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Schwimm-Ratgeber

6er Beinschlag

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By Ron Coleman

 

Teaching Flow Chart

6er Beinschlag

To this point in this column I have endeavoured to establish definite goals for teaching of the stroke. The identification of a learner model and isolation of subskills give the swimming teacher clear achievable goals to aim for. Once we have definite goals, the next thing to consider is how to achieve them. When lecturing over the years it has become evident that what budding swimming teachers want most is a straightforward, easy-to-understand guide to teaching the stroke.

If we look at the teaching of Freestyle like going on a journey in our car, we can say the first thing we need is a road map. Now, the road map shows us the road to our destination and the towns we have to pass through along the way. While it may give us the most efficient way to get there, it cannot take into consideration circumstances that will affect the journey. Breakdowns, bad roads, detours, the skill of the driver … all will influence how smooth the journey will be and when we will arrive there.

Any plan for teaching of the Freestyle will only be a road map showing the pathways. It can show you how to get there (it may not even be the only way), but the results in terms of time and quality will depend on many variables along the way.

Age, talent, physical type, motivation, environment and teacher’s skill are just some of the factors that will determine how well an individual progresses under this plan.

The Flow Chart I have developed and used for years is one of the simplest and most practical plans I have seen for a teacher to follow. It consists of a series of pathways often running simultaneously that takes us to each of the subskills mentioned in previous articles.

Basically, the teacher follows each pathway, teaching each subskill as a separate skill, before moving on to the next. While a skilled teacher may move through one level before it is well established, and then come back to reinforce it, or may even by-pass some areas, as a general rule the best results come when each subskill is fairly well learned.

Because of any influencing factors, I will not try and discuss actual teaching strategies here. This exercise is purely to suggest a road map that shows the way.

It must be kept in mind that this flow chart is based on certain assumptions…

 

A. The pupil is already competent in deep water.

B. We are teaching a 6-beat kick.

C. We are teaching to provide a base that can develop into a highly developed skill within the boundaries of individual ability and desire.

D. That once a movement is "learned", it is progressively assigned to subconscious automatic control and the individual can concentrate on new movements with less thought for the learned ones.

E. The flow chart is meant to be used in conjunction with the philosophy presented in previous articles for the best results.

Kicking & Side Breathing

Following the flow chart on the breathing track, we have described bobbing and bubbling, vertical rhythm breathing and side breathing.

This is a subskill on its own and when the pupil is reasonably happy with what they are going, it is time to combine the side breathing with the kick. These two subskills will combine to form a new subskill.

Execution

One hand (opposite breathing side) out front holding on to a board. The other hand down by the side, palm pressed lightly against the front of the leg at more or less full extenuation of the arm. As the pupil kicks, the head rolls to take the breath. Breathing is done without breaking the temp of the kick.

Head should roll independently with the shoulders; they should not roll as one unit. The reason is that they actually roll at two different speeds.

If the pupil is holding a board or the side of the pool he/she may have to allow the elbow of the arm to bend allowing the shoulder to go down. If the arm is held straight there will be a lifting effect on the body. If the pupil is advanced enough to be doing the drill without holding on to something the arms will go down automatically.

When the legs kick doing this drill it is quite normal for the two kicks taken while head is turned to the side to be slightly to the side. If the kick is completely to the side or the knee bends up in a scissors action then the hips are probably rolling too much. If the pupil is attempting to kick straight up and down the whole time then it will be close to correct.

I believe this part of the sequence is very important. If the pupil can turn to breath around the centre line with out breaking the tempo of the kick then it is just one less component that is likely to cause problems later.

If head is rotating around axis, breathing rhythm is near correct and the pupil is attempting to keep a continuous up and down kick, not a lot should go wrong. However things will, but if we have a clear picture of what we are after you will invent strategies to suit the occasion.

Example … child does not roll head far enough to get a clear breath and pushes down on the board to lift the head to get the breath.

Probable cause … when child was learning side breathing separately, head was placed in good position to roll and get breath. When doing this drill however the body may actually be lying deeper in the water. So that roll that was being practised is no longer sufficient to get around for the breath.

Possible Solution … have child look at bottom and then roll head and eyes round till eyes are looking towards the roof. While this may cause the head to roll a little more than normally is expected, it is better to roll a little more and move around the axis than to have the head lift off line. Once the development of the subskill is well under way we can move to creating a new one.

Kicking, Side Breathing and Using One Arm … with the pupil now able to side breath without interfering with body alignment and the kick tempo, we can begin to teach the timing of the breathing side arm with the breathing patter. If we take away the arm opposite breathing side while doing Freestyle we are left with this subskill.

Timing … the body reaches maximum roll between when hand finishes underwater pull and half way through the recovery. Once the arm passes shoulder line the body is on the roll down. The logical time to inhale is during the maximum roll period. So what we have to teach the pupil is to finish exhalation as hand finishes the underwater pull. Mouth opens to inhale as hand leaves the water to begin recovery. As arm passes shoulder the breath should have been taken and head on the roll down.

