Learn To Swim : Teaching A Young Child to Swim

Do you have a young one who is trying to learn how to swim? This is a tough challenge for both the child and the parent, and is a large stepping stone in the process of growing up. Therefore, it's important when teaching young ones how to swim that you approach the task both with excitement and patience. Here are some great tips to help make the process just a bit easier:

Learn To Swim : Teaching A Young Child to Swim

1. Floaties are a great way to introduce a child to water without overwhelming them. The use of the floaties will keep a child above water, and give the child the confidence they need to tackle the task at hand. Additionally, children love unique toys, and there are many fun and exciting floaties out there perfect for childhood.
2. Use prizes or rewards for when your child completes her first swim. Take your young one out for a special treat, embedding that swimming can be a fun and rewarding experience. By placing swimming in a positive light, your child is more likely to want to go out and try it again. And of course, practice makes perfect, so the more you child goes out and dives into the water the better they will be.
3. Make sure you get into the water with your child. Turn this experience into a bonding moment. If you stand on the outside while your son or daughter explores the pool, you're not sending a positive message. Instead, get into the pool with them, splash around, and make sure you have fun! Children take after their parents, and look to their parents for guidance, so if you have fun in the water, your child is more likely to enjoy the sport.
4. Incorporate your child's friends! Bringing friends along to the pool or local water park is a great way to turn this into an even bigger adventure. Now your child can learn alongside his or her friends, making the task an even more enjoyable one. In addition to just having fun, friends will help make your child see that they are not the only one first learning.
5. Lastly, enroll your child into swimming classes for added benefit. Swimming classes will help relieve their nervousness knowing they are joining a class just for beginners. Just like having friends around, knowing that others there are just learning can help add a bit more confidence.

Learn To Swim : Teaching A Young Child to Swim

Whichever way you decide to go when teaching your child how to swim, it's just important to make sure they experience is an enjoyable one, reinforcing their desire and confidence. Make sure before going into this experience that you are ready for the challenge, and have patience. Remember, it was not an easy task when you first learned how to swim. Perhaps spend some time retelling that story to your young one.

Learn To Swim : Preparing Your Kids for Swimming Lessons

You can prepare your child to take swimming lessons if you think he or she is carious about it. Swimming is a skill many of us take for granted as adults but a child may be apprehensive, particularly if they have not had a lot of exposure to swimming or water in general. Before the actual swimming lessons begin, you can do a number of things to assure your child has positive experiences and gets the most out of the activity.

Learn To Swim : Preparing Your Kids for Swimming Lessons

Learn To Swim : Start Talking About It

If your child is inexperienced or very young, she may be apprehensive about taking swimming lessons.
Explaining to her what to expect can go a long way toward calming those fears. Tell her what swimming is like and about the fun things you can do in the water once you know how to swim. Talk about the locker room and how things work there. Even talk about the scary parts. Listen to her feelings too. If she is afraid, be empathetic. Share with her what you like about swimming. Ask them questions about their fears and expectations. Then answer them in an age appropriate fashion. Make sure you let them know you understand their feelings. Never make fun of their feelings or belittle them for those feelings.

Learn To Swim : Swim Together

Take your child swimming at the pool where the lessons will take place. Don't focus on teaching them anything. Make sure the outing is fun. Play games, splash each other, and throw a ball around if you can. The point of the trip is to make your child see the pool as a safe and fun place to be. If your child is fearful about getting in the water, don't force it. Get in the water yourself and stay nearby. Demonstrate how you are unafraid and that nothing bad is happening. Show them that you are enjoying yourself. After the outing, talk about what happened, good or bad. Compliment the positive things that they may have done. Point out the good things they did and reinforce the experience with a healthy after-swim snack.

Learn To Swim : Visit a Swimming Class

Actually seeing a swimming class in action can help alleviate fears.
There is no teacher like a visual one. Seeing how the class runs and the kinds of things that he will be learning will help your child know what to expect. Fear of the unknown is one of the biggest roadblocks to successful learning. If time allows, introduce your child to the instructor. A familiar face can put a child at ease on the first day of class. Tour the facility and point how happy the other children are. Seeing others like himself can also allay fears.

Learn To Swim : Go Shopping Together 

Your child will undoubtedly need some swimming gear. Shopping together for these items can help draw your child in and make him feel involved. Let him pick out the swim suit, towel, goggles and tote bag he will use.

Learn To Swim : After Class

Once your child has begun classes, encourage blossoming friendships with other swim class kids. Discuss what your child learned and what he likes about the class. Use positive reinforcement to encourage your child whenever possible.

Learn To Swim : Butterfly Stroke

The butterfly stroke is named after the graceful motion of a butterfly's wings. It is one of the fastest swim strokes, and is also considered to be one of the most difficult. However, with practice and perseverance, you can perform the butterfly stroke with confidence and efficiency.

Before beginning, it is preferable to consult your physician and be in good physical condition. It is also a good idea to have some familiarity with the other basic swimming strokes. The best option is to have a qualified swim coach to instruct you, but if this is not possible you can certainly teach yourself the butterfly stroke.

