Swimming Ideas Podast

Swimming Ideas, Jeffrey Napolski

Fun and effective strategies for swimming lessons, teams, and Aquatic Professionals.

Listen to best practices and interviews with other members of the swimming community to get the most out of your swimming program.

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20 episodes
Updated Dec 4, 2023

Episodes20

Newest first

Dec 4, 2023 · 27 min
SIP 102: Consistent Dedication to the Mundane
Consistent dedication to the mundane like streamline Everyone has excellent streamline habit (all the time without thought). That to NOT do a streamline would make the swimmer physically uncomfortable. A feeling that excellence is expected with allowance for failure, improvement, and progress. Swimmers feel watched, celebrated, and encouraged to improve through feedback, attention, and coaching. See "Finding Deliberate Practice," "SIP 052: Swimming is a Habit," and "SIP 067: Deliberate Practice." Your framework and routine should reinforce the key things you want to accomplish with your swimmers. My number one goals: Everyone has excellent streamline habit (all the time without thought). That to NOT do a streamline would make the swimmer physically uncomfortable. A feeling that excellence is expected with allowance for failure, improvement, and progress. Swimmers feel watched, celebrated, and encouraged to improve through feedback, attention, and coaching. Coach behavior on deck: If you see something to fix, you must say sometime. Avoid socializing and standing in one spot; unless resting. If you are expecting excellence, then excellence is expected OF you too. Enforce what you want done; non-enforcement = acceptable behavior. Know when to back off; you can still say something without demining or making someone feel bad. "You didn't streamline. Next time streamline." "You forgot the streamline." They nod and agree. "next time." You and they smile.
Nov 13, 2023 · 26 min
SIP 101: Routine for Developmental Swimming
Establishing your habits, your consistency, and defining the framework that will lead to better swimmers faster. Why routine is important: SIP 052: Swimming is a habit (swimminglessonsideas.com) SIP 045: Importance of Routine (swimminglessonsideas.com) What is our routine and why do we do it? Warmup: 100 IM K 50 Swim 2 x 25 Position 11 Question of the Day What is the order of a 100 IM swim event? Learning Set: Two small groups that switch back and forth Group 1, Skill 1 3 x SL on BK; stay underwater until you get to the flags if possible. Group 2, Skill 2 3 x SL + 1 FLY stroke NO KICKING! Do the fly arms at the surface; okay to move yourself backwards Aerobic and Practice what you learned set: All together building on Question of the day and the small group practice. 3 x { 1 x 100 FREE with fins 2 x 50, 25 BK, 25 2 strokes Fly then fly kick rest of 25, then 25 BK 3 x SL + 5 FREE + 1 Breath 1 Challenge }
Oct 31, 2023 · 57 min
SIP 100: A plan, a formula, a guide
This can be that guide for you. But… you need to know where you're going. What are you going to have as your plan? What is your formula for success going to be? How will you structure your swimming developmental program for fun and effective instruction. Fun. Children. Establishing habit. Enforcing excellence. You need to have a plan, a formula, and guide. Where are you going what are you intending to do? What are you intending and what are you pulling from? Define your minimum skill level. - Who will you accept? - What will your tryout be? - What will you be teaching, training, or working on in practices? Define your levels or grouping for developmental swimmers. - Will you be a single practice group or multiple? - What needs to be demonstrated before a swimmer moves out of your group? Define how you will structure your practices. - Which location - Lane size, distance, type - Maximum number of swimmers - How many coaches - What do coaches do in a practice? Define how you will write your practices. - What is important for you? - Yardage vs skill learning - How will you teach new skills in a way that allows failure, but doesn't promote bad habits? - Will there be fun baked in? ○ What do you define as fun? Define what your goals are for swimmers in your Developmental practices. - Fun? - Love of the sport - Drill work and skill focus - What does the coach want to do in the practice? - What do you want the swimmers to take from practices? Define competition - Can developmental swimmers go to swim meets? - Should they compete? - Starts? - Disqualifications. Write it down.
Oct 23, 2023 · 30 min
