Body Line and Positioning
The last few weeks I’ve been teaching a parent at class while training new staff. It’s giving me some insight into why we do the things we do. Why are we spending so much time on body position and how to hold the child? During swim lessons why do we spend the majority of the …
Swimming Game – Challenge: Streamline Push
Game – Streamline Push Create partners or groups. One person floats on their back or belly in streamline. Other person holds their feet. When they’re ready, the person holding the feet pushes using hands and feet on the wall to “Push” the streamline as far as you can go. The winner is the “streamline” that …
Minnows 10/26/2021
1 x 100 IM KICK1 x 100: FREE Kick w/ board 1 x 50 Position 11 review all 3 things to SL and 11 before going. Question of the Day:What part of the body exists the water first when swimming Backstroke? during each strokeCorrect: Do 3 handstands for 3 seconds eachWrong: Do a 50 BK …
Swimming Game – Challenge: Handstand Rewind
I think that this is one of my favorite challenge games, and the best part of it is that the swimmer invented it on his own! I loved this! The kids on the swim team love this challenge and they can do it on their own during sets while they’re waiting for their turn or …
Swimming Game – Challenge: Log Push
I often get asked what this game works on. A parent might be watching from the stands or the observation lounge or a coach might wander by with a curious look on their face. Great question. Let’s look at the pieces involved in this challenge: Swimmer needs to remain buoyant on the surface with a …
How to move during swimming lessons for beginners.
We get a lot of questions about what the rotation method is. I think that the single most important thing you should be teaching your swim instructors is to keep their students moving. Make the swimmers, swim. You can do that a few ways, but the most important and easiest thing you can do it …
Minnows 9/28/2021
1 x 100 IM KICK1 x 50: BK Kick1 x 50 Position 11; review all 3 things to SL and 11 before going. Question of the Day:During FREE, your hand exits the water next to what body part?Correct: ANYTHING to 1/2 wayWrong: 50 FREE 2 x {5 x 3 FREE + Front Flip 6 x …
Minnows 7/29/2021
1 x 100 IM KICK1 x 50: Kicking on your side 1 x 50 Position 11; review all 3 things to SL and 11 before going. With FINS Question of the Day:What MUST touch the wall at the end of a 50 FREE race? Correct: Push off the wall with your hands and do a …
Swimming Game – Smile Face Float Boat and Push
Category: Group / Individual Core Skill: Getting comfortable with the water. Name: Smile Face Float Boat This is another game you can use with the floating smile faces. We use it as an introduction to getting in the water with hesitant 3 year-olds. It doesn’t hold up to anyone older as they’ll get a little …
Swimming Game – Smiley Faces
Category: Group / Individual Core Skill: Putting your face underwater Name: Smiley Faces How: Using the smiley face float toys have your swimmer smile as big as the toy, and hold it up to their faces. Then, using their face, push the floating toy underwater while keeping your smile as large as the toy. Smile …
About DataSwim
DataSwim gives you the power to create your own levels and skills, track them, and have parents see their own child’s progress. Want to modify Swimming Ideas’ level structure to fit your personal site-specific needs? You can do that! Want to use an easier method for tracking your swimmer’s progress? See each swimmer’s comments, evaluations, …
Evaluations for swimmers in Lesson Management
Skill assessment is crucial to a robust swimming program. You need to be tracking skill progress and using metrics you’re comfortable with to guide your swimmer through your swimming progression. When you create your own skills and levels with our online Lesson Management database you can easily update your swimmer’s progress through evaluations. Evaluate swimmers …
Easily add your own Levels and Skills
Setting up your swimming lesson program online has never been easier. You can now log into our online lesson management and create your own levels and skills within a few short minutes. Add your own levels: Click on “levels” then using the menu at the top click, “Add Level.” Type in the name of the …
Creating your own swimming lesson levels
Swimming Ideas’ levels are designed to be quick and easy target points for skill assessment. They’re refined and concise to make testing and placement easier. When I was sixteen, over 25 year ago, teaching my first swimming lessons we followed the American Red Cross level system. At the end of the week we had to …
BR Arms Drill – Sitting on kickboard and sculling
This is another drill I picked up from the ASCA Level 2 class. Sit on a kickboard and scull. Here is a decent quick video. A few rules:– Arms must remain in front of your body. No pulling.– Press with your palms and move in circular motions. For most beginners they’ll have a hard time …
BR Kick Drill – Breathe, Kick, Glide
Using a kickboard, have your swimmers do 25’s or short distances (from the wall to 1/2 way). Start in position 11, holding the bottom of the board. Breathe: take a breath. Put your head back in the water. Kick: do a breaststroke kick. Glide: using the strength of the BR kick glide through the water …
Challenges for advanced age group swimmers
Why they work and how to adapt your fun games to incite excitement and determination in veteran swimmers. Last night I did the above challenge with some advanced swimmers. These were kids that have been swimming for about 6 years on the team; since they were 5 or 6 and are now 11. I know. …