Teaching someone to swim.

ChroniC

ChroniC

ChroniC

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Ive said i will teach a friend to swim, this sounded like no problem at all to me, but i would like to hear thoughts on the best way to do it, as i only have about a month to get them capable of basic swimming.
Im a very compitent swimmer, but this doesnt qualify me as a good teacher:)
How best to start.

I was thinking just kicking legs, with me as a float aid, or a float, couldn't find any websites on a step by step.
What would you do?
 
Thinking back to many many years ago when i learnt to swim at primary school:

I think i started basically with frontcrawl kicking across the pool with a float held under my arms stretched out in front of me.

Then i seem to remember moving onto to the same thing but doing the front crawl arm movement on one side to get used to the breathing and arm technique, then the same with the other arm, gradually building up to doing both arms without the float.

breaststroke is probably the best stroke for a casual swimmer/beginner in my opinion, but probably the most difficult to teach, so i'm not sure how easy it would be to teach, particularly the leg movements, and I can't remember how i was taught it.
 
When I taught my mum how to swim I gave her a "noodle" float and made her put it under her arms and just kick her legs as she goes across the pool. She can swim quite well now, :)
 
Teaching swimming is a lot different to actually swimming. I take it they're a non-swimmer at present?

The info below is a from-scratch quick technique I've used in the past, it gets them swimming quickly. Because you're teaching them from scratch, you can ensure they don't get any bad habits.

Don't bother with breast stroke as it's a bit complex for now. Maybe teach them to tread water as it's useful. Also, any time they're working on their front, teach them what to do if they lose it and start sinking, i.e. turn over onto their back.

Firstly, you should work on getting them confident in the water, able to relax in the water and be able to float on their back. Also, get them to hold their breath under the water, dunk up and down and so on.

Once you've got the floating part (with or without a float), introduce kicking on their back with a float held across the chest. This will give you a perfect opportunity to ensure that they can get their legs straight. Walk along with them, holding a float over their knees but asking them to get their toes to splash on every kick. This will produce straight legs.
If at this stage they're still not able to get their legs out from under them, pull them along slightly to force their legs up and get them to arch their back slightly to get their belly button out of the water. You may need to hold the small of their back to start with.

Posture is everything here, if they nail it on their back then it makes teaching on the front a lot easier. I tend to teach back kicking first, as they need to get a good kick in order to get their feet off the ground on their front (it's a lot harder on the front as the float is in front of them).

Having sorted out kicking on the back, you can move onto kicking on the front. This will come relatively easily to them if they have the kick technique sorted. Hopefully their legs will have straightened out while on their back so this will follow through onto the front.
Try getting them to go across with their head in the water, breathing to the side as opposed to taking their head out. This will keep their body flat in the water.

The main bad habit I see with people who are self taught or have been poorly taught is keeping the head out of the water and rotating it with every stroke. If you can make sure they keep their head straight, waterline just above the goggles, you won't have this problem.

Once they've got the kicking sorted, have them do front crawl arms one at a time while holding onto the float, preferably breathing to the side. Do widths of one arm, then of the other. Once that's sorted, do catch-up while keeping the float in use, they can breathe to whatever side they want as most people will tend to have one side that it feels easier.
Having completed catch-up, try full stroke, but with you right next to them if needed. It's not going to be an immediate thing, but if you can get them doing front-crawl you're sorted.

I've taught a 28 year old guy to swim in about 8 lessons, taking him from a non swimmer into a swimmer good enough to join the police. It can be done, just chill with it and keep calm with everything.

If you've got any other questions let me know.

Alasdair
 
Nah i like the girl ;) i dont want her to drown :D

Thanks for the advice guys, particularly alaisdair. I shall get hold of a float and try and get her compotent in floating and treading water for a bit, then work on kicking.
Once someone can keep themselves bouyant in most postions the movements should come easy. Hopefully.
 
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A little tip that i picked up, if she's having problems with the timing of the breathing on frontcrawl ask her to watch her elbow and follow it as it rises out the water and re-enters. Obviously she needs to avoid over rotation of the head but it'll give a starting point as far as timing is concerned.
 