SIP 099: Preparing for Developmental Season
Document how to run an effective Developmental swim lesson program. What elements do you absolutely need to be effective? - A plan, formula, or guide - Routine - Consistent dedication to the mundane like streamline ○ Establishing habit ○ Instilling discipline (hard work and precise body control) - Balancing the hard work with fun; activity, activity, challenge - Earning respect - Talking with parents - Know your progressions
Oct 16, 2023 · 24 min
SIP 098: Create Challenges and Games for Swim Lessons
How to come up with a game or a challenge. - Think of a core skill. - Put a roadblock into teaching that skill or performing it well ○ Examples - Evaluate whether it is fun ○ Achievable ○ Simple ○ Too difficulty ○ Teaching the wrong skill ○ Relevant enough to the original skill Games: - Think of a core skill, but in more broad terms like: ○ Streamlines ○ Gliding ○ Movement ○ Buoyancy ○ Pushing on water - Create rules and goals - Goals are objectives: what the people do, ideally doing the skill you want them to work on, or a target by which the swimmers must do the skill you want to work on to succeed. - Rules are the roadblocks, or the conditions that lead to struggle and learning - Evaluate whether or not they're fun.
Oct 2, 2023 · 30 min
SIP 097: Training Swim Instructors in person
Today we look at the lesson coordinator handbook for finding an effective instruction segment on training swim instructors in person. We will do a brief overview of what's included in the workbook as well as any discussion on why certain elements are included and what the activity activity discussion format looks like.
Sep 23, 2023 · 17 min
SIP 096: Finding Motivation after a Summer burn
With all of summers insane madness Are you ready to push through into fall and winter programming? That's right with all the rush, activity, intensity, and pure energy that comes with the summer months where do you find the motivation to continue working on aquatic programming and hiring.? We're gonna take a look at how to set realistic and specific goals for yourself. Celebrate your achievements and reward yourself by for hitting specific milestones that you may have set in the spring Seek feedback and support from staff that may have left already, are still in high school and remaining in town, or veterans that have made a career with you. Seek also your peers and surrounding areas and find out how things went with them. Debrief with your team and any other members of the aquatic community that use your facilities. Set goals for trying new things and to improve your own experience like new courses, new training, or new opportunities. Take vacations!
Sep 18, 2023 · 34 min
SIP 095: Repeatable Parent Tot Lesson Plan
Why we have a single sheet for repeating parent tot classes. What we used to do: - Follow the lesson plans based on day. - Challenges ○ People missed classes ○ Parents have VERY drastically different abilities, interest, and involvement. ○ New instructors not as familiar. - Have to find which day, which lesson ○ Different ability levels and ages in the classes; why are we resetting for advanced people for the new? What we did: - Used the same lesson plan online using a TV on the deck - Safety and state certification removed the TV from the deck What we're going to do ○ Projector inside against a large white wall ○ Bluetooth music on QR code on the lesson plan Why the repeatable lesson plan works: - Establishes habit - Each activity is narrow and very deep; lots of opportunity to do it in different ways from beginner to master. - Songs still involved - Additional skills.
Sep 10, 2023 · 20 min
SIP 094: Lesson Plans & Swim Instructor Struggles
We review the swim lessons plans found at www.swimminglessonsideas.com and see how our swim instructors use them including their success and struggles.
Oct 25, 2020 · 23 min
SIP 093: Three weeks with COVID-19 group swimming lessons
What has it been like? What is our procedure? How do we teach? Challenges: Getting swimmers moving. Handling difficult swimmers. Coaching and commands. Resilience of children and adaptability. Tools: Lesson plans and TV for website lessons.
Oct 5, 2020 · 22 min
SIP 092: Are you comfortable teaching?
