Tips on How to Teach Swim Lessons

Get used to the Water

• A nonswimmer often has a natural aversion to water. Overcome this by teaching a potential swimmer to be comfortable in the water by getting her to stand in a pool with the water up to his chest. Explain that it is an involuntary human response to stop breathing upon going under water, so ask her to practice taking a deep breath and holding it.
  Ask your students to lower themselves by bending their knees until their heads and faces are fully submerged. Don't let them, as some nonswimmers will do, hold their noses closed as this will hamper later lessons. Tell them instead to slowly blow the air out of their noses while under the water. This will get them used to being under the water and blowing out air. When they have blown most of the air from their lungs, they should stand up straight again. Repeat this several times or until the students are comfortable being under water.
  Give each student a foam floatation kickboard. Show them how to hold it out in front of them with their arms extended in line with their bodies. Have them bend at the knees until their faces are just above the water, take a breath and hold it. The students should then push themselves horizontally on the surface of the water, using the kickboard to hold them afloat. Tell them to kick their feet in an up and down motion while their faces are under the water between their outstretched arms. They will move forward slowly propelled by their kicking feet and buoyed by their air-filled lungs.

Floating and Kicking

• After they have practiced this procedure for a suitable length of time, have them do the same again without the kickboards. The students will still have their arms outstretched in front of them on the surface of the water and they will kick their feet the same way, only without the help of a kickboard. Students should be allowed to float in this way as long as it takes them to gain confidence with the activity in the water. While out of the water, show the students the arm and hand movements of the freestyle swimming stroke. Have students practice out of the water with their arms in the stroke, ensuring they bend their arms and use their hands in cupping the water as they stroke. Stress that they should not keep their arms stiff and slap the water, as this expends energy and does not move the swimmer much.Instead the stroke begins with the stiffened fingers entering the water at an angle in front of the swimmer and once the hand is under water the fingers should be curled into a 'cup' shape for the rest of the stroke.

Arm Movements and Kicking

• The key to swimming is to establish a rhythm between the arms and the feet. Olympic long-distance swimmers have different rhythms than a sprint swimmer. The first rhythm a new swimmer should work with is arms and feet, and later work in breathing. As they have practiced kicking with the kick-board exercises, the kicking should be almost second nature as they begin to swim and move their arms in the freestyle stroke. Swimmers should practice by swimming the width of a standard pool with just one breath. With the students out of the water again, teach them how to incorporate a breath stroke. Teach the students how to move their faces to the side with their mouths out of the water in time with the stroke so they can take a breath. While their faces were underwater they should be breathing out so that when their mouths surface the lungs are empty and they can take full breaths. If they breathe on their right sides they should take a breath as their right arms stroke past their faces, and their left arms are beginning a new stroke in front. Breathing on the left is done in the opposite way. Some swimmers alternate their breathing sides as they work breathing into their own comfortable styles. Surf or ocean swimming is done in a slightly different manner. The head is kept out of the water at all times. This minimizes the burning effect of salt in the eyes and swimmers can watch for crashing waves and other hazards.