I see it all the time. People trying to swim but aren’t. People that want to swim, but can’t. the real reason isn’t that they can’t get the strokes down. The reasons are 1, they aren’t comfortable in the water and 2, they are trying not to sink. Let’s talk about the second one – trying not to sink. What do I mean by that?
I see it all the time at the pool. I’ve also seen it on certain military shows where swimming is a requirement to pass training. When the swimmer fails, the men in charge always say the same thing- he’s a weak swimmer. I try to get people to imagine swimming as floating with propulsion. That means you float, but then you move your arms and legs to propel you through the water. I remember when I was trying to learn the backstroke. I was also focusing on all the wrong things. I was focusing first and foremost on technique.
This was the wrong thing to do as I later discovered. I went back to the basics. First I floated on my back. Then I flutter kicked with my legs and then I introduced the arms. Once that movement was accomplished-and it became second nature- I then focused on tweaking the small stuff. I made sure to twist my torso. I made sure to exit the water thumb first and have my hand enter the water pinky first. Strokes are one thing, but truly learning how to swim is about being comfortable in the water and being able to have fun and swim as long as you want to.
Most swim programs focus on getting people to swim to the edge of the pool. I say, imagine there is no edge. If you were in the middle of the ocean and were forced to swim, how would you do it? You wouldn’t swim as fast as possible. Nope, you would take your time, just like you would take a long leisurely walk if you had to travel three miles. You wouldn’t sprint that. And if you tried, you would get out of breath and stop running. In the water you could tread water or float, but most beginners that swim as fast as they can, simply to reach the other side of the pool, usually can’t do either.
What are your thoughts?
Have you or do you know someone that has taken swimming lessons and still can’t swim?
Would you pay for private lessons or a swim boot camp if you would learn how to swim in a weekend, guaranteed?
Enter your answers in the comments section below.
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