The Swimming Expert

For many parents having a “swimmer” in the family is not something they planned.  Most swimmers begin in a learn-to-swim program and progress through to advanced lessons. From there they are asked to complete a couple of sessions in a junior squad and before you know it they are entrenched and absorbed by the sport of swimming.  By this stage, parents begin to realise the commitment required by a swimmer to complete the necessary training and competitions offered in the sport.

As a swimmer I had the opportunity to observe my own parents first hand and how they managed me as a swimmer, and how they worked with, and communicated with my coaches.  I was also fortunate enough to be coached by three of the most talented and experienced swimming coaches in the world - Julie Dyring, Bill Sweetenham and Leigh Nugent.

As a coach for more than a dozen years I worked closely with swimmers of all ages and have been directly involved in the introduction of parents to the sport of swimming.

For a swimming parent, understanding the role of the coach, the role the parent is required to undertake, and the responsibilities of a swimmer is critical to ensuring a positive and successful experience for the whole family. Yes, the whole family is affected by having a swimmer in the family and learning how to balance your time and other family member’s needs around the swimming schedule can be a challenge.

Over the years I have observed many parents who are introduced to swimming for the first time when their child is promoted to a junior squad.

For most swimmers who train for competitions, the measurement of their improvement is through performance and parents are encouraged to understand the many different aspects to training and competitions in an effort to provide parents with a more complete understanding of the sport and what a swimmer is experiencing.

One of the aspects I love about swimming is that when swimmers compete, no one else can affect their performance.  They have their own lane and no one can tackle them, bowl them out, hit the ball past them or affect their performance in any way.  It is just the swimmer and the black line.

Children who choose to train and swim competitively learn so many life skills as they become more exposed to the sport.

In general their grades improve at school, their time management skills improve and they learn how to win and how to lose with grace.  They are introduced to goal setting and taking responsibility for themselves.  They are also exposed to the concept that if you work hard on a skill and commit to doing something correctly over and over again, it will improve.

‘Swimming for Parents’ is a vital resource for all swimming parents.  The book, available also as an eBook with instant delivery, is a lifelong project that draws on many of my experiences as a swimmer, coach, swimming administrator and now as a parent of young children who enjoy swimming.

This book has been written to educate parents of junior and teenage swimmers and has sold more than 3000 copies all over the world.

The second edition is now available at www.SwimmingForParents.com.

QUESTION:

Please answer why my grand daughter aged 11 always goes cross while swimming back stroke particularly towards the right?

Thanks RP

ANSWER:

Hi RP,

In backstroke, swimmers are often reliant on the roof or lane ropes to ensure they swim in a straight line.  This is of course very difficult in outdoor pools as they only have the sky to look at.

To swim in a straight line in backstroke it is necessary for both arms to apply the same amount of force on the water as each other.  If one arm pulls through slightly harder or fasterthan the other, then the swimmer will move in a slight sideways direction towards the side that is pulling more strongly.

This is most likely what your grand-daughter is doing – pulling harder with her right hand or getting a better catch on the water on her right side than on her left.

My recommendation is that she practice pulling through the water with the same motion and speed with each arm to reduce crossing to her right.

Regards

Gary

The Swimming Expert

QUESTION:

My daughter is 9 years old and has shown potential for swimming from a young age.  She is very tall for her age, very lean and long (her legs go up to her armpits!!).  She would be described as gangly.

She is having a weekly 1 hour “squad” lesson with a very competent teacher.  Over the last few weeks I feel her skills are deteriorating – she seems to be struggling to get her breathing right with freestyle (when previously it was very reasonable) and her backstroke (which used to be flawless) seems to have deteriorated.

My question is really whether it is common for kids to go backwards before they go forwards?

I realise that one hour a week is probably not enough but it is all we can manage right now.  My aim is for her to be a competent swimmer and to ultimately enjoy swimming, as well as to assist her lung function as she has asthma.  I’m keen to encourage her, however I’m feeling completely frustrated.  Her instructor has told me to persevere as she potentially has the right physique to be a good swimmer.

I look forward to your response and appreciate very much any further suggestions.   We live in Tassie.

Best wishes Kylie

ANSWER:

Hi Kylie,

Often as children grow they will go through periods where they will lose coordination or feel awkward in the water.  This will happen on and off as they grow up, especially between the ages of 9 and 18 years.  So yes, it is common for children to go backwards before they go forwards as they grow and develop, and yes this can be very frustrating for a parent to watch.

When she begins swimming twice a week, which I would recommend she do as soon as possible, you will notice an improvement in her swimming after 8 to 10 weeks and she will become more consistent with her strokes as she develops a better feel of the water.

By the description you give of her body, it sounds look she has some good attributes that will assist her to be a strong swimmer as she gets older.  Be patient as her coordination may take some time to develop but when it does, and she gets some strength into her body she has every chance of being a competent swimmer.