In the full stroke of the 6-beat kick Freestyle, three things coincide. The opposite hand enters and reaches full extension, the head starts and finishes roll to side and the breathing side arm starts and finishes last sweep underwater. So to teach the timing of the breathing side arm we would need to begin the head turn as hand begins its last sweep. The problem with this for a learner is finding a definite cue to tell the child when to start the head turn.

I would suggest the following system for execution of this teaching drill…

Using Board … pupil holds back of board, palms on top thumbs under in torpedo position. As breathing side arm leaves the board head begins to turn. Pull through is steady until palm faces or even presses lightly at front of leg at almost full extension of arm. At this point head has turned and exhalation has been completed. Wrist relaxes and arm is lifted Out of water as if hanging by a piece of string at the elbow. Inhalation takes place and as arm moves past shoulder line, head is rolling down and is facing bottom again by the time pupil grabs the board again. Do 2-4 kicks and cycle begins again.

Key Points

1. It is important to have definite cues for the learner when possible. Using the hand leaving the board as the cue to start the head turning is a much easier cue for the beginner than somewhere under the body. The most important thing the child has to learn with this drill is to arrive to breath when hand finishes the underwater pull. The tact that we use the hand leaving the board as a starting cue won’t be detrimental to the stroke.

2. It is important that the pupil holds the board for 2-4 kicks before starting again as this begins each timing drill at the same point each time.

3. It is a good teaching strategy to have the palm to pause just a fraction facing the leg before recovery.

4. Use the pause at the start and finish of the stroke to reinforce the beginning and end of the stroke. Also it allows them to repeat the drill without getting tangled up.

5. On recovery, keep arm loose with fingers just clearing the top of the water.

I don’t recommend trying to teach high bent elbow recovery here. Two things usually happen … shoulders roll more than sensible and the pupil tends to begin recovery before they finish the stroke. It is more important to emphasise loose arm recovery with the elbow as the point of focus ... i.e. hanging on a piece of string at the point of elbow.

This drill can be done with a board, holding an instructor’s hand or for the more advanced with no board. The drill is also one that can be used forever as part of one development tool.

Before Freestyle

Over the past couple of years most of the articles I have written have been in relation to teaching Freestyle. As much as has been written, it still has only been part of the story. For the time being however, I think it is time we started to stir up other areas.

It is interesting that, while the teaching of Freestyle is only one skill taught at a "learn to swim" school it seems to dominate most customers’ thoughts.

Even in some establishments the teaching of this stroke seems to take precedent over all other considerations. There are still people out there trying to teach children Freestyle as young as two years old.

Why the preoccupation? Sure it is an important skill, but certainly not the only one nor is it one that can be considered a. skill absolutely essential for general competence.

The practice of teaching Freestyle when the pupil is incompetent in deep water is so widespread it is worth considering what we as an industry have as common goals.

I would have thought our basic aims would be to make kids competent in the water and teach them skills for sport etc. Now while we could have a little debate about what constitutes competence it is really not all that difficult to get the answer with little room for argument.

Using the K.I.S.S. system (Keep It Simple Stupid), we can observe competent people in deep water and isolate the skills they use. This is what I came up with.

Unless they want to move from one place to another with speed they exhibit the following abilities.

1. Some form of simple mobility.

2. The ability to change direction.

3. Tread water.

4. Can swim underwater.

5. Use buoyancy.

6. Interact all of the above in an energy effective manner.

These appear to be the basic skills of general competence.

Freestyle was used only when speed was a consideration. So, while Freestyle seems to be important for many reasons it almost certainly should be as an extension of general competence, not in place of.

While some authorities recognise areas of "water familiarisation" there is little specific effort to isolate basic skills or consider tuition strategies for them. I find this difficult to understand considering how essential they are to competence in the water.

If we assume that it is essential that all pupils need to become competent in these areas we need to ask the question ... "What age can the pupil begin, and what are the learning pathways to teach?"

When we consider children are entering lessons as young as three months (some before), unless they are there purely for social reasons, it is reasonable to assume they begin to travel pathways that eventually arrive at each of the above mentioned skills.

Now while all the general competence skills can be fully developed by age four we need to know how each develops and the degrees of competence we can expect along the way. This knowledge allows us to have realistic expectations of our pupils and suitable strategies for our teaching programs.

Before going further let’s just for a moment consider why this area of a person’s aquatic skills is given so little attention in the literature and many learn to swim programs.

Is it because they are too simple to warrant being part of purposeful tuition? Actually they are quite high in skill. To do a simple about-turn in the tread water position, involves the reaching out with minimum resistance, then sculling with the hand pitched on a three dimensional plane to not only turn the body, but give upward lift at the same time. While this is happening the feet also perform a similar task coordinating with the arms. As well, the swimmer regulates the quantity of air in the lungs giving maximum buoyancy. So it’s far from a simple movement!