What should you do if you are comfortable? What should you do it if you're not comfortable? Covid-19 and the coronavirus pandemic is real. We just saw this week that the president got infected and foolishly hosted events without face coverings that subsequently infected many other people at a White house event. I know. This is insane. Right? If the white house can't stay safe, how can we expect to remain safe while teaching swimming lessons? We live in a world that requires us to go to work. Aquatic professionals need to bring in revenue. We need to have people taking lessons, using the pool, and participating in our programs. How can we make ourselves feel safer? Set up a system. Wear face coverings the entire time you're coaching or teaching. Space participants apart with a good distance. Have regular airflow across the pool surface and expel it. Limit your exposure. Ask your staff what they're comfortable with. Screen your participants. Require parent involvement. Kick people out that don't follow your rules; be unapologetic about your own safety.
Sep 14, 2020 · 35 min
SIP 091: Swimming Ideas' Levels
Find out what Swimming Ideas Level structure is and why we use it. Learn the nuances of each level and the progression of skills that takes a 3 year old who doesn't like the water to a competitive swim team swimmer. For all the information covered here go to: https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/resources/ Level 1: https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/blog/level-1/ Level 2: https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/blog/level-2/ Level 3: https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/blog/level-3/ Level 4: https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/blog/level-4/
Aug 31, 2020 · 31 min
SIP 090: Teaching Swimming, Method and Delivery
Today is all about the online course, Teaching Swimming, that comes with the companion PDF of the physical book available on Amazon. This training course covers the crucial skills your teachers need to begin having effective instruction. When your staff is confident, in command, and clear they can expand on having fun. We're going to review the basics of each section and give you a brief overview on how to be a better swim instructor.
Aug 24, 2020 · 1 hr 4 min
SIP 089: Safe children that LOVE swimming with Julia Johnson
Teach better Parent Tot, Parent and Infant classes with Julia Johnson. Show notes here: https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/blog/sip-089-safe-children-that-love-swimming-with-julia-johnson/ Julia Johnson grew up in Michigan where she learned to swim during summer swim lessons by going to beaches and pools. She swam competitively in high school and then completed a few aquatrathons, sprint triathlons and a 5k swim in the years after graduation. Julia studied mental health and social work in college and realized that her passion was building mental health through swimming and coaching. Over the last 17 years she has worked for country clubs, community education programs, schools, athletic clubs and finally found her way to the YMCA of Memphis and the Midsouth. During the last 17 years she's been coaching and leading staff, program design, launching new programs, teaching swimmers 3month-adults in their 90s, adaptive lessons, coaching middle school, age group swim team, and masters. Julia is passionate about the physical and mental benefits that evolve from swimming and especially enjoys helping the youngest of our learn to swim participants and their parents. Want more information about Julia? Email her here: julia.johnson@ymcamemphis.org
Aug 17, 2020 · 33 min
SIP 088: Teaching Breaststroke Kick to Beginners
Breaststroke kick is difficult to do. It is an unnatural motion for many swimmers. There will always be that small subsect of people that have learned how to do it on their own and in fact prefer it to the flutter kick motion. I believe these are people that pushed the water in the "breaststroke way" when they were learning and stuck with it because it makes them move. Spent a lot of time watching children swim. For a long time I've been a proponent of "nurture over nature" and that genes are actually an expression of nurture over a longer timeline. Swimmers experience stuff in the water, and they build on what they've felt and experienced. Their swimming is a reflection of their trial and error experiences in the water. We need to replace lots of their habits with better ones through repetition, time, and guidance. Teaching breaststroke kick to beginners is one of the worst things about teaching swimming; its difficult, its hard, its frustrating, and it is the clearest example of a boring struggle to get kids to do something they don't understand, can't feel, and don't like to do. We're going to make it easier. A segment of people have natural breaststroke kick. These are people that have learned intuitively the