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What has it been like? What is our procedure? How do we teach? Challenges: Getting swimmers moving. Handling difficult swimmers. Coaching and commands. Resilience of children and adaptability. Tools: Lesson plans and TV for website lessons. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/swimmingideas/message

What should you do if you are comfortable? What should you do it if you're not comfortable? Covid-19 and the coronavirus pandemic is real. We just saw this week that the president got infected and foolishly hosted events without face coverings that subsequently infected many other people at a White house event. I know. This is insane. Right? If the white house can't stay safe, how can we expect to remain safe while teaching swimming lessons? We live in a world that requires us to go to work. Aquatic professionals need to bring in revenue. We need to have people taking lessons, using the pool, and participating in our programs. How can we make ourselves feel safer? Set up a system. Wear face coverings the entire time you're coaching or teaching. Space participants apart with a good distance. Have regular airflow across the pool surface and expel it. Limit your exposure. Ask your staff what they're comfortable with. Screen your participants. Require parent involvement. Kick people out that don't follow your rules; be unapologetic about your own safety. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/swimmingideas/message

Find out what Swimming Ideas Level structure is and why we use it. Learn the nuances of each level and the progression of skills that takes a 3 year old who doesn't like the water to a competitive swim team swimmer. For all the information covered here go to: https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/resources/ Level 1: https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/blog/level-1/ Level 2: https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/blog/level-2/ Level 3: https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/blog/level-3/ Level 4: https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/blog/level-4/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/swimmingideas/message

Today is all about the online course, Teaching Swimming, that comes with the companion PDF of the physical book available on Amazon. This training course covers the crucial skills your teachers need to begin having effective instruction. When your staff is confident, in command, and clear they can expand on having fun. We're going to review the basics of each section and give you a brief overview on how to be a better swim instructor. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/swimmingideas/message

Teach better Parent Tot, Parent and Infant classes with Julia Johnson. Show notes here: https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/blog/sip-089-safe-children-that-love-swimming-with-julia-johnson/ Julia Johnson grew up in Michigan where she learned to swim during summer swim lessons by going to beaches and pools.  She swam competitively in high school and then completed a few aquatrathons, sprint triathlons and a 5k swim in the years after graduation.  Julia studied mental health and social work in college and realized that her passion was building mental health through swimming and coaching.  Over the last 17 years she has worked for country clubs, community education programs, schools, athletic clubs and finally found her way to the YMCA of Memphis and the Midsouth.  During the last 17 years she's been coaching and leading staff, program design, launching new programs, teaching swimmers 3month-adults in their 90s, adaptive lessons, coaching middle school, age group swim team, and masters.  Julia is passionate about the physical and mental benefits that evolve from swimming and especially enjoys helping the youngest of our learn to swim participants and their parents.  Want more information about Julia? Email her here: julia.johnson@ymcamemphis.org --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/swimmingideas/message

Breaststroke kick is difficult to do. It is an unnatural motion for many swimmers. There will always be that small subsect of people that have learned how to do it on their own and in fact prefer it to the flutter kick motion. I believe these are people that pushed the water in the "breaststroke way" when they were learning and stuck with it because it makes them move. Spent a lot of time watching children swim. For a long time I've been a proponent of "nurture over nature" and that genes are actually an expression of nurture over a longer timeline. Swimmers experience stuff in the water, and they build on what they've felt and experienced. Their swimming is a reflection of their trial and error experiences in the water. We need to replace lots of their habits with better ones through repetition, time, and guidance. Teaching breaststroke kick to beginners is one of the worst things about teaching swimming; its difficult, its hard, its frustrating, and it is the clearest example of a boring struggle to get kids to do something they don't understand, can't feel, and don't like to do. We're going to make it easier. A segment of people have natural breaststroke kick. These are people that have learned intuitively the powerful force breaststroke kick can provide. You won’t really need to “teach” breaststroke kick to them beyond refinement and gliding after each kick. Most people struggle with breaststroke kick. This progression will make it easier. Teaching the breaststroke kick, or the whip kick, is a slog, a long press through swampy struggle that will take significant patience, repetition, and focused feedback and refinement. Do not be discouraged. We’ve made it easier. Begin with “flex.” Want to see the progression and pictures? Get the book online or join the online course: https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/product/teaching-swimming-fun-and-effective-instruction/ Physical print book from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2XVwqQZ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/swimmingideas/message

