Proper Freestyle Is Hard!
The proper term for the “Front Crawl” is “Freestyle”. This means something very different than how the term is used in gymnastics. It is important that students learn proper terminology for the skills they are learning. I’ve had plenty of confusing conversations with parents over the years because they use the wrong terminology and we end up talking about very different things. And when I ask a student to demonstrate a skill that I am teaching them I want them to understand what I am asking them to do.
TERMINOLOGY: Therefore, your homework, as their parent/guardian is to help them remember the terms they learn in class by having discussions about lessons. This repetition helps your child learn proper swimming terms, improves communication during class, and speeds up the learning process.
STRETCHES: The number one homework assignment for any student working on FREESTYLE is to do their stretches before class. It would be great if they did their stretches every day. But you do what you can. I know how busy life is.
Trust me…stretches make a HUGE difference in my students ability to learn and execute proper Freestyle technique. And technique is everything when swimming. Every little improvement makes swimming easier and your child will swim faster.
PLANKS: Everything a human does comes from the “core muscles”. My students usually have not heard of “core muscles” even though they use them all the time. I remember as a little kid being told to use my belly muscles to straighten up and lift my booty. I thought that was too hard to do. Then when I finally did it I realized how much easier swimming was and it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. These days kids could do PLANKS at home to practice engaging their core muscles. Planks on the ground are significantly harder than using those same muscles to straighten out in the water. So if your child can do planks, fixing their core form in the water will be super easy and will immediately fix a dozen other problems with their arms, legs and breathing.
BED SWIMMING: Turning ones head to the side is a challenge for students new to this skill. A common recommendation I give parents is to have your child lay on the side of the bed with their arm hanging down on the side they are to breathe. Lay on their stomach with their head to the side (no pillow), just breathing and kicking their feet. That’s it. We want them to get used to keeping their head down when they take a breath.
STACKING CUPS DRILL: If your child struggles to lift their arms out of the water on the return (chicken elbows), get some Speed Stacking Cups. Have them lay on their stomach on the floor and place a stack of cups next to their thigh. Place a single cup or other object next to their chest. Have them move one cup at a time over the object and stack them in front of their head. This will get them to engage their shoulder, back and upper arm muscles. They will start getting used to the motion and build those muscles making the motion easier when they swim.
