One of the most frustrating things for parents, swim teachers, and swim school owners to deal during Summer Swim Lessons is thunderstorms.  Parents get mad when we cancel, parents get mad when we don’t.  As a parent, I am certainly sympathetic.  I know how hard it is to get my three children in the car, go to the pool, and then have to disappoint them that they can’t swim.

I often encourage parents to take lessons with us in the fall, winter, and spring when thunderstorms are less likely.  Mornings and early evening time slots (before 6PM) prove to be less likely to have storms than the later evening times.  My personal experience over the years is that storms tend to roll in between 6-6:30PM most often, and July seems to be the biggest month for thunderstorms.  If I was a gambler and could win lots of money predicting storms, I think I would head to Las Vegas and retire young.  I am not a gambler, though.  I am a swim teacher.  I am a swim school owner, and my family depends on you taking swimming lessons with us (even in July)—so please don’t stop enrolling!

I have been in this business for over 20 years and I experience it every summer.  There is no full proof solution for the problem, including the weather channel and forecasts and even radar, which are right some of the time and wrong some of the time, and we are looking at them when we are trying to make the right decision.   We recently had to cancel class when there was an isolated storm that hung over just one of our 8 locations, and to make matters worse that happened two nights in a row for the 6:30 class.  According to the local weather the night before, the chance of thunderstorms was 0%!   Then there are days when the weather calls for an 80% chance of storms and we get nothing.  While there are few exceptions, we can only occasionally make a decision to cancel for the night an hour or so before classes start based on the weather forecast.

As teachers and swim schools, we can’t control “mother nature.  Fortunately many summer thunderstorms pass over quickly.  For instance, last night by 7:15 pm the storm that had me cancel my 6 & 6:30 class had passed and I was able to coach my swim team kids without a problem.  That’s why on many evenings it’s better to  take a “wait and see” approach the storms often pass over when it seems like there is no hope.  But there’s no way to know how long.  Sometimes it’s 15-20 minutes, sometimes it’s 45 minutes, others it’s an hour or more.

You can also go to most any summer league swim meet and see similar “wait and see” approaches being taken because these storms do pass, and kids will be all over the deck.   You see this often too at neighborhood and residential pools.   What’s most dangerous is being wet on the deck without shoes and not under cover.   Yet I’ve seen countless pools over the years where guards get kids out of the pool but they’re hanging around the pool in bear feet, sometimes even near the side splashing the water.  This is clearly unsafe.

My research tells me the best thing to do if lightning is near is to seek shelter and clear the pool deck which is what we do.   By the way, as far as I know there has never been a person stuck and killed in an indoor pool. I can’t find statistics specifically on outdoor pools.  According to the National Lightning Safety Institute, lightning studies from NOAA over a 35-year period are not detailed and show only generalized activities or locations of lightning victims as below:

• Open fields/ballparks = 26.8%
• Under trees = 13.7%
• Water related (fishing/boating/swimming) = 8.1%
• Golfing = 3.9%
• Driving machinery = 3.0%
• Telephone-related = 2.4%
• Radios/antennas = 0.7%
• All others/unknown categories = 40.4%

Statistics also show that one’s chances of being struck by lightning are .34 in one million.

Back to what we do as a swim school when it comes to cancellations, thunderstorms, and customer service.

First we have a cancellation hotline set up which is 803-561-0226.  The moment we decide to cancel classes at a given location I announce it on the hotline.  I usually also announce the make up schedule.   On occasion, if we have multiple cancellations, I will refer our parents to our website for the make up schedule.

As far as make-ups and rescheduling, etc., we offer the following options:

1.  A scheduled make-up class at the same time on a designated day of the week, i.e., Friday, which we currently keep open for make-ups.  In fact, in our outdoor locations, we keep Thursday and Friday open because of the likelihood of cancellations.

2.  If that doesn’t work out, our customers can schedule make-ups just prior to the second week or back half of a session once we are done actively registering new students.  I want to always maintain the integrity of the student: teacher ratios and that’s why we’d need to wait until the back half of the session.

3.  Our customers can take a credit that has no expiration date and use it against any future swim class, including the fall and winter when storms are as not likely to occur.

The last thing we want to do is risk anyone’s safety.  Again, this is the reason we send children and parents to their cars at our outdoor locations to take cover.  We don’t allow anyone on the pool deck if there is a storm close

If we cancelled lessons every time there are isolated or scattered storms in the forecast, no one would ever learn to swim.   We would literally lose half the summer.   Fortunately, most of these storms come and go.

Lastly, and maybe most importantly, I want every parent to know this:  YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT, AND I RESPECT WHATEVER DECISION YOU MAKE, WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR CHILD’S SAFETY.  I RESPECT A PARENT’S DECISION 100% if they decide that he/she doesn’t want to put their child back in the water after we determined a storm has passed.  I am always happy to honor a make-up, reschedule, etc.  Any of the alternatives I mentioned above.

