This comprehensive module is designed for swim facility staff and instructors who need to standardize their teaching of underwater progression. Mastering these skills is crucial for building confidence and safety in your students.
Before diving into the activities, please download our detailed handout which covers all the technical points:
[Download PDF Handout]
Training: Going Underwater – Core Principles
When running this module, remember these key teaching principles:
- Offer excessively multiple opportunities to go underwater: The more chances students get, the better they will internalize the skill.
- Instructor must model the behavior, going underwater first and often (no dry heads!). Coaches must model the behavior they want to see!
- Always push for the next step of the progression, avoiding jumping two steps ahead. Incremental teaching is key.
- Maintain focus on the Incremental Underwater Progression across all 7 steps.
Setting Up Your Training Session
To maximize the learning experience, follow these setup steps:
Small Group Activities
Activity #1: Filibuster Underwater
This activity combines speaking confidence with underwater skill recall. Each person in the group needs to speak without stopping for a full minute. During that minute, the instructor must ask a group member 7 times to go underwater to one of the seven progression steps (chin, lips, nose, etc.). Crucially, ask these questions without waiting for a response, allowing the filibusterer to continue talking.
Bonus Tip for Instructors: Award bonus points to people who work swimming into their filibuster beyond just responding to the underwater request. This keeps them engaged and active!
Example Script: “Do you want to go underwater? Let's go underwater!”
Activity #2: Show and Tell
This activity focuses on physical recall and verbal confirmation. Each person in the group should be in the water. One at a time, they must go underwater to each of the 7 progression steps and shout which one they are doing.
Example Sequence:
Activity #3: Rapid Speech Challenge
This is a quick, fun challenge to test muscle memory and recall speed. Each person in the group has the challenge of saying each of the seven incremental underwater progression steps as fast as possible—aiming for under 3 seconds or 5 seconds.
Execution: One person goes at a time. Another person in the group acts as the timer, saying “Start” and “stop” after the designated time limit.
Review and Debrief
Gather your staff once more to review the key takeaways from the training. This solidifies the learning experience and helps staff members remember the core principles:
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