Name
Statue Master
Core Skill
Body position, body control, mimicking
Who
Partners. Best for beginning developmental age group swim teams or any swimmers learning body awareness underwater.
What
Statue Master is an interesting game that at first looks like you are wasting time or doing nothing. We first played this game with our beginning developmental age group swim team using the formula found in the book,How to Create Fun and Effective Swim Games. You can break down learning to swim into its most basic parts. One of those parts is asking participants to mimic what the coach demonstrates. This game practices mimicking body movements and poses. We assume that learning to swim is also about learning to move your body in a very specific pose and motion. If swimmers play games and practice making their body do specific things, then when we ask them to mimic and do swimming specific motions they'll be better able to do them. Statue master is a simple fun game that works on breath control, body poses, body position, and balance.
How
Form partners. One person is the "statue master." The "statue master" goes underwater first and turns into a statue holding any pose. If it is a swimming pose, that is even better.
The partner counts to "two one thousand" not looking at the "statue master" and then goes underwater. The partner then has 3 seconds to match the "statue master's" pose.
This must be done underwater.
If the "statue master's" pose is not exactly mimicked in 3 seconds, then the "statue master" gets a point.
If the partner can mimic the "statue master's" pose, then they get a point.
Partners should take turns switching who is the "statue master" back and forth where everyone goes 3 times each (6 rounds).
We generally only play this game for about 3-5 minutes and use it as a reward at the end of a long practice.
Difficulties Instructors Might Face
Younger swimmers may struggle with holding their breath long enough to observe and mimic the pose. Encourage quick observation and remind them to exhale slowly underwater. Also, ensure partners are not peeking while counting — the element of surprise is key. If swimmers are too competitive, remind them the goal is body control, not winning points.
From my experience the swimmers seemed to really enjoy the game. On repeated opportunities to play children were excited and loudly happy about playing the game again.
Have you played this game? If so, share your experience in the comments or connect on twitter, facebook or email.