powerful force breaststroke kick can provide. You won’t really need to “teach” breaststroke kick to them beyond refinement and gliding after each kick. Most people struggle with breaststroke kick. This progression will make it easier. Teaching the breaststroke kick, or the whip kick, is a slog, a long press through swampy struggle that will take significant patience, repetition, and focused feedback and refinement. Do not be discouraged. We’ve made it easier. Begin with “flex.” Want to see the progression and pictures? Get the book online or join the online course: https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/product/teaching-swimming-fun-and-effective-instruction/ Physical print book from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2XVwqQZ
Aug 10, 2020 · 37 min
SIP 087: "How can I improve?"
I feel like one of the best ways to improve my coaching and teaching is to ask myself, "how can I improve?" We tell our swimmers to self-evaluate during their swimming. This is essentially what meditation is. Ask a question: https://anchor.fm/swimmingideas/message Meditation is training your brain to recognize it's doing something you don't want it to do and realigning it to your will. If we're good at meditating, then we're going to be better swimmers if we know what to look for. It is the coach and swim instructor's job to inform and guide the swimmer's thoughts so they can improve their swimming during a practice or lesson. We do this through feedback and attention focusing. There is two components: Knowledge dump. Learn all the things. Exposure Repetition Mastery Guided focus Pay attention to this one thing. Drills that highlight specific elements Do it wrong so you know how to do it right Mantra's, habits, and allowing mistakes. Did that practice go well? Did it meet the objectives I had in place? What should I change? What were the elements that I struggled with? What are elements of it that my participants struggled with? Be brave to admit failures. If we ask our swimmers to fail and be comfortable in it we should be too. Make small changes to adapt to your swimmers. Are you getting upset with the swimmers, the children, in your lessons or practices? Its's your fault. How can you reset to give yourself a chance to evaluate and reorient? Write it down. Make changes live on website. Make your own lesson plans. Give your staff training opportunities to be self aware. Do it wrong. Give them a teaching task, but put limitations on it. Can't say the word "okay" or get swimmers to Streamline without saying streamline. Put a time limit on number of attempts. Build confidence in your staff and yourself by making changes on the fly and allowing freedom in lessons (contradictory to doing things a certain way. Fences with broad leeway inside those fences). What do you do to self evaluate? Questions? Ask a question: https://anchor.fm/swimmingideas/message
Aug 3, 2020 · 40 min
SIP 086: Training Summer Swim Lesson Managers
What are the essential skills you should be teaching your lesson managers? You can find information at https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/resources/ Under the Level Description guides. They details the specific needs of each "level" and what to look out for including guidance for lesson managers. Criteria for an effective swim lesson manager: - Understanding of level structure, essential skills, and how to teach them. ○ How do you hold a child for supported front and back glides § Why is this so important? § Need to enforce and teach others how to do it. ○ Be outgoing and not afraid to give feedback. § Through training § Can still be an introvert and anxious. Must overcome through mentorship and direction ○ Familiar with your program's nuances. - Confident enough in own ability to communicate your programs specifics and procedures to parents. - Mature enough to make safe and rational decisions in a changing environment. Ways you can train your lesson managers. Teaching Swimming Online Course and Wordbook. https://www.swimminglessonsideas.com/courses/teaching-swimming/ Prove mastery. Information dump and gathering. Review the Discussion questions with an Aquatic Professional. (found in the print version and PDF). Have a management training where the aquatic professional directs lesson managers in how to be a leader amongst their peers. - How to run an effective meeting. ○ Have one main speaker. ○ Avoid the "chime in." ○ Be clear with your objective. Stick to the task at hand without tangents. Teens are adults when it comes to learning. ○ Engage as many people at the same