Learn To Swim : Butterfly Stroke

The butterfly is broken down into two components: the kick and the stroke. The kick is done with the legs together in an undulating motion originating from the hips, flowing through the knees and then through the feet. This is known as a dolphin kick. Often it is helpful to practice the dolphin kick separately either with a kick board or while wearing flippers. This helps familiarize swimmers with the power and fluidity of the kick.

The stroke performed consists of three basic parts: the pull, the push, and the recovery. The stroke can be practiced separately while stationary in the water. Start with your arms out in front of you, shoulder width apart. Next, in a continuous motion bring your arms down through the water to waist-level, achieving the pull - pulling yourself through the water. Continue the arm motion with a push through to the hips or mid-thigh, and then bring your arms up out of the water, over the top of your head, and back around to the starting point to perform the recovery. This completes the motion of the stroke.

Learn To Swim : Butterfly Stroke

After mastering these two components, the next step is to put them together. This is best done with an understanding of the two-kick cycle. The two-kick cycle is performed by first pushing off of the wall of the pool with the dolphin kick. When you are ready to breathe, execute a pull and push, lifting your head out of the water and taking a deep breath. As you are pulling and pushing, do a giant kick to lift up out of the water and breathe. As you perform the recovery, kick back down into the water to glide for approximately 1-2 seconds. This completes the butterfly stroke.

Lastly, it is always recommended to learn butterfly stroke only after you are proficient in other basic strokes such as freestyle or breast stroke.

Learn To Swim : Essential Basics For Beginners To Make Learning Easier

Swimming is one of the most important and essential life skills but not everyone can do it. If you are a complete beginner and are intending to try out some of the swimming tips and exercises in this article, DO NOT go the swimming pool alone. Take a friend or relative with you in case you get yourself into trouble. Not only that, their moral support will help give you a boost.

Learning how to swim for some adults is a challenging and at the same time daunting experience. You may have a fear of water, you may have had a bad experience in the water as a child or you may even be embarrassed by the fact that you are not able to do what seemingly every other adult in the world can do.

Learn To Swim : Essential Basics For Beginners To Make Learning Easier

All of these emotions cause tension and anxiety in our body, which in turn make breathing and basic movements more difficult than they really should be.

The key to learning to swim is to relax. Just relax and you will find floating and moving through the water much easier.

Ok, I know what you are thinking: "huh? Just relax he says. Like it is the easiest thing in the world. You want me to climb into the water, that thing I have a fear of, to learn a skill that quite frankly scares the life out of me and you expect me to 'just relax'? You have got to be kidding!"

No way. I do not expect relaxing in the water to come easily at all. However I can highlight to you some of the most common barriers preventing you from relaxing and holding you back from learning to swim.

Learning to swim in its most basic form is viewed as something that we do with our arms and legs in an attempt to remain afloat and move through the water. Whilst this is basically true there are some essential basics that are often overlooked.

Learn To Swim : Breathing

Breathing and submerging is usually the one key element that freaks out even the most determined beginner. This is perfectly natural. After all, we are humans not fish. We are not designed to be in the water and so we have to learn to change the way we breathe when we are in the water. Try these simple steps to learning how to breathe in the water.

1. Hold onto the poolside, lower you chin to the water surface and blow bubbles. To some this seems like kids stuff but you will be surprised how many adults find this a challenge. Take in a huge lung full of air and then blow out in a slow and controlled way, letting the bubbles tickle your nose. If you are blowing then it is impossible to get water up your nose.
2. Now try taking in a deep breath and holding it. No bubbles this time. Lower your mouth and nose into the water as much as you are comfortable with. Once again as long as you are holding your breath you will not get any water in your mouth or nose.
3. For the next step you may want to wear some swimming goggles. Yes, you guessed it, lowering your whole face into the water. Wearing swim goggles will allow you to open your eyes under the water and see everything very clearly. No water will enter your eyes, providing your goggles are fitted correctly, and you will have a clear perception of where you are and what you are doing.

Learn To Swim : Floating

Lets deal with one of most common questions I get asked: 'how do I float?' Floating is a characteristic of your body, therefore you cannot learn how to float. Either you float or you do not. People with a higher body fat percentage tend to float well whilst those with a leaner and more muscular body composition will sink. That is not to say that if you do not float you cannot swim. Not at all. The momentum and movement of swimming will assist your body in remaining at or near the water surface.

Try floating in a star shape, with arms and legs open wide, either face up (supine) or face down (prone) - you may need your assistant to help support you to begin with here. The wide body shape will help even the poorest floaters remain at the water surface for a short time. This exercise will give you a good idea your body's own buoyancy and how it behaves in the water.

Learn To Swim : Standing up

Learning how to swim is one thing but how do you stop and stand up again in the water mid swim when that fear suddenly kicks in again? Standing up from a face down position is rather like sitting in a chair that has been placed behind you. You will need you arms to help assist your legs down to the pool floor.

Pull down through the water with both hands and arms and at the same time bend your knees up underneath you. Now sit up in the water and place your feet on the pool floor.

The most common mistake is to lift the head and arch the back in an attempt to make the legs sink, without bending the knees at all.

