Unlock Your Potential: The Importance of Stroke Correction in Swimming

Are you tired of feeling like you're not making progress in the pool? Do you want to swim faster, smoother, and with less effort? If so, it's time to dive into the world of stroke correction. In this blog post, we'll explore why stroke correction is crucial for swimmers of all levels and how it can unlock your full swimming potential.

Why Stroke Correction Matters

1. Efficiency: Proper stroke technique allows you to move through the water with less resistance, conserving energy and improving your overall endurance.

2. Speed: By refining your strokes, you can increase your speed and performance in the pool, whether you're a competitive swimmer or just swimming for fitness.

3. Injury Prevention: Correcting flaws in your stroke can help prevent common swimming-related injuries, such as shoulder pain or muscle strain.

4. Confidence: Mastering proper technique boosts your confidence in the water, making every swim session more enjoyable and rewarding.

Common Stroke Corrections

1. Freestyle (Front Crawl): Focus on maintaining a straight body position, proper arm extension, and a steady kick to optimize your freestyle stroke.

2. Backstroke: Work on keeping your body parallel to the water's surface, a consistent arm rotation, and a strong flutter kick for efficient backstroke swimming.

3. Breaststroke: Pay attention to timing your arm and leg movements, keeping your head in line with your body, and maintaining a streamlined glide between strokes.

4. Butterfly: Improve your butterfly stroke by emphasizing a powerful dolphin kick, a strong arm pull with a high elbow position, and a coordinated breathing pattern.

How to Improve Your Stroke Technique

1. Seek Professional Coaching: Enroll in swim lessons or work with a certified swim coach who can provide personalized feedback and guidance on improving your strokes.

2. Video Analysis: Use underwater video analysis tools to identify areas for improvement in your stroke technique and track your progress over time.

3. Practice Consistently: Dedicate regular practice sessions to focus on specific stroke corrections, drills, and technique work to reinforce good habits.

4. Listen to Feedback: Be open to feedback from coaches, peers, and video analyses, and actively work on implementing suggested changes to your strokes.

Conclusion

Stroke correction is not just for elite swimmers—it's a valuable tool for anyone looking to enhance their swimming experience. By addressing and refining your stroke technique, you can swim more efficiently, prevent injuries, boost your confidence, and ultimately enjoy the water to the fullest. So, dive in, embrace the journey of improvement, and unlock your swimming potential through the power of stroke correction.

Essential Tips for Infant Water Safety: A Guide for Parents

As summer approaches and families prepare for fun in the sun, it's crucial to prioritize infant water safety. Whether you're planning a pool day, beach vacation, or simply enjoying time by the water, taking proactive measures can prevent accidents and ensure a safe experience for your little ones.

Here are some essential tips for infant water safety that every parent should know:

1. Supervision is Key: Never leave infants or young children unattended near water, even for a moment. Designate a responsible adult to actively supervise whenever children are in or around water.

2. Secure Pool Barriers: If you have a pool at home, ensure it is surrounded by a secure fence with a self-closing and self-latching gate. This prevents unsupervised access and reduces the risk of accidents.

3. Use Proper Floatation Devices: When near water, infants and young children should wear Coast Guard-approved floatation devices, such as life jackets or swim vests. These should fit properly and be worn consistently.

4. Learn CPR: Parents, caregivers, and anyone supervising children near water should learn CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation). This lifesaving skill can make a critical difference in an emergency.

5. Teach Water Safety Skills: As children grow, teach them basic water safety skills such as floating, treading water, and how to safely exit a pool. Enroll them in swim lessons designed for their age and skill level.

6. Empty and Secure Water Containers: Always empty and secure buckets, wading pools, and other water containers after use. Infants can drown in as little as a few inches of water, so take extra precautions.

7. Stay Vigilant at Public Water Sources: Be extra cautious at public water sources like pools, lakes, and beaches. Watch for potential hazards, follow posted safety rules, and stay within designated swimming areas.

8. Avoid Distractions: When supervising children near water, avoid distractions like phone calls, reading, or socializing. Stay focused on the task of supervision at all times.

9. Know Emergency Procedures: Familiarize yourself with local emergency procedures and contact information. In case of an incident, quick action can be lifesaving.

10. Stay Informed and Updated: Keep up-to-date with the latest recommendations and guidelines for infant water safety from reputable sources such as the American Red Cross or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

By following these essential tips and staying vigilant, parents can create a safer environment for their infants and young children around water. Remember, it only takes a moment for an accident to occur, but with proper precautions, you can enjoy water activities while keeping your little ones safe and sound.

Swim Lessons for children: 4 reasons children should learn to swim

Sign up for children’s swim lessons today

As we are approaching summertime with hot days and visits to the beach,lake or local swimming pool, it becomes even more important to ensure your child has the ability to swim.

According to the CDC, between 2004-2015, The US sees 3,536 unintentional fatal drownings annually. Of which, 1 in 5 victims were children under the age of 14.

Apart from the obvious safety reasons to teach your child to swim, there are other benefits to teaching swimming skills to children. Here are 4 great reasons to enroll your children in swim lessons.

1. Safety

   With formal lessons, children learn how to swim in a safe environment, and are taught swimming strokes and basic water safety techniques like floating and treading water. For kids aged 1 to 4, a U.S. study found that risk of drowning decreased by over 80% if children had taken swimming lessons. If your child will be in or near water, make sure their lessons prepare them to do these basic life-saving skills:

   • Tread water or float for at least 60 seconds.

   • Turn in a circle and be able to locate an exit.

   • Swim at least 25 yards before exiting the water.

   • Pull themselves out of the water without a ladder present.

   • Jump into the water until fully submerged and be able to return to the surface.

