Iterate on Challenges

Make small changes to the challenges you find on the lesson plans.

When challenges are too easy, too difficult, or just not right for your swimmer.

Iterate means to make a small change to something. The lesson plans and the guides we provide for lessons are meant to be used until you’re ready to move away from them. This happens because you’ve mastered the flow of lesson instruction. Or you may need to make adaptations to the unique needs of your program/facility.

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How to iterate

It is impossible to outline every single way that you can make small adjustments to a challenge. Here are a few examples that will help illustrate how you can make logical choices. These can adjust the difficulty of a challenge to be both easier and more difficult.

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Challenge: Level 1: Bucket Head

Buckethead is pouring a bucket of water over the swimmer’s head and yelling “BUCKETHEAD!”

Make it easier:

• Play Bucket-shoulder; pour the water over the swimmer’s shoulder
• Ask the swimmer to look up. Pour the water over the back of the swimmer’s head. This way, it doesn’t go over their face.
• Have the swimmer pour the water on you, the instructor

Make it more difficult:

• Have the swimmer look up and pour the water directly over their face.
• Get a bigger bucket and pour it over their face longer.
• Do more than one bucket pours over the person’s face before they can wipe their face/eyes.

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Challenge: Level 2: Spin without touching.

Spin around in the water with your head/face above water and without touching anything; wall, floor, bench, etc.

Make it easier:

• Have the swimmer be supported by a float like a lifejacket, noodle, or other item.
• Help the swimmer by giving them a push.
• Have the swimmer spin only 1/2 way around, so that they start forward and end looking backwards. Smaller rotation.
• Let the swimmer jump first then spin.

Make it more difficult:

• Swimmer can only use 1 hand to spin.
• Have to keep more of their head/neck out of the water.
• Spin with their toes and their head above water.
• Shorten the time they get to spin around 2x.

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Roadblocks and adjustments

A roadblock is something that prevents someone from doing the skill easily.

For that level 2 challenge, Spin without touching, we are creating a roadblock against spinning around. We are asking that the swimmer does it suspended in the water. Their head must be above water.

Think about the challenge and what the core skill is. Is it teaching the swimmer how to push against the water? Is the challenge asking the swimmer to do a skill wrong? Like streamline but in airplane?

Ask WHY are we doing this challenge.

What is this challenge doing? Is it letting a swimmer do the WRONG thing?

What limits are put in place to make the skill more difficult?

When you start thinking about the WHY and what skill the challenge is focused on, you can start playing with the pieces.

Change 1 element about a challenge to make that iteration, or adjustment.

In the spin without touching challenge, limit the number of hands or feet the swimmer can use during the spinning. This is changing 1 element.

Think about how YOU would change this challenge to make it both easier and more difficult.

And there you go! You’ve iterated on a challenge!