Swim Techniques: A Critique of Teaching; My Ideal Swim Research

Swim Techniques: My History & Critique Of Teaching It

I Taught Myself to Swim

Yep! I’m a swimming instructor that taught himself to swim at the beach. When I was a child the swim techniques for learning were very poor. There truly were many people who believed that the best and quickest way to teach someone to learn to swim was to “throw them in the deep end and see what they did”. Fortunately, most people didn’t act on it.

Wait... Get Your Lesson Plans Here

I remember my father taking me to swimming lessons during the year and I spent most of the time picking up tips from other swimmers.

I once saw a school teacher trying to teach one of my friends to swim by pulling him along in the pool with a towel.

Even when I first got my teaching license there were some in the teaching community that believed you could teach a child to swim without getting into the water. I thought it was nonsense and insisted on getting in. Clearly, this has been the opinion of most swimming instructors, as most schools insist that their instructors get in the pool to teach for most levels.

Every Swim School has its Own Philosophies

Learn to swim techniques and teaching methods have come a long way since I learned to swim. I’ve watched them develop over the years as a teacher but there is still no consistent researching into what is the best way to teach. The fields are narrowing, in that with the advent of the internet and video methods become more and more similar. Yet still, almost every swim school has its own philosophies that differ ever so slightly from each other.

Throwing Them in The Deep End is Not an Option

One Day A Swim School Will Do Proper Research

One day a swim school will come along that will do proper research. That is they, for example, will have three classes that all teach exactly the same lesson plan and teaching techniques in every way except one and at the end of each term the results would be compared to see what if any effect it had on the improvement of the student's abilities.


I dream of this being done because it would be great to consistently have 4 or 5-year-old swimming laps without ever thinking it unusual.

Do you know of any swimming schools that are interested in genuine research?

If you do let me know I'd love to contact them and start a correspondence.

Enjoy
   Richard