At the risk of self-promotion, may I suggest that you get a copy of the Swimming for Parents book.  You will particularly enjoy the sections on ‘Athlete Development’ and ‘Female Development’.  You can access the book at www.SwimmingForParents.com.

I hope this helps Kylie and let me know if you have any other questions.

Regards Gary

The Swimming Expert

QUESTION:

Hi Gary! I had a question on flip turns.  Whenever I do my flip turns, I seem to run out of breath very quickly–I always have to breathe before the flags after I push off the wall.

How can I go further and should I take a breath right before I flip?

Thank you, Wendy

ANSWER:

Hi Wendy, Many swimmers struggle to hold their breath when they come out of a flip turn.

If you are doing a freestyle turn, I would suggesting breathing on the second last stroke before the turn and then breath again on the second stroke out of the turn.  To get this right, you can practice it going at a moderate speed and just doing one or two fly kicks out of the turn.  Gradually increase the number of fly kicks you do out of the turn until you are going well past the flags.  It is important to hold your breath and blow out air slowly every time you practice a turn as the more often you do this, the better you will get.

When you are doing a backstroke turn, take a breath on the last stroke as you turn onto your front and then hold your breath or blow out slowly as you turn and do your butterfly kicks underwater when you push off on your back.  Once again practicing these turns over and over again and doing them correctly as far underwater as you can will help you to improve greatly over time.

Regards

Gary

The Swimming Expert

QUESTION:

Hi Gary,

How can we improve speed of our arms in backstroke because when we do fast arm movement in backstroke it is difficult for me to coordinate 6 beat kick.

Kindly help me in this regard.

Zahir

ANSWER:

Hi Zahir, I often see backstrokers that fit into one of two categories.

There are those who have an excellent feel of the water but have not yet developed the strength to pull their hands through the water fast.  They often have a very slow stroke rate and some people say that it can look like they are not trying.  Natural growth and development will help these swimmers as well as a focus on increasing their hand speed under the water through each stroke whilst maintaining the strong hold on the water.

Other swimmers may do backstroke with a high stroke rate and their hands move fast above and below the water, however they do not have any feel of the water and are unable to hold the water on their underwater arm pull and tend to slip through the water with their hands.  These swimmers need to focus on improving their feel and hold on the water.

In regards to the coordination of the backstroke arms and leg kick, try kicking upward with your left foot as your right arm enters the water overhead and then complete three kicks so that the 4th kick is when your right foot kicks up as your left hand enters the water.  This way you will do 6 kicks from the time your right hand enters the water up until your right hand enters the water again.  Let me know with a comment below if this helps?

Regards

Gary

The Swimming Expert

QUESTION:

Hi Gary,  I need help with my backstroke flip turn, I normally swim a good backstroke but my problem with this stroke is the flip turn, once I perform it I lose momentum and speed and I end up messing my remaining laps of the set I am doing.

My problem is getting water after I perform the flip turn, I blow bubbles from my nose when I perform the flip turn with no issues but once I am on my back and ready to push off, I get water in my nose and I just can’t continue blowing bubbles and the rest of my transition is affected by this.

I would really appreciate you giving me a good advice for my backstroke flip turn.

Thanks Oscar

ANSWER:

Hi Oscar,

Your problem with water going up your nose as you push off the wall after a backstroke turn is not uncommon.  In fact it was one of the only problems I had when I swam competitively.

I have two possible solutions for you.  The first is to take in a deeper breath as you take the last stroke before the backstroke flip turn and then blow out very slowly, only through your nose, as you do the flip turn and push off.  There should still be a lot of air in your lungs as you begin your dolphin kicks underwater and you can gradually blow air out of your nose a little bit harder as you begin the dolphin kicks.  This takes practice in training and can be very affective as you get better at it.

Secondly, some backstroke swimmers train with a nose clip which ensures that no water gets up your nose when doing a backstroke turn and fly kick underwater on your back.  I tried this for a number of years and while it worked really well in training, I found the nose clip to restrictive for my breathing in a race and subsequently raced without a nose clip and at times ended up with water up my nose!

Regards

Gary

The Swimming Expert

QUESTION

Hi my name is Tito, I’m training to be a lifeguard but my only problems are my endurance due to my asthma and when it’s time to backstroke I have to use a ten pound weight and almost immediately I sink. What am I doing wrong? I try to keep my chest up as high as I can to prevent my head from rising but even that makes me sink.

ANSWER

Hi Tito, Swimming is a great form of exercise for people with asthma so I strongly advise you to keep swimming at least 3 times a week as this will help you tremendously.

In regards to your backstroke, I am not sure if you mean that you literally put a ten pound weight on your body when swimming (because this will make most people sink) or that you are having problems staying high in the water in backstroke.  To stay along the top of the water in backstroke you will need to keep your hips up just below the water level and kick your legs and feet hard so that they also remain just below the water level.

When you are pulling in backstroke, make sure you pull around the side so that you move forward rather than pushing down towards the bottom as this will make you go up and down alot.

Also keep your head back and looking up to the sky or roof as this will help bring the hips and feet upwards.