I feel like one of the best ways to improve my coaching and teaching is to ask myself, "how can I improve?" We tell our swimmers to self-evaluate during their swimming. This is essentially what meditation is. Ask a question: https://anchor.fm/swimmingideas/message Meditation is training your brain to recognize it's doing something you don't want it to do and realigning it to your will. If we're good at meditating, then we're going to be better swimmers if we know what to look for. It is the coach and swim instructor's job to inform and guide the swimmer's thoughts so they can improve their swimming during a practice or lesson. We do this through feedback and attention focusing. There is two components: Knowledge dump. Learn all the      things. Exposure Repetition Mastery Guided focus Pay attention to       this one thing. Drills that highlight       specific elements Do it wrong so you know how       to do it right Mantra's, habits, and       allowing mistakes. Did that practice go well? Did it meet the objectives I had in place? What should I change? What were the elements that I struggled with? What are elements of it that my participants struggled with? Be brave to admit failures. If we ask our swimmers to fail and be comfortable in it we should be too. Make small changes to adapt to your swimmers. Are you getting upset with the swimmers, the children, in your lessons or practices? Its's your fault. How can you reset to give yourself a chance to evaluate and reorient? Write it down. Make changes live on website. Make your own lesson plans. Give your staff training opportunities to be self aware. Do it wrong. Give them a teaching task,      but put limitations on it. Can't say the word "okay" or get      swimmers to Streamline without saying streamline. Put a time limit on number of      attempts. Build confidence in your staff and yourself by making changes on the fly and allowing freedom in lessons (contradictory to doing things a certain way. Fences with broad leeway inside those fences). What do you do to self evaluate? Questions? Ask a question: https://anchor.fm/swimmingideas/message --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/swimmingideas/message

What are the essential skills you should be teaching your lesson managers? You can find information at https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/resources/ Under the Level Description guides. They details the specific needs of each "level" and what to look out for including guidance for lesson managers.  Criteria for an effective swim lesson manager:  - Understanding of level structure, essential skills, and how to teach them. ○ How do you hold a child for supported front and back glides § Why is this so important? § Need to enforce and teach others how to do it. ○ Be outgoing and not afraid to give feedback.  § Through training § Can still be an introvert and anxious. Must overcome through mentorship and direction ○ Familiar with your program's nuances.  - Confident enough in own ability to communicate your programs specifics and procedures to parents.  - Mature enough to make safe and rational decisions in a changing environment.  Ways you can train your lesson managers.  Teaching Swimming Online Course and Wordbook. https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/courses/teaching-swimming/ Prove mastery.  Information dump and gathering.  Review the Discussion questions with an Aquatic Professional.  (found in the print version and PDF). Have a management training where the aquatic professional directs lesson managers in how to be a leader amongst their peers. - How to run an effective meeting. ○ Have one main speaker.  ○ Avoid the "chime in."  ○ Be clear with your objective. Stick to the task at hand without tangents. Teens are adults when it comes to learning.  ○ Engage as many people at the same time as possible. § Small groups with repetitive training exercises.  § Delegate leadership to trusted staff with specific tasks □ Be clear in instruction, and be clear with expected feedback and expected actions.  ® "run these scenarios, make sure everyone gets a turn, and ensure that everyone gets a chance to participate and get feedback. Focus specifically on this [one thing]. - How to give effective feedback to your instructors ○ Should you intervene in a lesson? ○ Followup before and after the swim lesson ○ Give training materials.  - How to organize swim classes ○ What criteria do you use to group like-level swimmers? ○ Consider location ○ Program specific routines - How to communicate with parents. ○ Lean on your expertise  ○ Remind manager that they are experts in this field and parents are not. They paid to send their kids to swim lessons.  ○ Talk to parents frequently. Meet them. Introduce self, and follow up during the lesson. ○ Give updates on what their specific swimmer is doing. Avoid generalities.  Mentor your managers. Guide and groom them.  Check in on them and make sure that they understand you're there to support them and get them to improve. You're both on a team, you're not there to punish them when they fail; which they will.  How do you make sure they're doing a good job? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/swimmingideas/message