Now put these three key elements together. Take a deep breath, place your face in the water and adopt the star shape floating position. When you have held your breath and floated for long enough (try 10 seconds), then slowly bend your knees and stand up again.

The more you practice this exercise and each element of it the more you will learn how to relax in the water.

You have just taken the first steps to not only learning how to swim, but to conquering your fear of the water and achieving one of the most important life skills. Now it is a case of adding the arm and leg movements, depending on which swimming stroke you wish to learn.

You will meet some challenges along the way as those fears sometime creep back and remind you, but Rome was not built in a day. Practice and determination will see you though.

Good luck!

Learn To Swim : Swim Instructors - The Best of the Best

You want to unlock your water prowess but you are always left on the sandy beach because you are too embarrassed to tell anyone you cannot swim. That is the problem that plenty of people are facing in the world. But the thing that you need to know is that swimming is quite a natural ability that we already have. In retrospect, you have to understand that you have spent about 9 months of your life in a water womb and that was your initial experience of life in general.

Learn To Swim : Swim Instructors - The Best of the Best

So, it is only natural that you would be able to swim and to actually learn how to is quite easy. The body knows and the body remembers how to swim, and all you need to do is to unlock it. The one thing that is the inhibiting factor in this entire equation is that we have fear. Fear within us is stopping us from actually just diving to the deep end of the pool and trying whether or not we have the ability to swim in the first place. What you need to do is to overcome this fear and the only way you can do this if you have some sort of instruction from someone to gain swimming.

In actual fact, psychologically, you do not really need instruction, all you need is someone to give you the confidence to actually swim on your own. You do not need to have any special equipment to swim, all you need is your arms and your legs. Paddle your legs and use your arms for thrust and direction. These are the things that you need to know that are called the basics of swimming. Everything else is just different techniques and advanced methods to swimming.

Learn To Swim : Swim Instructors - The Best of the Best

Now, when you are choosing a swimming instructor, you need to choose one that is good for you and can fit your needs. There are many swimming instructors out there and actually if you would bother to stop and count, there are thousands available. Anyone who knows how to swim can teach you swimming, but few have the patience to do so. What you need to do is to establish whether or not you can talk with tem, communicate effectively with them and learn from them. They need to be the sort of dialectical teachers that can use the feedback from you and perhaps tweak their teaching methods to fit you.

After all, not everyone is the same. People have different levels of learning and different levels of tolerance when it comes to how much they can learn in one single day. What you need to do is to know what your comfort zone is and how they can fit into your zone. In the end of the day, you are paying for a service, and when you pay for a service, you need to expect results., Do not blindly choose the first thing that you see; you should be thinking about getting the best swimming instructor for yourself.

Learn To Swim : The Breaststroke

Competitive breaststroke is incredibly fast. Surprisingly, if you're practicing the breaststroke for fun it can be a very relaxing, slow-paced choice. Regardless of the purpose for your learning, the breaststroke has a few simple steps to follow.

Your legs should simulate those of a frog. You can practice kicking by holding onto the pool wall. Bring your legs in towards your body by bending the knees and then thrust them back, apart and away from you. When extended fully bring them together and slowly back in towards your body. Repeat this motion until you are comfortable with it. Then, add the arms.

Learn To Swim : The Breaststroke

Arms move fluidly in competition but more casually when you swim recreationally. Begin with hands in a prayer position. Thrust them straight in front of you, then separate hands when fully extended. Push the water back with your arms bringing them into a T position before pulling them back into you by your waist and up your body. When your hands reach your chest, push your arms forcefully away once more. Pop your head up to breathe after thrusting your arms forward so you're breathing while pulling your arms back behind you. Duck back down before your next thrust forward.

Learn To Swim : The Breaststroke

Now put the two together! Using your upper and lower body opposite each other, kick while your hands are pushing forward and let your legs rest while pushing yourself through the water with your arms. Be sure to keep your hips at water level or above to keep yourself at top speed for competitions.

Learn To Swim : Triathlon Swim

Of the three events in the triathlon, swimming is probably the least expensive as far as buying equipment. Although you may have to pay for the use of a pool and this can be a detriment to some because of the cost. All that aside, the triathlon swim is the one event that too many people don't spend much time training for.

Learn To Swim : Triathlon Swim

Of those that do spend time swimming, how many actually train like swimmers to improve their form, increase speed and improve their endurance? Many triathletes have a background in running and may have participated in 5k or 10 races before crossing over to the triathlon. Then there are some that come from a biking background.

If they spent time training to swim like they know how to do for running or biking then they could experience better times and more efficiency. If this is you, set your self up with a regular program that will help you gain more endurance so you are stronger when you exit the water, and also to be a little faster in the water.

Learn To Swim : Triathlon Swim

Instead of just swimming laps up and down the pool start doing fast intervals of different distances. Every couple weeks try for a distance day where you cover a longer distance non stop than you are accustomed to. Try to get to the point where you are swimming for distance at a faster tempo.

You should also be working on your swimming form. The more efficient your form is the easier you will propel yourself through the water. This means you could use less energy and leave the water not as worn out.