Teaching Fly Kick to Young Athletes
By John Leonard - POSTED: 3/19/2008
(1.) Demonstration – live – with children of their own age. Option two – slightly older children. Option three – show on video. (2.) Resist the temptation to talk too much. Show. Maybe just “keep your feet together and kick from your hips” (3.) Do NOT learn to kick “on the wall”. Why? (4.) Start with prone position in the water. (5.) Press the chest, lift the hips. (6.) At the surface first, then underwater... more

Teaching Autistic Children to Swim
By Therese Weber - POSTED: 2/15/2008
The integration of children with Autism spectrum disorders into “learn to swim” classes can be both rewarding and demanding. Teachers must become familiar with learning difficulties associated with Autism and develop teaching methods to help swimmers succeed. Remember, the teacher’s role is not to diagnose autism, but to implement different teaching strategies for Autistic swimmers to accomplish their goals... more

Youth Development: Learning & Understanding
By David Speechley, SwimEd
Good swimming instruction is a complex task which should be based on providing a learning experience suitable for a complex brain. To maximize the learning experience, a connection needs to be made and maintained between the Instructor and a student. Instructors of Swimming and Water Safety should have a good understanding of methods to gain and hold someone's attention. The benefit is that students will better acquire the information instructors provide them... more

Word Pictures of Each Stroke
By John Leonard
The following word pictures of each stroke are used by John Leonard to describe his personal picture of each stroke that he uses when teaching novice swimmers how to properly perform the strokes. He uses these in a "questions and answer" fashion, to allow young swimmers to create in their mind, a good word-picture of each stroke and position in the water. This also allows for a "short cut" approach to stroke comments... more

Winter Swimming Concerns
By James L. Reiser III, M.S.
If you NEVER had your child in swimming lessons in the winter before - has that prevented your child from getting a cold or the flu? of course it hasn't. Has your child EVER been sick in the summer? Of course he has. So why do so many parents avoid taking their child to swimming lessons in the winter? Because you and I have heard for generations, "Don't go out with a wet head, you'll catch a cold!" I grew up in the north... more

25 Days Until Summer! "How long does it take to teach a child to swim?"
By James L. Reiser III, M.S.
Do these calculations surprise you? Spring I - 8 Lessons @ 1x per week = 8 days / Spring II - 7 Lessons @ 1x per week = 7 days / Maymester - 10 Lessons @ 2x per week = 10 days / 25 DAYS UNTIL SUMMER!!! How long does it take to learn how to swim? At one (1) swimming class per week in the spring AND two (2) classes per week in the Maymester session - your child has just 25 days of swimming lessons before summer... more

Finding New Learn to Swim Students
Talk about your business all of the time. Be prepared to offer your business caard at any time to anyone who might overhear you talk about your lsson program to a friend, neighbor, or stranger. You are a vital service - you help save lives! Sell the benefits of your instruction. Safety, fitness, halth, opportunity, and fin. Knowing how to actually swim is the goal for the student. Remind customers of your service. A periodic flier or newsletter, one page in length, offering useful information should be sent out to your customers... more

Understanding Your Five Year Old Swimmers
Understanding your swimmers is one way to improve your teaching skills. Here are some basic thoughts about five year olds to help you teach the five year old swimmers in your class. What follows is a generalization about the five year old. We understand children are individuals and develop at their own pace. This description is meant to be an average representation of five year old children. Children at age five are delightful little people. They want to be good children and most of the time a five year old is successful at being good... more

What Makes a Good Teacher?
By Rob McKay, Lifestyle Swim School
Recently, we interviewed Coach Rob McKay from Boca Raton, Florida about the job of a swim instructor. He and his wife Kathy have been operating the Lifestyle Swim School since 1981. Here's what Coach McKay told American Learn to Swim. Coach McKay, what advise do you have on teaching infants? "To teach infants, you need a teacher who is playful and in tune with the child. They have to understand readiness and when to proceed or hold back on skills..." more

Learning Styles
We all learn using a combination of the following three learning styles: The visual learner learns be watching and tends to have the following characteristics: enjoys reading, has a vivid imagination, usually has neat penmanship, dresses neatly, plans and outlines, takes neat notes, likes order and neatness. The auditory learner learns by listening and tends to have the following characteristics: likes to discuss topics, remembers be reciting, moves lips while reading silently, like quiet, distracted by outside noise... more