@if ®afiq said:
If it's not too personal a question - how much do you charge for your lessons? I've tried to "learn" on my own and with friends but have got nowhere fast (and they are next to useless).

TIA :)
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I don't charge for any lessons, I'm completely voluntary at the moment.

The guy that went into the police, he came along to watch one day when I was teaching his dad and some adults with learning difficulties, and he asked if he could join in.
I used to teach pre-school and up when I was still at school as a Saturday job, it beat working in a crappy shop job for 2 quid an hour.

Currently I coach at one of the clubs I used to swim for, taking maybe eight kids, 8 to 15 years old. This club got me up to a good standard so I felt it right to go back and help them out. I just went back about a month ago after a 7 year absence, during which my swimming frequency dropped to zero.
I've been swimming a couple of times in the last month, mostly because it's free ;), I've totally lost the stamina but my technique still remains. Just like riding a bike as they say...
 
Alasdair said:
Teaching swimming is a lot different to actually swimming. I take it they're a non-swimmer at present?

The info below is a from-scratch quick technique I've used in the past, it gets them swimming quickly. Because you're teaching them from scratch, you can ensure they don't get any bad habits.

Don't bother with breast stroke as it's a bit complex for now. Maybe teach them to tread water as it's useful. Also, any time they're working on their front, teach them what to do if they lose it and start sinking, i.e. turn over onto their back.

Firstly, you should work on getting them confident in the water, able to relax in the water and be able to float on their back. Also, get them to hold their breath under the water, dunk up and down and so on.



Once you've got the floating part (with or without a float), introduce kicking on their back with a float held across the chest. This will give you a perfect opportunity to ensure that they can get their legs straight. Walk along with them, holding a float over their knees but asking them to get their toes to splash on every kick. This will produce straight legs.
If at this stage they're still not able to get their legs out from under them, pull them along slightly to force their legs up and get them to arch their back slightly to get their belly button out of the water. You may need to hold the small of their back to start with.

Posture is everything here, if they nail it on their back then it makes teaching on the front a lot easier. I tend to teach back kicking first, as they need to get a good kick in order to get their feet off the ground on their front (it's a lot harder on the front as the float is in front of them).

Having sorted out kicking on the back, you can move onto kicking on the front. This will come relatively easily to them if they have the kick technique sorted. Hopefully their legs will have straightened out while on their back so this will follow through onto the front.
Try getting them to go across with their head in the water, breathing to the side as opposed to taking their head out. This will keep their body flat in the water.

The main bad habit I see with people who are self taught or have been poorly taught is keeping the head out of the water and rotating it with every stroke. If you can make sure they keep their head straight, waterline just above the goggles, you won't have this problem.

Once they've got the kicking sorted, have them do front crawl arms one at a time while holding onto the float, preferably breathing to the side. Do widths of one arm, then of the other. Once that's sorted, do catch-up while keeping the float in use, they can breathe to whatever side they want as most people will tend to have one side that it feels easier.
Having completed catch-up, try full stroke, but with you right next to them if needed. It's not going to be an immediate thing, but if you can get them doing front-crawl you're sorted.

I've taught a 28 year old guy to swim in about 8 lessons, taking him from a non swimmer into a swimmer good enough to join the police. It can be done, just chill with it and keep calm with everything.

If you've got any other questions let me know.

Alasdair
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All of the above is good advice; I can only relate my experience with both young (3yrs old) and old (45yrs old) all in a swimming pool, not the sea.

Both of the above were "swimming" within two days.

Get them to totally relax in the water whilst on their back ( support small of back yourself with one hand ) ..... head back, but able to breathe etc ..... once achieved, tell them that you are going to remove your hand from the small of their back ... and then ... very slowly do so......
They should still float (just).


Now, get them to spread their arms, and using their hands as a paddle, pushing down whilst moving back and forth with fingers together, they should be able to raise themselves a little and make life easier etc.

Once that confidence is aquired that they will not just sink, then you can move onto the act of swimming.

