Swimming Lessons Derbyshire

Posted on January 27, 2011 by bouette

Training Services in Swadlincote

Swimming lessons in Derbyshire.

Just ’round the corner’ or ‘as the crow flies’ you will find me in Swadlincote. I have a private pool where I give people who are phobic of the water the ability to learn to swim by having swimming lessons in my private pool.

I had a deep water phobia  and really understand how a person may feel about getting into the water or, actually allowing the water to take their weight and rely upon it. As far as I was concerned to do that was just as bad as thinking about running into a burning building to try and save someone.

People who have been swimming for as long as they can remember have no idea how we feel. Everyone has an Achilles Heel sometimes it is just a matter of finding the fear that your friends, family have,  so because you are frightened of the water does not make you a wimp, stupid or a kill joy. In fact because you will not go near the water is a very wise thing you are feeling.

How many times have you read in a newspaper, or heard on the news that someone has drowned and that person could swim.

I really feel very sad whenever I mention this case: ” a husband and wife walking by the side of a river with their young baby in a pushchair. The small river was swollen and moving very fast. Their 2 dogs jumped into the moving water and because the two people  were accomplished swimmers they both  jumped into the swollen current to save the dogs.

Now ask yourself? Would YOU do that? NO! Very wise! But the swimmers did because they wanted to save their dogs, and there is nothing wrong with that. Ask yourself, what about your child? I know that as a person who is afraid of the water, your little baby would be your prime concern. You would understand that you may drown.

So do not beat yourself up because you are frightened of the water, because both of these people thought that they were ‘safe’ because they could swim lost their lives.

It is just that our fear is not understood by thousands of people. Rest assured that I have been there and as they say, got the tee shirt, read the book, got the film, got the cd, saw the play, and everything else that you can imagine. I know how you feel.

Contact me (Irene) and I will personally reply to you by email or contact me by phone 07877605292.

Look forward to hearing from you.

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Swimming Lessons In Dublin

Posted on January 25, 2011 by bouette

This blog is aimed at people who want swimming lessons in Ireland


I received quite a few emails from people living in Ireland who would like to have swimming lessons.

My private swimming pool is in Derbyshire and sometimes it is just to difficult for some people to get the time off from works etc. to come along and learn in this area.

I am considering the possiblity of teaching in Dublin at a hotel Regency Hotel..Drumcondra north Dublin, easily accessible to city centre and airport.

I have yet to finalize everything and am wanting to see what response I get from people living in Ireland and keen to take up this offer.

I shall be teaching 2 people at a time using the buddy system

Look forward to hearing from you all!



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Using Balance in Your Swimming Lessons

Posted on January 8, 2011 by steve
swimming lessons

swimming lessons


This article is for people who are thinking about swimming lessons for the first time, and therefore it is important to bear a few things in mind.

You must understand that although the water can hold a person up it will not straighten the body; therefore the correct body posture is vital.

Glide position

In the glide position, which means lying horizontally with your head in the water, slouching in the middle of the body is normal and the water will allow this to happen. This is the reason why it is important to learn the correct posture otherwise the relaxed part of the body will sink and not move forward efficiently.

In a typical working day the middle back area will slouch especially when sitting as the chair is often used to support the spine. Try sitting up straight without that support and the back muscles will begin to ache. When trying this for the first time you may only be able to manage a few seconds before the slouch returns causing the shoulders to bend forwards.

To obtain the correct posture of straightening the muscles that support the spine takes much effort and concentration. Slouching when driving is another habit that a person can get into and it is important to try and correct this habit. Everyone will get older so care and concentration in exercising your core muscles will reflect on your health later in life.

Most swimming instructors will have been swimming since childhood and will have taken a course with the ASA (Amateur Swimming Association) and have been taught the rather out dated swimming techniques in some textbooks. The ASA course is required in order to be able to be a registered swimming instructor. Because many of the instructors simply cannot explain every nuance of the technique, some ‘would be’ swimmers drift away from the courses they have paid for, thinking that they simply were not made to swim. Not so!

The importance of the glide position is the basis to any of the swimming strokes and cannot be emphasised enough. To be able to glide, a swimmer has to understand how the body balances on the water.

This is about swimming with the face in the water and therefore causing no damage to the spine. In this way a person can swim successfully until they are 90! Many people balance using their arms and legs so when they try to swim the breast stroke, this causes them to move their arms and legs too quickly through the water causing them to struggle and waste a large amount of energy. When swimming a 25 metre length incorrectly it can cause the swimmer to use approximately 35-40 strokes. Whereas swimming with the right technique, by correctly balancing, the stroke count can drop considerably to 17-20 strokes. The swimmer can easily swim lap after lap giving them a very good cardio vascular workout.

Where the balance comes from

If previously you have learnt how to ride a bike, ride a horse, ski, dance, or play golf then you will understand that balance is essential. In all aspects of sport this enables the person to get the best out of what they are trying to achieve.

Centre core balance

This is situated the lung area though a little lower down towards the solar plexus. In effect getting the right balance in the water is like a person trying to balance air on the water: two unstable elements therefore the right technique is required.

To understand these techniques imagine there is a ball floating on top of the water and as it has air inside it, the water continues to support it and therefore the ball will continue to bob gently on its surface. As a result the ball is affected by every movement of the water. This is what happens to the human body because of the air in the lungs.