The Safety Responsibility of the Swimming Teacher
The swimming teacher is totally responsible for your pupils when they are in the water. It is important to remember that it only takes a few seconds for one of your pupils to get into trouble. Here are few helpful reminders: Do not leave your pupils out of your sight at any time. For example, leaving the pool deck for a phone call, or turning your back away from your students. Set a maximum number of pupils per lesson per instructor, and stick to this number at all costs... more

Teacher Approaches to Learning Style Integration
Visually: Use teacher prepared outlines, charts, or marker boards. Use audio-visual materials such as video of the individual child swimming or videos showing correct stroke mechanics by champion swimmers at the age group level specific to the target group. When talking to your pupils establish good eye contact, use facial expressions and hand movements to emphasize key ideas. Auditorially: Read directions out loud. Check for understanding by asking several students to repeat the directions in their own words... more

Breaststroke Pull Mechanics
To teach the breaststroke pull, begin and finish always in the glide or streamline position. There are two scull actions and three components to the breaststroke pull. Upper scull - palms facing outwards, the hands move outwards and slightly upwards. The palms face the direction of travel (just wider than the shoulderline). Insweep - palms scull down leading the elbows, around and inwards. Recovery - pressure is released from the hands, and the arms drive forward... more

The Use of Sculling Drills in Learning to Swim
Sculling is the way a swimmer moves through the water by using only the hands and forearms. Sculling can be used to stay in position while floating on the back or treading water. Advanced learners and competitive swimmers develop a feel for the water through sculling drills. The learner must learn that the sculling movement is not from the hands but from the elbow and constant pressure with continuous hand movements, and the hands should be flat, not cupped. The sculling hand drill can be practiced on land... more

Saving on Expenses in a Learn to Swim Business
Lower pool operating costs by reducing the energy costs of the pool. 1) Cover your pool when it's not in use and save 50% of the cost of heating ad of chemicals, and also slows destruction of the equipment and the building. 2) Use a pool heater with electronic ignition (no pilot light), consider augmenting with solar heat. 3) Call for an energy savings audit from the local utility and ask about rebates that will pay for their suggestions. 4) Automate whatever you can - saving you time and staff payroll... more

Breathing Drills
Breathing is the foundation of life and swimming! From the beginning the swimmer must be taught progressive, systematic breathing. The beginner is first taught to breathe as a dryland exercise (naturally), then using a ping pong ball in the water, and then with their faces in the water. Dryland Breathing: This can be practiced on the pool deck or standing in the shallow water. Take a breath on 1, blow out on 2, 3, 4, 5 and repeat. The systematic breathing should be repeated until it becomes automatic for the student... more

Backstroke Kick Mechanics
When teaching kicking progressions on the back ("back flutter" or backstroke kick) it is important to first establish a comfortable body position with the head in line with the spine, resting comfortably back in the water, before starting any of the kicking sequences. After the proper body position has been established, the kick can be first taught on land, simulating the front flutter first and carefully doing the back flutter with a slight knee bend and pointed toes with loose ankles. Take it to the water in the following manner... more

How to Have a Successful Swimming Lessons Experience
By Greg Treadway - Northside ISD, San Antonio, TX
How do I know when my child can swim adequately? The American Red Cross puts as their finals skills for completion of their swimming lessons program as: 500 yard swim any stroke combination, 200 yard Freestyle, 15 yard underwater swim, 50 yard Breaststroke, 100 yard Backstroke, 50 yard sidestroke and 25 yards of Butterfly. The American Swim Coaches Association/SwimAmerica has a 300 yard Freestyle, 100 yard Backstroke, 50 yard Breaststroke, 100 yard Individual Medley, 50 yards Elementary Backstroke and 50 yards Sidestroke. There is no underwater requirement. The YMCA promotes as their... more

Swim Lesson FAQs
By Greg Treadway and George Block - Northside ISD, San Antonio, TX
When should I start my child in swim lessons? There are many differing opinions about when to start. Some experts recommend starting as early as 6 weeks, where the infant still has a breath-holding reflex. Most will recommend (with parents in the water) 6 months to 1 year for starting. Others encourage waiting until the child is four to five years old, so that they are able to follow directions and have developed some balance, strength and coordination. below the age of three (3), the American Association of Pediatrics warns against placing infants underwateer more than 3 times in class or for more than... more