Good luck. ;)
 
singist said:
Once that confidence is aquired that they will not just sink, then you can move onto the act of swimming.

Good luck. ;)
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I agree. Confidence is the first thing, once that's been got, swimming is easy. If they can float on their own and be confident that they won't drown when you let go, you're sorted.
 
Always best, obviously, to start in water they can easily stand up in if they have difficulties..

I cannot remember how I learnt tbh.. I think one day I just took my arm-bands off and started trying and before I left the pool that day I could at least keep myself afloat and move.. :D
 
when teaching someone to swim make sure they keep their mouth shut and head above the water untill they get their confidence up .... :)
 
doran1801 said:
when teaching someone to swim make sure they keep their mouth shut and head above the water untill they get their confidence up .... :)
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I tend to get their head under the water as soon as possible, best they begin with good habits as opposed to bad. If you keep their head out, their body shape will be incorrect as having the head out naturally forces the legs down.

First lesson should be spent bobbing up and down and floating. When I was teaching kids, we'd spend a few minutes blowing bubbles and sticking our heads under the water and opening our mouths, to prove that they could do it.
If they can keep their head under water for any length of time without bricking it, then teaching technique to them will be easy.
 
Alasdair said:
I agree. Confidence is the first thing, once that's been got, swimming is easy. If they can float on their own and be confident that they won't drown when you let go, you're sorted.
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Ive booked some lessons for next week but have access to the pool at my gym also. I want to spend the next couple of days practicing the "basics" - what are they and how best to do it?

With the floating on the back thing, do I place the float on my chest or above me head?
 
@if ®afiq said:
Ive booked some lessons for next week but have access to the pool at my gym also. I want to spend the next couple of days practicing the "basics" - what are they and how best to do it?

With the floating on the back thing, do I place the float on my chest or above me head?
Click to expand...

First thing I need to stress - make sure you've got someone there with you in the pool if you're practicing anything in the water, it can freak you out a bit if not. It's especially prudent in gyms, because they normally lifeguard by CCTV.

When floating for the first time, you should have the float held across your chest. Try arching your back slightly too, keeping your belly button just above the water. Keep your toes and face out too, you should be almost completely flat in the water.
If you can bob about like this, next open your legs out and put one arm out to your side. Notice that these parts will tend to float by themselves. Try bringing your other arm out, and completely relaxing in the water, if your body shape is right and you're nice and relaxed, you should be able to float.

Something good to try on that vein is mushroom floats. Take a deep breath, and put your arms around your knees, bringing your knees up to your chin. You'll naturally float face down (the shape of you coupled with the air in your lungs sees to this). Blow out some bubbles, notice how keeping the head under isn't that bad after all, you just need to come up for air by standing up. Doing an exercise like this will make it easier when it comes to the actual swimming part, you won't be averse to keeping your face in the water.

When it comes to your actual lesson, I'm of the opinion that you shouldn't wear a nose clip (ever actually, unless you go into synchro). While it's bloody annoying, getting water up your nose can be easily avoided by not inhaling through it, and exhaling slightly to keep an air seal that keeps water out. It's also a learning experience.
To start with, I wouldn't bother with goggles for the same reason, but this is just personal opinion.

As for actual swimming to practice, kicking on your back is the way to go. It lets you see how straight your legs are. Legs should bend slightly, but you'll probably be taught to keep them straight to begin with, and that's how I would teach it too. Just do some widths on your back, with someone walking across with you. This person can hold another float over your knees. Your knees should stay under the water, i.e. not hit this second float. There should be a minimum of splashing at your feet, and your toes should be pointed away from you.

I can't really think of any more advice to give you at present, except to enjoy it and stick it out. Swimming is a fantastic thing to do, so I hope it goes well for you. Let us know how it goes, if you've any questions let me know, either post here or my email's in trust.

Cheers,

Alasdair
 
i think the best way to teach someone to swim is to first teach them float. Tell them to tuck their knees inside their arms and float like a ball in the water. Once they are comfortable with that then it's just a matter of opening up and kicking your legs :D

a tad unorthodox but that's how i learnt to swim
 
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