I just started with a new instructor -- call her Girl B -- so now I have two instructors per week over four lessons.
I was getting really frustrated with learning under Girl A. I didn't feel like I was improving. I wanted to do things well, slowly and then learn how to do them well, quickly. But because she didn't break anything down, I had to just "keep kicking" as I've mentioned on this board.
This led me to believe my kick was inefficient. I thought that if I could just get it right, the rest would all fall into place.
Enter Girl B. (Okay, that was not meant to be dirty. =))
She has a COMPLETELY different style. First, she's not afraid to touch me or move me physically -- the other girl was hands-off.
Sometimes Girl B is in the pool and sometimes she watches from the sidelines. Girl A was always right next to me so she could never see my overall position.
And best of all, Girl B BREAKS THINGS DOWN with drills and thorough explanations! Amazing!
I was seriously getting ready to _dig into my LIFE SAVINGS_ to pay $125 an hour for a TI Coach because I was so frustrated with Girl A.
Girl B is only $15 an hour and while she might not be a TI coach, she used the word "streamlined body position" within five minutes of meeting her. I knew I had found someone better.
With Girl A, lessons would be like this:
-- Kick across the pool
-- Kick the other way across the pool
-- Kick across the pool with some strokes
-- Kick the other way across the pool with some strokes
-- Get really tired
With Girl B, my first lesson went like this:
-- Her: "Can you float?" Me: "Yes, but my legs sink"
-- Front float drills with her carefully positioning my legs and arms
-- Back float drills with her carefully positioning my legs and arms
-- Recovering from floats -- knees to chest, head forward, feet down
-- "Flips" between front and back float
-- Pushing off the wall on my back and just gliding, streamlined
-- Pushing off the wall on my front and just gliding, streamlined
-- Pushing off the wall on my back, gliding then kicking
-- Pushing off the wall on my back, gliding, kicking ,then flipping to front float and recovering
Because she broke it down so well and she made me so aware of my body position, once we got to doing the kicking, all of my problems had disappeared. My legs were at the top, my body was straight, and I kicked and it just worked. It felt like I was doing it _right_.
And I felt so at home in the water.
Former Member
Alphathree
Ontario lots of rain today.
Some excellent swiming people there. My sister Margaret still teaches swimming in St Catherines , Beamsville, Grimsby area, Her one daughter still teaches in Burlington and the other in Hamilton.
I used to have 4 indoor swimming pools in Ontario before I sold them to other swim instructors. One in Stoney Creek, one in Mississaga, one in St Catarines and one in Kitchener. We had 4000 registrations for 10 lessons courses per pool. All of our teachers taught swimming and had to be in the water with the clients, what I called hands on lessons.
Well the next time you're here, you can give me a few privates. =)
very nice. seems like girl #2 is the one for you. don't forget YOU are also responsible for the progress you're making so make sure you give yourself credit as well, she is just helping you to get there faster.
keep us (me) updated with her drills and coaching style, seems like a very good instructor. and cheap! :)
very nice. seems like girl #2 is the one for you. don't forget YOU are also responsible for the progress you're making so make sure you give yourself credit as well, she is just helping you to get there faster.
keep us (me) updated with her drills and coaching style, seems like a very good instructor. and cheap! :)
I always take responsibility for my own improvement... which is why I found another instructor. =) And it's also why I post here, watch videos, and so on.
Girl B is used to teaching little kids and she has cute little-kid phrases:
Girl B: "Remember, from being like a soldier to being like a rocket" (arms at sides to arms forward)
Me: "Are you going to offer me a chocolate bar too if I do it right?"
Girl A sounds like the typical coach/instructor, stands on the deck writes out the workout and says pick it up the oace. Do drill 1, 2 or 3.
Girl B sounds like you have not a coach but a true instructor who may also be a great coach, even with her little phraes.
Good luck
I always take responsibility for my own improvement... which is why I found another instructor. =) And it's also why I post here, watch videos, and so on.
Girl B is used to teaching little kids and she has cute little-kid phrases:
Girl B: "Remember, from being like a soldier to being like a rocket" (arms at sides to arms forward)
Me: "Are you going to offer me a chocolate bar too if I do it right?"
i wanted to say post pics but then i remembered i'm in the wrong forum for that. :drink: i say screw the chocolate, next time ask her out for patron.
Girl A is very typical of swim lessons instructors who just don't care. I taught swim lessons for many years and we'd always get a few who would come in, were lazy, and just didn't have the desire to teach anything. They'd have the same routine as you described for every session. I felt so bad for those kids.
Girl B is a keeper.
Girl A is unfortunately all too typical, based on observations I've made at many pools and what I've heard from countless students who'd suffered similar frustrations.
This also illustrates the pointlessness of kicking exercises as a core activity in teaching swimming. The body position "discovery" exercises get right to the point of what you need to learn to be comfortable and gain control. Once you do, the other basics of swimming well will come with surprising ease and speed.
Girl B is worth many times what she is charging. By charging $15 per hour she's being kind to you and generous with her time but is devaluing expert swimming instruction. If you went to a golf or tennis pro of similar experience/expertise you'd pay probably 10 times as much. Those are just games. Swimming is an essential life skill.
Few TI coaches charge $125 per hour - those who do are teaching in high cost, high income locations. Tuition for adult lessons at our Swim Studio in New Paltz ranges from $50 to $95 per hour depending on private or semi-private -- and that's in a facility for which we incurred significant debt to open, and in which the time value of instruction is multiplied several times.
I'm in Ontario, Canada and the TI Coach listed at $125/hr was the only one available anywhere near me. I sent her an email, she responded with the rate, I responded with, "Well that's rather steep but I'd be willing to try a few lessons." and then some questions. She never responded back.
But I'm happy with Girl B for now, so it's not a big deal.
Maybe when I'm an experienced swimmer (a few centuries from now) I'll take the TI university and charge less than that for lessons here in Ontario. It's news to me that I live in a high income area, though, when I look at my income as a student! =)
Alphathree
Ontario lots of rain today.
Some excellent swiming people there. My sister Margaret still teaches swimming in St Catherines , Beamsville, Grimsby area, Her one daughter still teaches in Burlington and the other in Hamilton.
I used to have 4 indoor swimming pools in Ontario before I sold them to other swim instructors. One in Stoney Creek, one in Mississaga, one in St Catarines and one in Kitchener. We had 4000 registrations for 10 lessons courses per pool. All of our teachers taught swimming and had to be in the water with the clients, what I called hands on lessons.
