Instructor Guide: Teaching Swimming to Adults and Teens

Foundational Skills: What Every Instructor Needs to Know

Before starting any lesson, it is crucial that instructors are deeply familiar with the basic physical skills of swimming. These foundational elements form the basis of all stroke development and safety.

Streamline: The Most Essential Skill

Streamline is arguably the most essential swim skill, forming the foundation upon which almost all other swimming strokes are built. It teaches efficiency and body control above all else.

When teaching streamline, we are looking for three key components to ensure maximum efficiency:

• Top thumb locked around the bottom hand.
• Ears squeezed by the elbows or bicep muscles (this helps maintain a tight, hydrodynamic profile).
• Face looking at the bottom of the pool (or toward the ceiling when performing backstroke).

Instructors should begin all activities by emphasizing streamline. Our primary goal is to create a habit where swimmers always push off the wall in a perfect streamline position before initiating any stroke.

Why is Streamline So Important?

A swimmer will never be faster than when they either dive in or push off the wall in a streamlined position. It is the most efficient and powerful way to move through the water with the least amount of effort. Most swimming strokes get close to, or actively make use of, the streamline position during the stroke cycle, utilizing the long, narrow body position to its maximum effect.

All strokes are based on a straight body with a long, narrow reach: essentially using streamline as a base for the more complicated limb motions.

Before any other activity, streamline must be practiced. At any point a participant pushes off the wall, our goal is to have that push be a perfect streamline, followed by the swim itself.

We commonly use the following drill structure to indicate the importance of streamline:

Everyone will go 3 times. Streamline first, then do three strokes of freestyle. Your goal is to execute all three components for streamline, and once you're at the surface, attempt to do three strokes keeping your face looking down.

The shorthand version of this drill is:

<strong style="font-size: 1.1em;">3 x streamline + 3 strokes free. Goals: Execute the three components for streamline, and maintain a down-facing head position during the subsequent strokes.</strong>

When teaching the push-off, swimmers should go underwater first (like a dive), then push off the wall horizontally. Generally, we want swimmers to travel at least 3–5 meters away from the wall underwater in streamline before they both a) reach the surface and b) begin swimming with their arms.

To help visualize this, you can use analogies like, "Take the elevator down to the basement before you push off in streamline." This gives a clearer version of sinking down first before pushing off the wall.

Key Takeaway for Instructors

Remember that streamlining is not just a physical action; it's a mental habit. By consistently drilling the push-off and underwater phase, you are building the foundation for speed, efficiency, and confidence in your students, regardless of their age or skill level.