   Children should also be coached in common-sense safe behaviors including walking instead of running when near water, only swimming when an adult can supervise, and being aware of weather and environmental conditions.

2. Strength & Fitness

   Learning a swim stroke can help with gross motor skills and basic coordination. Swimming can help a child build all-around muscle strength in arms and legs.  

   Once they learn to swim, a child has a skill that can be used to improve fitness throughout his or her life. Since swimming is a low-impact activity, it puts less stress on joints while providing a wonderful aerobic activity. Swimming can improve both strength and cardiovascular health in one activity.

3. Social development and confidence

   Most swim lessons take place in groups, and as they learn to swim, children are also learning social skills such as observing peers and learning to wait their turn. Another benefit: socialization for water activities, as children learn the difference between acceptable behavior and rough play that might hurt someone else. That distinction teaches children responsibility for their actions. A third factor supporting social development is that children who really enjoy swimming will continue on to activities such as swim teams, in the process developing friendships which may last a long time.

4. Lifelong skills

   Experts suggest that, compared to adults, children have a much easier time of learning to swim. For parents, knowing that their child has strong swimming skills will increase their ability to enjoy time around water.

   When a child is comfortable in the water and swimming successfully, it is truly a rewarding feeling. A parent can feel a sense of satisfaction that they have given their child a tool that will serve them well throughout their life. 

   Before you sign up for swim camps or lessons, do some research to find out more about swim schools near you. You may want to learn about instructor background, class size, teaching style, cost, and the features of their facility, including pool size or temperature.

Source: http://blog.activityhero.com/benefits-swimming-lessons-kids/

Competitive dives - the secret to faster freestyle starts.

In all my years of swimming there was no better feeling than coming up out of a dive and being ahead of the field. You enjoy the benefit of stroking through “clean’ water as well as the adrenaline from being the first one in front. This was not however a skill that came naturally or easy to me, it was something that lacked in my races early on and was developed through guidance and coaching into my high school and collegiate career.

Here are some of the tips that I give to my students to help them achieve that lighting fast and efficient dive needed to get ahead early in a race.

1. Clearing the mind and visualizing the race ahead is vitally important to a great start. By clearing the mind you are making way for the most important movements in the legs and arms to happen. As the buzzer sounds you need to be confident and ready to propel yourself forward off the blocks as fast as possible. Clearing the mind can be increasingly difficult at large meets , with crowds in the stands, tons of other swimmers and music playing in between heats. Find a nice quiet place away from the other swimmers, listen to your favorite track and get focused.

   Follow this link below for a very informative video on how some of the greatest athletes on earth mentally prepare for a race.

2. Move forward not up. One of the most common problems I see when teaching my age group swimmers competitive starts is the tendency to either stand up from the crouched position and then launch the body forward or launch the body “vertical and then out”. The main goal of a start is to get into the water as fast and streamlined as possible. The trajectory of a competitive dive should not be more vertical than it is horizontal. To execute a large “arching” dive has two downfalls: The first, it wastes a lot of time. If you are swimming a sprint event ( 50 or 100 yard distance) the extra .50 seconds that higher arching dive adds to your start could make the difference between making the podium or not. The second downfall is, if you are entering the water at too much of a vertical angle it becomes difficult to achieve an efficient streamline with a fast break out. This needs to practiced over and over again until the perfect angle of entry becomes second nature.

   Here is a link to great video about competitive starts by head coach of the Division 1 Georgia Bulldogs, Jack Bauerle.

3. Water entry, Streamline and breakout. After you have launched yourself explosively off the blocks, the next task is to convert that into an efficient entry, streamline and breakout. The goal of the swimmer is to have the body enter through the same hole in the water. This hole is created first by the hands, followed by the head and the then the rest of the body. When competing in freestyle events a “shallower” dive is required ( move forward not up).

   You have now set yourself up for a great streamline accompanied by some powerful butterfly kicks and an explosive breakout. Here is a link to a great video about the freestyle breakout by Michael Andrew, professional American Swimmer.

Train hard!

Great Podcast with legendary coach Dave Marsh.

Great podcast with Coach David Marsh, Highlighting the huge impact that small incremental changes over time can have on your success in the water.

Please call us to book a private lesson!

4 Reasons Why You Should Learn How To Swim

The reasons why you or your family members should learn how to swim are varied. Presumably, one of the biggest reasons is parents want to know their children are safe near water and have the ability to get themselves out of dangerous situations. But for adults it can often be more about health or taking up new hobbies.

Below are just a few of the reasons why it’s beneficial to learn how to swim.

1.     Great health benefits

Swimming has amazing health benefits for both children and adults. It can improve strength, stamina and flexibility. It offers 12 to 14 percent more resistance training than life on land, offering an exceptionally challenging workout. While for some, swimming in water can be more than just great exercise. It can be ideal for those who are recovering from injuries or even just experiencing joint pain.

2.     New hobbies

Kayaking, scuba diving, surfing, and canoeing are just a few of the hobbies that take place in and on the water. If you are an adult looking to spread your wings and take up new adventures, swimming should definitely one of them. Knowing how to swim can give you the confidence you need to try new things and even meet new people.

3.   Great at any age

With age, we all know our bodies can change, and where you were once spry, you’re a bit slower.  Swimming has longevity and can help with your quality of life as you get older. The CDC says that water exercising helps to decrease disability and aids in the quality of life in older adults. Because swimming is such a low-impact sport (as we mentioned above), this makes it a safe option for older adults.

4.     Safety

According to the National Safe Kids Campaign, drowning is the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death to children ages one through 14. Ensuring that your child knows how to swim at a young age, is the best way to keep them safe. Swim lessons are not only about safety, but a great way to get your kids out of the house and away from their phones and computer screens for a day!

Regardless of your reason for wanting to learn how to swim, we can help!

For more information, contact us today!