Newsletter May 2012
We had a fantastic intensive course over the easter holidays, lovely to see so many of you doing it as well as lessons every day make a massive difference in skill and technique levels as well as boosting confidence tremendously. We also had a lot of new pupils who settled in very quickly and made remarkable progress. The summer intensives are running from 23/7-3/8 or 6/8-17/8 Mon-Fri with lessons in the morning. As there is such a long break between the summer and winter term it is really well worth doing one regardless of swimming level as it does make all the swimmers stronger. Please email yvette@easy2swim.co.uk to reserve a space.
Wet and wetter appears to be the trend for the next few weeks weather wise so please do keep a towel or gown on between the changing and waiting room to keep warm. A huge plea not to allow children to stand on the sofa to change as it makes the sofas wet and most unpleasant for others to sit and wait or watch the lessons. The changing rooms are the best place to get changed in so please do use them.
We will be starting fairly slowly to rebuild breath control and shoulders after the holiday break, this gives our new pupils a chance to settle in and get used to quite a different teaching method from what they were previously used to. Some will get a bit frustrated but after a few weeks they do get used to the more controlled, long stroke style and develop better breath control which enables them to do more. With new little ones tears are very normal and we want to reassure parents that this will pass, please do allow us a bit of time for them to get used to us and trust us. We do understand that it is really hard on parents watching their child cry to overcome the urge to rush in an offer comfort, however this undermines the teacher’s ability to build a relationship of trust as well as possibly further upsetting the pupil and possibly the others in the class. If pupils have something they are worried about it is best to let us know via email rather than in front of them and the rest of the class as this often causes pupils to remain focused on the fear rather than the lesson. We do tend to play down the tears in front of the pupil but drop the level a bit and offer lots of support and encouragement to build their confidence and trust.
With the focus on the Olympics there has been quite a lot of press and events on TV highlighting the events and I do hope you managed to catch some of the trials for the team as the swimmers who excelled and made the team where technically very sound. It was very educational for us teachers as well as we were able to see correct hand placement, shoulders, legs, turns and starts that are currently being used. I am pleased that so much of that technique is similar to the technique we teach here as our methods are vastly different to so many other places but the results speak for themselves. One parent whose children have been having lessons at school said they learnt and improved far more over the intensive than they have in the 2 years they have been having lessons at school. Good technique, hard though it is, will always create a more effective and efficient swimmer in the long term.
Preschoolers
Blowing our bubbles to build breath control as well as learning the correct mouth position, it is fundamental to swimming to exhale in the eater and inhale out of it, this skill is remarkably under taught we have found but good breath control makes all the difference. Learning to turn the head to the side to breathe, for new ones saying ‘boo’ and looking at the teacher and more experienced pupils lying with their cheek on the water and ‘snoring’, this does cause much merriment once they get the idea. Getting to grips with fingers coming to the surface in the stretch and pull, the basis of all good strokes, and the start of getting pupils used to pulling with control and power. Fetching seals from greater depths and swimming back to the steps unaided for our experienced pupils. Jumping in and submerging for the more experienced pupils and learning to turn and swim back to the wall to safety. Learning to hold onto the wall and move back to shallow water or exits for pool safety.
Group 1
Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles as we build up keeping faces in for longer, the longer they can blow for the more they will be able to do stroke wise. Learning to lift the arms out of the water from the shoulder and in a straight line with control and pulling within the body line are crucial to building a powerful and effective stroke, swimming with arms flailing like spiders’ legs is very ineffective and we take quite a bit of time undoing this style with our new pupils. Learning to hold the arms straight behind the head and fall into the water fingers first, then into streamlined torpedo for the start of diving.
Group2
Still building on the breath control, blowing for longer as well as slower so that they really focus on exhaling in the water and inhaling with the mouth out of the water. Holding the head on the side in a flat position looking back to the shoulder for longer to build up strength in the neck muscles and learn to hold the body high in the water for more effective breathing and keeping the breathing arm extended as high as possible on the surface. Really working at holding the straight arm before finishing the over part of the stroke as well as the correct timing, we spend a lot of time building shoulders and teaching pupils to lift prom the shoulder as this greatly aids the future bent, high elbow recovery position later on. Trying to enter the water from the sitting dive into the streamlined torpedo by themselves for good diving so they learn to hit the water shallowly and close to the surface and keep the streamlined torpedo kick on their own. Building on the push from the feet for the dive in the kneeling position.