Intro: What are Challenges? Why have they replaced games? Quicker Individual based apply to broad ability levels tailored for groups sideways learning they are games celebrated success opportunities striving to "challenge" self improves overall swimming Live use Where you can find them Swim Challenges: The new swimming game standard. Practice Components Premium Swim Lesson Plans – Digital Only Developmental Swim Practices for Teams --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/swimmingideas/message

What can you do at your swim practice and swim lessons to promote Deliberate Practice, and how does mediation teach you to be a better swimmer. What is deliberate practice: https://jamesclear.com/beginners-guide-deliberate-practice " While regular practice might include mindless repetitions, deliberate practice requires focused attention and is conducted with the specific goal of improving performance. From The role of Coaching! How the challenge format promotes deliberate practice: they are specific opportunities to train the brain through stimulating "challenge" to accomplish a task using deliberate though to achieve the goal. Carryover into what we're doing. High volume coach interaction. Constant feedback during lessons Getting the format out of the way (use scaffolding or routines). Encourage self guided activities whenever possible. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/swimmingideas/message

We're running our swimming during covid in a small 4 lane indoor pool. Fans Open doors 7 at a time 2 in each lane on opposite       ends. 1 in the ada staircase lane. 1 coach; now 2 coaches 2 lifeguards Line up outside and walk them      in with a coach chaperone They have their own 6 ft      distant places for stuff. Come in their suits Come wearing masks Coaches wear masks throughout      the practice Write practices in advance on      website. Use TV screen with Fire and      internet to show. Practice format: Philosophy: Moving Self guided On rest intervals Aerobic conditioning Challenging fun Socializing from a distance Warmup Swim, Kick Challenges End. Walk out a separate exit      like a one way street. Repeat hour after hour. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/swimmingideas/message

How should you protect yourself and others when you're teaching swimming lessons to individuals or duos? Today we're listening to a user submitted question and answering it after a brief unrecorded phone call.  Rowenna and I spoke on the phone and we reviewed much of the same things. Her favorite games are Treasure hunt and diving games with multicolored toys labeled with numbers. I'm a huge fan of Treasure hunt too, and you can see a list of relevant swim games and challenges here:  https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/games/ Things to consider: Remain distant if you can.  Teach from the deck or the water remaining far enough away that you're not going to get any droplets on your face or nose. Have the parent interact physically with the swimmer. Use a dummy, or doll, or practice CPR device to demonstrate how to do your supported front and back floats/glides.  Teach both the swimmer and the parent how to do your typical routines. You'll be like a music teacher talking and guiding but not moving the swimmer's fingers for them. If you can't remain distant, wear a face shield. You can wear one like this: https://amzn.to/2VuIK9U It'll stay fog free, will bead water off the outside and redirect your breath droplets down and shield you from participant's spray. Stay distant when possible and do your best to realign your swim lessons to encourage more independent movement.  This works best in shallow pools with lots of space where the swimmers can move in chest or shoulder deep water. Have them do glides and repetitive skills like streamline and kicking from two points back and forth. Intersperse your 6 x [something] activities with challenges. You can find a list here: https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/challenges/ If you're teaching at a deeper pool see if you can use platforms or benches for younger swimmers to stand on. For more info take the Teaching Swimming online course: https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/topic/rotation-method/   --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/swimmingideas/message

