Swimming Terminology & Vocabulary
I use swimming terminology in lessons. Regardless of what parents or students call various strokes or skills, if they have an official term I will use that term in class. Communication is important in societies. So if you are using the wrong words in a conversation about swimming you will confuse your listener.
But there are some moves that have multiple terms and are fun so I don’t mind learning new fun terms for fun moves in the pool.
I also use other very big words to explain techniques to students. They can learn new vocabulary words while they are learning how to swim. I ask parents to practice these words with their students outside of class as homework to make it easier and faster for students to understand what I’m talking about in class. You don’t have to work ahead with this list. When the word comes up in class naturally I’ll let you know that its a “HOMEWORK” word.
By repeating these words multiple times over several days and playing games with them your child will learn these very impressive words at a young age and amaze your friends and their teachers.
SHALLOW vs. DEEP: I don’t think Sesame Street covers these opposite words. I’ve learned that some of my younger students don’t know what “shallow” means and so they cannot follow my instructions properly.
TENSE vs RELAXED ARMS and LEGS: These are brand new concepts to my young students. Not just the words but being cognizant of using their mind to control their muscles in that way. I also use alternative words to help them understand TENSE = STEEL BAR/METAL POLE. RELAXED = NOODLE
KNEELING: The majority of my student have never heard of kneeling before. I seem to be the first person to teach them that word and how to do it. So that’s something to practice at home.
ARCH YOUR BACK: This skill is needed for floating on the back.
LOCKED ELBOWS/KNEES and SOFT ELBOWS/KNEES: Practice this at home so it’s easier for your child to understand the directions when in swimming lessons. Students need to make their knees soft for jumping and floating and their elbows soft for floating.
PALM OF THE HAND: One only pulls and pushes water with the palm of the hand, never the back of the hand, so students should know where this part of the hand is.
BALLERINA TOES vs FLAT FEET: Proper kicking requires one to move their ankles so their feet are going back and forth between these two positions. For many of my students I am the first person to introduce these words to them. It helps if you practice these words and movements at home if these are new words to your child.
CORE MUSCLES: Have your child do some planks. Have a plank contest with them. Have them swing themselves on a swing so they can see how they use their core muscles to move themselves on the swing. Engaging core muscles in swimming is critical. Younger students do it without realizing it. The sooner they recognize using these muscles in swimming the faster they will progress.
MONKEY TOES: To remind students to always be at the edge of the step or wall before they jump or push off. Super important so that they don’t slip and hurt themselves. Students should grip the edge of the step or pool with their toes.
PANCAKE HANDS: Hands flat, one on top of the other like stacking pancakes. NOT praying hands, not sandwich hands, not clasped hands.
PENCIL ARMS: Arms straight out with elbows locked. Combined with Pancake Hands make Gliding Arms.
REACH AND PULL: For my beginner students to remember to let go of me or the noodle and/or to just move their arms to propel themselves through the water. The “sing song” way of saying it helps them remember to move their arms when they get out on to the water.
UP AND DOWN: A “sing song” mantra for my students learning proper kicking technique.
LONG ARMS - STRONG ARMS aka LONG AND STRONG: A mantra for students to remember to reach as far as they can when swimming Freestyle and to then pull HARD!
LONG LEGS - LITTLE KICKS: A mantra for students to remember to conserve their energy when they are kicking and make every kick count.
LONG ARMS - LONG LEGS: A mantra to remind students to stretch out when they swim and not swim like a little ball or T-Rex.
PERIPHERAL VISION: This is a fun one to see how good their peripheral vision is by seeing how far you can move behind them before they cannot see you any longer. It’s also a very big and impressive word for your child to learn.
SALINITY: I have a salt water pool and your eyes have salt water in them. So salt water doesn’t burn your eyes. Helping your child understand this concept at home will make them more receptive to learning how to swim without goggles (as an option). It’s also another great word to learn and comprehend.
SYMMETRICAL/SYMMETRY: Swimming is about proper form. I am working with your child to get their body working as symmetrically as possible. Spend the day/week looking for examples of things that are and are not symmetrical. Pizza vs a bowl of spaghetti for dinner is a great way to learn about symmetry.
PENDULUM: Show your child various examples of pendulums so they get the concept and can replicate it for proper Freestyle technique.
HOURGLASS: Have your child find examples of things that are hour glass shaped. Have a competition of who can find the most!
POTENTIAL ENERGY: Have Potential Energy competitions to see who can go the furthest when gliding off the wall.
FLAMINGO: The starting position for pushing off a wall to glide and then swim.
BELLYFLOP: Not a skill I teach, but something all my students end up doing because they always lift their heads when diving even though I try very hard to get them not to. They don’t seem to mind and think the word is funny. But they tend to forget the word. Many times they are proud of their bellyflops. I enjoy any time they are proud of their accomplishments.
MEDLEY (Individual or Relay): These are a competitive swim team races. The order of the strokes is always: Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, then Freestyle. The I.M. is the Individual Medley where a single swimmer swims all four strokes. In the Relay Medley four different swimmers swim each stroke.
VERBOSE: “Ms. Kristin is verbose” LOL