time as possible. § Small groups with repetitive training exercises. § Delegate leadership to trusted staff with specific tasks □ Be clear in instruction, and be clear with expected feedback and expected actions. ® "run these scenarios, make sure everyone gets a turn, and ensure that everyone gets a chance to participate and get feedback. Focus specifically on this [one thing]. - How to give effective feedback to your instructors ○ Should you intervene in a lesson? ○ Followup before and after the swim lesson ○ Give training materials. - How to organize swim classes ○ What criteria do you use to group like-level swimmers? ○ Consider location ○ Program specific routines - How to communicate with parents. ○ Lean on your expertise ○ Remind manager that they are experts in this field and parents are not. They paid to send their kids to swim lessons. ○ Talk to parents frequently. Meet them. Introduce self, and follow up during the lesson. ○ Give updates on what their specific swimmer is doing. Avoid generalities. Mentor your managers. Guide and groom them. Check in on them and make sure that they understand you're there to support them and get them to improve. You're both on a team, you're not there to punish them when they fail; which they will. How do you make sure they're doing a good job?
Jul 25, 2020 · 35 min
SIP 084: Why "Challenges" have replaced games.
Intro: What are Challenges? Why have they replaced games? Quicker Individual based apply to broad ability levels tailored for groups sideways learning they are games celebrated success opportunities striving to "challenge" self improves overall swimming Live use Where you can find them Swim Challenges: The new swimming game standard. Practice Components Premium Swim Lesson Plans – Digital Only Developmental Swim Practices for Teams
Jul 25, 2020 · 28 min
SIP 085: Finding Deliberate Practice Opportunities at Swim Lessons and Practices
What can you do at your swim practice and swim lessons to promote Deliberate Practice, and how does mediation teach you to be a better swimmer. What is deliberate practice: https://jamesclear.com/beginners-guide-deliberate-practice " While regular practice might include mindless repetitions, deliberate practice requires focused attention and is conducted with the specific goal of improving performance. From <https://jamesclear.com/beginners-guide-deliberate-practice> The role of Coaching! How the challenge format promotes deliberate practice: they are specific opportunities to train the brain through stimulating "challenge" to accomplish a task using deliberate though to achieve the goal. Carryover into what we're doing. High volume coach interaction. Constant feedback during lessons Getting the format out of the way (use scaffolding or routines). Encourage self guided activities whenever possible.
Jul 6, 2020 · 27 min
SIP 083: Writing swim practices during Covid-19
We're running our swimming during covid in a small 4 lane indoor pool. Fans Open doors 7 at a time 2 in each lane on opposite ends. 1 in the ada staircase lane. 1 coach; now 2 coaches 2 lifeguards Line up outside and walk them in with a coach chaperone They have their own 6 ft distant places for stuff. Come in their suits Come wearing masks Coaches wear masks throughout the practice Write practices in advance on website. Use TV screen with Fire and internet to show. Practice format: Philosophy: Moving Self guided On rest intervals Aerobic conditioning Challenging fun Socializing from a distance Warmup Swim, Kick Challenges End. Walk out a separate exit like a one way street. Repeat hour after hour.

Swimming Ideas Podast

SIP 102: Consistent Dedication to the Mundane

SIP 101: Routine for Developmental Swimming

SIP 100: A plan, a formula, a guide

SIP 099: Preparing for Developmental Season

SIP 098: Create Challenges and Games for Swim Lessons

SIP 097: Training Swim Instructors in person

SIP 096: Finding Motivation after a Summer burn

SIP 095: Repeatable Parent Tot Lesson Plan

SIP 094: Lesson Plans & Swim Instructor Struggles

SIP 093: Three weeks with COVID-19 group swimming lessons

SIP 092: Are you comfortable teaching?

SIP 091: Swimming Ideas' Levels

SIP 090: Teaching Swimming, Method and Delivery

SIP 089: Safe children that LOVE swimming with Julia Johnson

SIP 088: Teaching Breaststroke Kick to Beginners

SIP 087: "How can I improve?"

SIP 086: Training Summer Swim Lesson Managers

SIP 084: Why "Challenges" have replaced games.

SIP 085: Finding Deliberate Practice Opportunities at Swim Lessons and Practices

SIP 083: Writing swim practices during Covid-19