Advanced Swim Lessons
Merge swim lessons with Swim Team Practice
Keep everyone moving; minimize downtime
Lead Instructor = Coach
Bridge between swim lessons with instructors in the water and swim team with a coach on deck.
Swim Lesson:
Swim Team Practice (college)
Types of instructors in an Advanced Lesson
Swim Instructor
In the water and would serve as a typical instructor, but will follow the Lead Instructor’s activities and challenges and echo their language. Would serve as an “assistant” to the lead instructor.
Lead Instructor
On the deck, or beside the lanes, leading the entire group and lesson with a projector, a TV, or presentation. Would be announcing each activity and challenge and running the class as if they were a swim coach.
Lead Instructor is a swim “coach.”
The lead instructor during the Advanced Swim Lesson should think of themselves as a Developmental Swim Team Coach. They are leading the group in the same way that a swim coach would.
- Loud, visible, and give clear instructions to the entire group.
- All swimmers will pay attention to the “coach’s” feedback and instructions.
- Follow up, clarifying, and personal feedback would be delivered by the in-water swim instructors
- The Lead Instructor will guide the projector or the TV, or announce and demonstrate and deliver the instructions for each activity and challenge.
- The Lead Instructor would give personalized feedback and guidance to all swim instructors in the water and all swimmers.
- The Lead instructor may or may not have their own dedicated lane to watch over.
Intent of “advanced” lessons
They are intended to be a bridge between Levels 3 & 4 to Developmental Swim Team. For the purposes of our discussion we’ll assume that the Developmental Swim Team is a USA Swimming team with a prerequisite of:
- 25 Freestyle
- Side breathing without lifting the head upright
- no doggy paddle
- no sinking or gasping
- no stoppin
- 25 Backstroke
- Head remains neutral
- Arms recover over the water and push the water under to the hips
- consistent kick with feet near the surface
- no vampire neck
- no banana body (belly up feet down)
- no stopping
- Some understanding of Breaststroke arms and kick
- Some understanding of butterfly kick and at least introduced to the arms
Our goal teaching these Advanced swim lessons is to start introducing the language and format of a swim team practice while providing in-water support on those key metrics.
We want to emphasize freestyle and backstroke while sprinkling Breaststroke kick and arms into each day’s practices.
We should use competitive swimming terminology like:
- IM; individual medley
- Fly, Back, Breast, Free. Yes, the order matters.
- Streamline (already do this)
- Circle swimming
- Leaving on the 60, or the 00
- Go 5 seconds apart
- Lengths and distances using yardage/meters: 25, 50, 75, 100
- Sets like 4 x 25 on 1:00
- Sets like 4 x 100 Kick Choice