help someone learn to swim freestyle!

trust and support

Helping someone learn to swim is great fun and very rewarding.

Here at Swim Smooth we recognise that swimmers and triathletes with a passion for their sport want to pass on their experience and joy of swimming to friends and family. As a trusted friend or relation you are in a unique position to help someone else - having someone's implicit trust is very important in helping their efforts to learn to swim.

Imagine someone achieving their dream of learning freestyle and you were the one that helped them do it!

We can tell you ourselves that's a great feeling. That feeling is the reason why we're swim coaches.

Maybe you know someone who would love to able to swim freestyle but you are unsure of the best pathway for them to follow. How would you start? What are the most important drills for them to try and when? How long should you spend on each step? What do you do if they struggle at a particular point?

Swim Smooth's Learn To Swim Freestyle Program

Swim Smooth have recently launched the Learn To Swim Freestyle Program which is aimed at swimmers who want to learn freestyle for the first time. The program is based around a 10 step process to build up the swimmer's technique from scratch to their first lengths of the full stroke. The swimmer can follow the program and learn by themselves but they'll learn faster and better if they're joined and assisted by a 'buddy' in the pool. This is where you come in!

Assist someone to develop a smooth freestyle stroke technique with the help of Swim Smooth.

The program includes a waterproof booklet that contains photos and brief descriptions to remind the swimmer of what steps they learned watching the DVD, which they can take to the pool. In addition, the booklet has lots of advice for their swimming buddy on what to watch out for at each step and how to best help them with their swimming technique. There's also a special section on classic problems and how to fix them.

who would you love to help learn freestyle?

If you are planning to help someone, or you are a new developing coach, here's some advice:

- Don't rush your swimmer through the early steps of becoming comfortable in the environment and getting used to the feel of the water. These stages may not feel like swimming but they are very important.

- Remember how it was when you were learning – repetition is key and perfect repetition is essential! Keep working on an aspect of the stroke technique until they have got it just right. This may take several sessions but keep coming back to the basics.

- Use feedback whenever possible to help them. Every time you use feedback we recommend using the following formula: POSITIVE-CONSTRUCTIVE-POSITIVE. For example your swimmer may have been trying a torpedo push-off. They may have achieved more than before but you still think there is room for improvement. Use a comment like ‘Well done Julie, great effort. Try keeping your head down a little more and you'll go even further. Good work!”

- Always keep an air of positivity even if things are taking time to develop. This is a new experience for the swimmer and they don't have any bearings so they don't know if they're doing well or not. It is too easy for them to assume they're doing badly. A positive approach from you will tell them that they're on the right track and keep them motivated.

- Try every step of the program yourself. Not only will this help you understand and relate better to your swimmer, you may learn something that will improve your swimming technique too!

With the aid of the Learn To Swim Program, you can help turn someone's dream into reality. With the structure and guidance of the 10 Steps, you can help anyone of any age, background or experience learn to swim freestyle. Make a difference in their lives!

Quite a buzz, we can tell you.

Resource: swimsmooth.com