How do you stop a ball from bobbing along on the water? Simply by applying pressure with your hands which gives the ball some stability. Of course you cannot apply the same thing with the human body but when taking swimming lessons you can apply weight to your own buoyancy. Learning how to do this will give you the tools to remain balanced and the stability you need to feel confident with your swimming lessons.

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Dancing, Singing and Swimming.

Posted on December 27, 2010 by bouette

What has Dancing,  Swimming and Singing got in common?

Posture, Breathing and Rhythm!

Dancing


Has anyone reading this watched Strictly Come Dancing?

Have you seen how challenging it is for a celebrity to get their ‘posture’ right?

Breathing correctly enhances the way a person dances too!

Take the boxer Joe Calzaghe (sorry if you reading this Joe). In as much as he has an outstanding career as a boxer,  no one explained to him that leaning forward all the time to box would have a detrimental effect upon his posture.

Whilst Joe was with Strictly, learning the steps and how to dance he always went into the posture that was part of his makeup, leaning forward.  Obviously Kristina tried very hard to help Joe with his posture so that he stood tall as he danced, but what a hard task it must have been for Joe.

I have watched every Strictly show because I am very interested in how celebrities manage to take on board the very elementary thing, walking tall and not looking down towards the floor about 10ft away. It is as if a person is looking for that odd £50 note (used to be a £1 when I was young!) During my time of teaching adult swimming lessons in my private swimming pool to use the water properly not only is the body posture the challenge but also the hands and legs!

Why do I say that?

Adults Learning how to Swim

The golfer: whilst concentrating on becoming streamlined the hands will curl in the water as if her/she is holding a club.

The IT/driver: When stretching forwards to become streamlined will push forward using their wrists making the hand rise up out of the water.

The person always sitting down: will use hips to move legs or push hips out of the water to complete a leg stroke.  The predominant movement is to push the hips backwards to sit down.

The person who sits on 1 leg/leans to one side: when in the glide position the leg they sit on will lie higher in the water causing the kick to be lopsided. Leg that is sat on will kick higher in the water , whereas the other leg will  naturally kick down.

The long distance runner: he/she will always drop their shoulders causing the legs to drop, no matter how hard they streamline their body. When running shoulders are never high. Have as mental picture of a swimmer on the starting block waiting to dive into the water, where are his/her shoulders, high or low?

The weight lifter: the muscles are very toned preventing the would be swimmer to learn how to relax or tense parts of his/her body to cause the streamline effect.

I could go on and on.

The person that swims already, normally from childhood and has a profession that  incorporates these challenges for the would be swimmer, can get away with work related posture………….read on for Singing….

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Singing and Swimming Lessons

Posted on December 27, 2010 by bouette

What has singing got to do with Swimming lessons?

Once again Posture, Breathing and Rhythm!

Posture


When a person learns how to sing one of the things they must master is the posture otherwise they cannot use their diaphragm correctly. As any professional knows, the voice ‘sits’ on the diaphragm giving the singer the control of the voice.
A person who knows anything about singing will NEVER use the throat to push the notes out, this is achieved by using the  diaphragm. Hence the need for good singing posture.
The singing posture is slightly different from swimming posture because knees are very slightly relaxed, whereas in the glide position knees need to be locked to get a very straight leg, but nevertheless whilst learning how to sing, one must also concentrate on more than the voice.
How they portray the song by moving  their hands and the expression on the face is also needed.  With more than one thing to remember, getting it right and being able to concentrate on three or more things at a time is the same as learning how to swim.
In fact I could also use the analogy: learning how to drive.

Breathing and Rhythm

Understanding how to breathe properly whilst singing is also a very big must. Although, when the singer is nervous breathing correctly sometimes goes to pot, this is not what I am talking about. 
Understanding the rhythm of the song, how much breath to take in, whether large or small is crucial to giving a good rendering of a song. 
I have heard many a singer take in a huge breath whilst delivering a beautiful song, causing me to wince, the result: the whole effect is destroyed. Learning how to breathe quietly and understanding how much breath is needed is an art.

When taking swimming lessons understanding the breathing technique is so important otherwise a person can easily hyperventilate.
What I mean by this is, when swimming and not using a lot of energy, people tend to take in gulps of air and so when they go into the recovery expelling the air, there is never enough time to get rid of it all, therefore the person breathes in more air on top of what they have left in the lungs.
If the swimmer keeps on doing this every time they come up or rotate to the side to breathe they will become seriously out of breath. So a good rhythm is needed.
Learning how to breathe when taking swimming lessons should always be the last thing to concentrate on because the only thing that is different between singing and dancing, your face is in the water when swimming.
Swimming efficiently is all about rhythm (I’m not talking about competitive swimming, short distances.)  The long distance swimmer needs rhythm as does the dancer and the singer they all need to understand the breathing, posture and rhythm of their craft.

The results of swimming. dancing and singing? A wonderful feeling of well being that lifts the soul and gets the endorphins released into the body that causes the high of well being. Endorphins can also fight pain,

p.s. once you have got your swimming stroke smooth and you want to get the rhythm right, you can buy a small ticking counter that fits into the swimming cap, this will help your swimming stroke and control of the water.

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