a kickboard it is not necessary to discard it altogether.

Used in the right context a kickboard is a very useful tool to help get students to bend their arms once they leave the water. Usually it is a simple step to go from catch up stroke with straight arms out of the water to catch up stroke with bent elbows out of the water. But some times the student needs a little help and sometimes the best help you can give then is a kickboard.

Mostly however I stay away from practicing freestyle with a kickboard.

Enjoy
Richard