Practice Expectations
Minimum Swimming Requirements
- Swim a length across the pool
- Be able to swim with the face and ears in the water
- The body position must be more horizontal than vertical
- Have either a
- Front crawl stroke, such that the arm comes out of the water and around to the front
- A doggy paddle stroke with an exceptionally strong kick
- Swim or kick on their back a little bit
- About 3 yards, doesn't have to be the whole way
- Without a floaty or a coach holding them
I am not quick to say "No" to a swimmer; I really want as many swimmers on the team as possible. I'll try to give them pointers and confidence. But if they can't meet these requirements, then they can't be on the team - yet. They are always welcome to join later in the season. These requirements are mostly about safety. It is a large pool and I can't watch every swimmer simultaneously. Panic can set in very quickly, and even though a coach or a lifeguard can quickly come to the rescue, that will be a traumatic experience that can turn them away from swim team in the future.
The First Practice
On the first day we'll start by saying a quick "hi" and get to know each other. After a few minutes of that, we'll hop into the pool. Which lane you pick doesn't matter yet, be with your friends or make some new ones! Our "home end" will be on the shallow side. It will probably be cold the first few days, but the water will quickly warm up in the season. The coaches will start off very easy, one length at a time. We'll be focusing on fundamental technique and making sure everyone can swim at the level required.
A Normal Practice
Both of us coaches are very technique focused and enjoy figuring out how to get kids swimming correctly. We teach swimming through drills ("drills" are modifications to the normal stroke to practice a specific part of the stroke), and through kicking. Every practice will be about half drills, half kicking. We will not do lap after lap of freestyle. Not even the high school aged swimmers. For younger swimmers, we'll do one length of a drill, the coach will talk to a swimmer or to the whole group about the drill, then swim another length. On the kicking portion of practice, they'll get their workout in with their kickboard. Kick can be boring, but I find that's only if the coach is boring. I have fun during kicking, and the swimmers will too! This combination of technique and kicking comes together beautifully at meets: their arms know what to do technique-wise, and their legs know how to move fast.
My practice follows a pattern: warm up, very short IM set, kicking, then technique work. The warm ups will always be the same. The very short IM set will probably be one length at a time of each stroke, in IM order. New swimmers probably won't know all four strokes and that's ok! I'll show them what it looks like, they'll try their best, and we'll move on. I find just getting their toes wet makes learning the stroke later much easier. That way when it is time to learn the butterfly, the kids aren't like "what in the world is that?!"