I think the reason these skills are not given the recognition they deserve is that they are skills that are of a type that are best "learned" as a result of adaptation to given conditions, rather then "taught". Because they are this type of skill, the kids more often than not "pick them up" as a by-product of lessons rather than because of lessons: or, as part of play.

Now I realise some may argue that tread water is something you "teach" but I have my doubts about how much we can take credit for when in fact the kids learned because of adaptation to the conditions in which they are put. It doesn’t matter really, the fact remains that a big percentage of people learn tread water with no tuition whatsoever which tends to support my argument.

If these skills are going to be included in our programs we need to know the conditions under which they develop and the principles involved. In addition we need to know what we can expect at the various stages of a child’s aquatic development.

At the ASCA Annual Conference at the Gold Coast in May 1995 I presented a paper that suggested that our experience in the water, given the right conditions, would follow a natural developmental sequence similar to our dry land development.

Based on a study of what children do naturally, there seems to be strong evidence that we should be presenting the aquatic environment to the children so that their natural learning abilities produce skills appropriate to the stage of development.

While it is exciting it is also a little scary. To think we may be looking at a field that, in its own way, is of the magnitude of the work done on child development on dry land over many years. While some of the principles will be the same the presence of water is going to provide a whole new dimension.

How I Operate

In the business of teaching swimming we have organisations with hundreds of employees to one teacher shows. How one sets up a business depends on your aims and the circumstances you are in.

Two years ago I moved to a small beach town on the Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane. A super laid back place where, when the surf’s up, half the town goes missing. The pool complex consisted of one 25 metre, 7x1 metre lanes with a deteriorated vinyl liner, and a 7x3 metre learner pool 1.2 metres deep. While run down, the pool was owned by the swimming club and received a small subsidy from the council so I was answerable only to the club.

Part of putting the pool into a profit situation was to build the "Learn to Swim".

A functional venue was the obvious start point. The first action was to heat the learner pool, which gave us one teacher capacity in a heated pool. The 25-metre pool was used for some lessons but with it being a deep pool with varying temperatures everybody wanted to be in the learner pool.

Before the winter I enclosed the learner pool, which gave us a winter income. Not much but prevented a drain on funds.

At the beginning of the next summer I put in another learner pool 16.5 x 4.5 x 1 metre deep fully enclosed. There was a capacity to direct heat to either learner pool. So in 12 months we had 3-teacher capacity in enclosed heated pools.

Teacher Training … whether qualified or not, we, like most people, train our own staff. I prefer women, usually married probably with children. The reason is that all our jobs are part time and I don’t want to have someone who will leave when a full time job comes up. People who want to supplement the family income I have found to be the best for long term. Training consists of a combination of "in-house" theory plus time with a regular teacher. You can pump theory till the cows come home but being in the water is where the best tuition comes.

Booking System … we take four children per teacher twice per week. We would probably take more in the older age group but we are comfortable with four. We do not grade the kids though we do try and keep the young ones separate from the older kids. I think you need fairly high volume for grading to be successful. Also we tend to favour keeping a kid with the same teacher.

Our system of booking consists of booking for two weeks and before the two weeks expires they pay for the next week ahead. This ensures the client has the teacher of their choice, has a familiar class and knows there will be only four in the class. From our point of view we know what to expect next week and the teacher knows what she is coming in for.

Paying in advance puts some sort of discipline on the client. The limited experience I have of paying as you come is hopeless. People need to be placed in a situation where they respect the booking. When the booking is made the client receives an appointment card that has the days they come, time and who the teacher is. On the back is a record of payment. If the child is sick and cannot attend they are expected to phone. Our book is marked with an "S" and we will organise a make-up at a time that suits them and us. If they don’t phone we mark the book "A" for absent and are not obliged to give them a make-up.

Our certificate system is based on the assumption that there are aquatic skills for general competence and special skills for specific sports and activities.

In the general competence area, the final result might be mobility, tread water, change direction, use of buoyancy, underwater swimming all in an energy efficient manner, however, we know that what can be expected from first introduction to water onwards, will differ at each stage of development. So we have certificates that fit our expectations ... e.g. a 2-year-old may be able to propel 10 metres, pick up something from the bottom with assistance, float motionless for 10 seconds, change direction, and jump in fully clothed and get back to the side. Back floating would be optional. On the other hand a 4-year-old would be expected to go 25 metres, tread water, swim underwater unaided, float and generally be energy efficient. After they are energy efficient and competent we take them onto the formal strokes if we think they are ready. We are not into teaching 3-year-olds Freestyle.

The biggest problem I have faced is changing attitudes. Too few people know the difference between a good and a bad program. It is only when they experience a bad one do they appreciate a good one. Also there are too many people who do not place a high value on lessons. Confidence and efficiency come from quality lessons.

Providing a quality program and selling our product well will be the only way attitudes will change.

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