Group 3
More group work now as swimmers are more experienced and their bodies are able to hold the technique more as well. Doing more lengths if they are able to sustain the technique and body position and this also builds confidence. Working on the bent arm recovery with the controlled reach forward to aid propulsion and streamlining. Looking at holding the breathing ever longer to work the neck muscles as well as the long extended leg kick. Working on tumbles and blowing, tumbles are not merely a ‘racing’ aid, they are essential for continuous swimming but even more importantly a water safety skill as teaching the body which way is up is vital if someone falls in at height. Working on diving skills from falling into streamlined torpedo, pushing from the feet and entering the water fingers first and close to the surface and then using all these progressions to do the standing dive. Dives should be shallow and streamlined with the weight kept central. Learning to change from the torpedo and into the front crawl stroke.
Group 4
More and more lengths as the technique is stronger, there is little point in doing any distance if the technique keeps breaking down and in the long term it is actually counterproductive which is why we move from widths to lengths and vice versa within the lessons. Looking to see fingers coming to the surface in the entry and whilst breathing to keep the body streamlined and high in the water to avoid drag, the bane of any swimmer. Gliding off the wall and into the tumble and coming off the wall and into the transition phase of the stroke after the tumble both front and back. Kneeling and standing dives and into the stroke – really working on the forward propulsion over the water and shallow entry for more reach.
Group 5
Revisiting or starting the shark fin drill which looks ever so easy from the pool side but is incredibly difficult as so much needs to be correct, from the high elbow, hands, and ability to keep the body streamlined and high in the water. Nowadays top level swimmers are either high elbow or straight arm swimmers so we do work on both but the bent high elbow takes a lot of strength and should flexibility to do well and to maintain it. Too often swimmers are unable to maintain the stretch within each stroke cycle as well as the long pull, swimming is about using levers and the most effective lever is long and strong at the elbows. With tumbles practising the straight long pull, accurate foot placement and controlled sideways push off from the wall and then into the transition and trying now not the breathe until after the first stroke cycle.
Working on the track start and keeping weight centred, head up and using arms in an up and forward thrust to really propel the body over the water before entering in a shallow and streamlined torpedo.
Miscellaneous
Please do continue to feel free to put up notices on the various boards in the waiting and changing rooms. As the days are still cool please do ensure that the doors are kept closed to keep the heat in.
A reminder that swimming caps are compulsory for all swimmers, we recommend the thick latex ones as they protect the hair and ears and as days get colder. As a general rule please ensure noses are blown if pupils are snuffly as being in the water tends to make them run a bit. Also rash vests or the all in one sunsuit costume are great for sunny days at the sea side but do not actually keep bodies warm in water. They are designed to protect against UV rays and when wet actually make the body cooler as well as greatly restrict arm movements. Teachers wear them for purely HSE reasons as required. Baggy swimming trunks are also not suited to lessons as they get very heavy when wet and seriously impede movement of the legs and body.
For pupils who wear goggles, most of you, please ensure that they are replaced on a regular basis as the silicone does tend to go after a while and causes them to leak which is never pleasant for the pupil. Goggles tend to need replacing every 9-12months in general. We do have a few spare pairs for emergencies only and we so advise pupils to let parents know when they need goggles. Sometimes our goggles are not returned after use which means that we are not always in a position to offer a correctly fitting spare, if you have borrowed goggles from us and inadvertently not returned them please can you do so. We recommend the Aquasphere Moby Kid small and Kaiman Junior ranges as they provide a fantastic seal and are really soft around the eyes, the bigger seal goggles tend to get in the way of the arms during the lesson so are best for the sea side.
PLEASE CHECK LOST PROPERTY AS THERE ARE LOTS OF COATS, TOWELS, SCHOOL UNIFORMS BEING LEFT BEHIND AND IF NOT COLLECTED WILL BE DONATED TO CHARITY.
DATES – HALF TERM 3/6-10/6, END OF TERM 14/7 AND NEW TERM COMMENCES 10/9.
RENEWALS DATE 23/6 FOR THE WINTER TERM FEES £ 88.75