Swimming Lessons

Swimming lessons can be intimidating for some people, but swimming is such an important skill to have, people usually suffer through.  There’s no reason, however, that swimming lessons can’t be fun, positive experiences for even the most inexperienced swimmer.

For swimming teachers, the most important thing is to get the people in their classes to feel comfortable in the water. Too much too soon will make students dread their swimming lessons. Seek out fun ways to spend time in the water. If you students are little children, consider playing a game in the baby pool or an area of the pool where they can easily touch the bottom. For adult students, play a game of pool volleyball in the shallow end, where everyone can easily stand. Allow your students to relax in the water and build up their comfort level in the pool before working more demanding skills.

When your swimming lessons are devoted to building more advanced skills, try using good natured competition to give students the practice they need. You can run mock swim meets with your students. Have them do particular strokes for different rounds, then have a wild card round where they can do whatever stroke they want. You can also use games like “Marco Polo” or a water version of the game “Red Rover” to get your students to practice their strokes in a fun way – just adapt the games to meet the objects you are trying to accomplish in your swimming lessons.

“Learning through playing” is a great motto for swimming lessons. Remember that lessons can be scary or intimidating for new swimmers, so keeping things lighthearted will allow your students to build up their confidence level in the water in a low stress environment.