Ask experienced swim coaches what separates a great lesson from a good one, and the answer is rarely “more drills.” It’s focus. In SIP 058: The One Thing, we break down how strong coaches decide what to teach, when to say it, and what to leave out — and why picking the one thing is the highest-leverage decision you make as an instructor.
What “the one thing” actually means
In a 45-minute lesson with four or five swimmers, you can’t work on everything. The one thing is the single cue, skill, or behavior that, if it improves in this lesson, makes everything else easier. It might be “high elbows” for one swimmer, “look forward” for another, and “take one big breath” for a third. Your job as the coach is to decide that before you get in the water — not in the middle of the lesson.
Here’s the test: if a swimmer could only remember one sentence from your lesson, which sentence would you want it to be? That’s the one thing.
Key takeaways from our expert podcasts
The theme running through many of our recent episodes is the power of focus — identifying and honing “the one thing” that will lead to success. The full conversation is in SIP 058: The One Thing. Here are a few key discussions from our guest coaches:
- Episode 057 with Meighan Julbert: “Focus on the 2–3 things totally essential for the swimmer’s success.”
- Episode 055 with Karis Mount: “My coaches focused on the one thing that would make me improve. We were focused.”
- Episode 054 with Jennifer Butler: “When giving feedback, focus on the one thing that will help them the most.”
How to pick the one thing
Effective teaching guidance from USA Swimming boils down to a few repeatable habits:
- One thing at a time. Resist the urge to correct everything you see. Pick the single focus for the skill you’re teaching and protect it for the whole activity.
- Break every move down into “chunks.” A stroke is a sequence of small, teachable pieces. You don’t teach the whole sequence at once — you teach one chunk.
- Aim for perfecting one chunk each practice. Progress compounds when each session nails one piece instead of touching everything a little.
- Make your intent and objective absolutely clear. Tell swimmers exactly what to focus on: “This is your focus, this is your goal.” “When we do this, I want you to think about: X.” Vague cues produce vague results.
Pair focus with strong, direct, immediate feedback
Focus only works if your feedback reinforces it. Strong feedback is direct, immediate, and tied to the one thing you set at the start of the lesson — not a list of everything you noticed. If your feedback drifts, your focus drifts with it. Our guide to giving effective feedback in swim lessons walks through how to structure cues, timing, and praise so they actually land.
Don’t just break bad habits — give new ones
When a swimmer is doing something that doesn’t work, telling them to stop isn’t enough — you have to replace the old pattern with a new one. “Don’t sink your head” leaves them guessing. “Lift your chin and look at the wall” gives them something to do. Every correction should hand the swimmer a new habit, not just take an old one away.
Keep going
- One Thing to Improve Your Swim Instruction: Be Engaging — focus isn’t the only one thing. Engagement is the other half of the equation.
- Swim Feedback Based on Goals: Target Your Praise — how to aim praise at the behavior you want to build.
- SIP 058: The One Thing — the full episode, on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
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