All posts in "Swim Lesson Diary"

RELAX



A fit athlete spend the weekend with me for a swim intensive. The first night we saw a pool buddy who gave the best advice, “The most important part of swimming is to RELAX.”  So true. You can see from this…

Comment

SMALL IS NOT BIG



Today’s student taught me why it’s harder to do the smaller steps of a bigger move, which is more a problem for me in my Feldenkris class than in the water.  Today’s student was my Feldenkris teacher!  She is my…

Comment

Look Down



Today’s student is a 80-something friend of my sister’s. We laned up about 7 a.m. He told me he’d been practicing my tip from last year – to look down at the pool bottom. This is necessary for personal comfort….

Comment

Peer Pressure



Today’s student is me and the teacher was Meet-Up Boca Rotan Ocean Swim. Though only one swimmer (of the 4 other RSVPers) showed for the morning meetup, the fact that that another person expected me to swim to the half…

Comment

Elbow Up



Today’s student is my sister. To help her swim more efficiently we worked on bringing her arm out of the water with the elbow straight up — as if a fisherman had hooked her by the elbow. Put the energy…

Comment

The water is my friend



Today’s student is 84 years old. He had some swim experience as a boy but estimated it had been 25 years since he’d been in water to swim. The biggest key to his success at floating and gliding was to…

Comment

BOB BOB BOB



This evening’s students were the beginner adult from two weeks ago and an ongoing adult with buoyancy issues. Today’s key was the BOB. This simple skill helps the students understand the rhythm for breathing during the strokes as well as…

Comment

FINDING ELLEN



Most of my clients come to me via Thumbtack.com “Swimming Instruction” Thumbtack found me, years ago, and has been a great service. I recommend it to any professional. It’s easy to use including changing it whenever you want. Because of…

Comment

MORE BEGINNER PRACTICE IDEAS



Today’s student was a professional who hopes to swim in the ocean. He has no water training. We did a lot (maybe too much) in this first lesson. My thinking was to introduce him to various activities in the water…

Comment

It happened — Lesson 2



The young boys returned for their second lesson today. By the end of the lesson the brothers were alternate breathing, a skill that I seldom teach because it is so advanced. Look at them here.

Comment