  SUN SCREEN! SUN LOTION! SUN BLOCK! This is the most essential product you can buy. I'm talking about sun tan lotion. Sun block. We use this gallon jug. You can use this too. I suggest making it mandatory for all swim instructors to wear the lotion before they start their first lesson. When they're done teaching each class, they should get out of the pool, talk to parents, dry off, and lube up with sun tan lotion again. This is the number one best thing you can do (aside from not going outside) to protect your exposed skin from the damaging effects of the sun. Put your sun tan lotion on often. Recommended reapply rate is once every hour if you're in the water. To creatively make sure your staff is wearing sunscreen, bake it into your routines and culture. Put the sunscreen on together before your first lesson after your daily meeting / debrief. Offer 45 minute swim lessons starting on the hour. After each class have a 15 minute break, and at the :55 get together for a group sun screen circle making sure to get everyone else's shoulders and back. Use the pump lotion or the spray-on. Make sure you're dry so it stays connected to the skin. Rash Guard You can check these out, https://amzn.to/2udnhnp, but I recommend going to swim outlet for something more like these: https://www.swimoutlet.com/p/dolfin-lifeguard-mens-long-sleeve-rashguard-8174189/?color=50448 Wear them to cover more skin, but still provide mobility and comfort. They are effective because the fabric will block the skin. Make these optional for your staff and cover the cost if they're used. i don't have a good recommendation to get teenagers to wear these, but if you do please comment! Maybe an end of the year bonus if you buy one and use it daily? HATS! wow. We had these type of hats available to us when I taught swim lessons, but very few people wore them. They looked weird, and only the most confident, most bold were willing to wear them. https://amzn.to/2J5dQvw At the time that was not me. You can wear these hats to protect your face and head from the damaging effects of the sun while you're teaching swimming lessons. Pair this with good sunglasses and you have total protection for your eyes and head. Change lesson times. The worst time to be under the sun uncovered is between 10-4pm. The absolute worst between 11-2pm. Change your swim lessons to be earlier in the morning done at 11, and later in the evening starting at 4pm. That way your staff misses out on the worst of the sun. Your swimmers, often children, will benefit too from the decreased intensity of the sun. it might be a little colder, it might be a little more cloudy or uncomfortable, but you'll be protected and you'll be doing right by your teenage staff that, like me, will resist wearing sun screen.  

Brief guide on Autism from American Red Cross Swimming Water Saftey book --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/swimmingideas/message

No. Most parents don't care what your swim program system is. They care about three things:   1) Will their child learn how to swim? 2) Does it fit into their schedule? 3) Is it within their budget?   They're more worried about making the most out of their time and effort to bring their kid to swim lessons. They want progress, they want success, but they don't really care how you order your level structure. It isn't important to them.  That isn't to say you shouldn't have a structure or a plan, but you don't need to drop thousands of dollars licensing a swim program to be successful.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/swimmingideas/message

    Dr. Alan Goldberg,  www.competitivedge.com Getting parents to work with, not against you.   Blog post about day 1 handout. http://swimminglessonsideas.com/2017/09/17/handout-for-first-day-of-swim-lessons-for-parents-what-to-expect/ Day 2 handouts: https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/completelessondocuments/Administration/Day+2+Handouts+(1).pdf   Be proactive. How to teach your parents on your swim team. Learn how to interact with your swim lesson parents in a healthy way. Be proactive, take the first step, and be bold with giving information. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/swimmingideas/message

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Recap from Dr. Alan Goldberg and Josh Davis.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/swimmingideas/message

Ok. The first thing is to get in the water.   The second thing to do is to touch the bottom with your hand.   Easy? Easy peezy?   Now we're going to swim front crawl or freestyle with side breathing from here to there. (one length).   Well done. Can you touch the bottom, here?   Where did you learn how to swim?   Ok. Now we're going to do back stroke all the way back. When you get to the other end I'll go like this it means stop. Ready? Okay go.   Well done. Do you know how to do breaststroke kick? (demo) ok. Do whatever you know to me (1/3 of the way) stop when you get to me.   Ok. Turn around, now we're going to do butterfly kick. Stand with your hands at your side, and put your face in the water and wiggle like a dolphin.   Well done, hop out, lets get out of the water, we're all done. You did very well. Let's go talk to your parents. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/swimmingideas/message

i'll be interviewing a person about how to teach swimming lessons to autistic kids. She is an expert in adaptive physical education for special needs children and will be an excellent resource.  I'm hoping to connect with Nitro tash to get her take on her new swim lesson format with her pool in Perth, Australia. Look for updates to swimminglessonsideas.com and a new resource to take beginners from no program to a thriving successful one including. I understand that a lot of the material assumes an intimate knowledge of swimming lessons that not everyone has. I hope to address this in the future. Routine works. It does. i struggled with giving my swimmers too much freedom in their swim practices and it lead to chaos. now, falling back on the tested and true routine and structure we've had massive success and improvement.  Think of your routine as your framework. It is the brick wall of your instruction. The format (each brick in its place) is the same, but the choice of bricks change. Like a wall, not all bricks are identical and you can sprinkle your flavor of skill, drill, and activity to match the pace and goal for the cycle, but throughout your following the same structure and framework so your pieces all align.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/swimmingideas/message