I am in the business of water safety and have been my whole life.  It is my passion to make children safer in and around the water.   When we decide to get back in the water because the storm has appeared to have passed, nevertheless, it is still a judgment call, and your judgment for your child is the only one that matters.

But I will leave all my readers at this.   My rule of thumb is to make the same judgment call for my customers as I would for my own children.

As I fly back from the American Swimming Coaches Association SwimAmerica Business Conference in Fort Lauderdale, I thought I would share a few highlights of the weekend:

I was honored to be the opening speaker at the conference, and gave three talks over the course of the weekend. My colleagues Lori Klatt from SwimAmerica Swim School in Fresno, California, and Mick and Sue Nelson, both of who work for United States Swimming in Colorado Springs, CO also gave fabulous presentations.

Sue Nelson, Aquatic Programs Specialist for USA Swimming,  gave a tremendous talk on the Aquatic Pillars, teaching us all a variety of ways we can diversify and generate income from a variety of avenues that we may otherwise not know about, and even if we did, most of us wouldn’t have known how it implement those ideas.  Exceptional information!

Mick Nelson, who is a “Build a Pool” expert and Club Facilities Director for USA Swimming, as well as a long time Swim School owner and ASCA swimming coach—shared invaluable information on building a pool and swim school facility.  In just 90 minutes, I learned more about building a facility than I had even known myself after my own experience of actually building a facility!   What a tremendous resource he can be to anyone looking to build.  His presentation was state-of-the-art and I can’t wait to attend his entire “Build a Pool” Conference Workshop in the near future.

Lori Klatt, a long time customer of mine, dear friend, and extremely knowledgeable swim school owner gave two phenomenal talks.  Lori is an incredible entrepreneur and quite the genius not only in marketing the national SwimAmerica program, but she also has trademarked and developed both TumbleAmerica and DanceAmerica!

I only hope my talks were as informative as my colleagues, as I felt I was able to leave today with so many new ideas and invaluable information.  I shared my ever-evolving philosophy on developing customer loyalty (much of that inspired by Jeffrey Gitomer.  In my second talk I spoke primarily on how to develop Swim Teachers who “Teach Like Pros,” specifically on Demonstrations, Feedback, Choral Responding, Checks for Understanding, and Teaching Cues.  In my last talk, I shared with my fellow swim school owners and teachers what works for me from a business standpoint in a talk called “It’s Time for Your Business to Grow.”  To name a few topics: how I motivate and reward my staff, how we have been successful in our lease arrangements with 6 different hotels, our secrets to getting on the news, and a few others.  My nicest complement came from Lori Klatt, when she asked if she could use my power point with her staff.  Now I have another idea for a new DVD!

MOST IMPORTANTLY–I can’t say enough nice things about the conference attendees.  Without them, there is no conference.  We had a very diverse group of swim teachers and swim school owners, some seasoned, some just starting out, most from the U.S., but a couple other countries were represented.  One was my long time customer Paula Swaby from the Caymen Islands and my new friend Geoffrey Eneas of Dolphin Swimming Club in the Bahamas. I also want to thank my some of my other new friends and customers:  Shannon Hamm of Texas, Kelly Cleary of Virginia, Claudia Obregon, Chris Anderson, and Susan Schwerzel of Florida, and Matthew Spring of New Jersey.

Coach Geoffrey of the Bahamas really made my day when he told me one of my former students, Nicholas Rees, had made the Olympics representing the Bahamas in 2 different Olympic Games.   When Nicholas was age 9 and 10, I trained him during the summer months and gave him countless private lessons while I was running my learn to swim program in California University of PA.  I also remember taking Nicholas to Penn State to a long course meet as well as to University of Tennessee’s Swimming Coach John Trembley’s camp, United Swimming Clinics.   While I realize as well as anyone that Nicholas’s Olympic accomplishment had little to do with me–I am still honored to know that I played a small role in developing his stroke technique and foundation when he was a young boy.  How neat is that?

Speaking of Olympians, here’s a great story.  Brendan Hanson, two-time gold medalist and American Record Holder in the 200 breaststroke is opening up a swim school in Philadelphia, PA and was an attendee at our conference.  As I made my way around the room, meeting and greeting the attendees, I handed Brendan my “Breaststroke 301” DVD and told him, “I heard you are going to need some help teaching this stroke!”   I had the chance to speak with Brendan after the conference and he is quite a fine young man.  Very humble, very personable, very motivated.  Take a look at Brandon’s website, he is doing all the right things.  Keep up the great work Brendan!

Lastly, I would like to publicly thanks Julie Nitti and John Leonard for inviting me to speak and be part of another terrific ASCA SwimAmerica conference!

I would like to end today’s blog with a request from my friend Paula Swaby, and that was share the poem I read to start off my second presentation.  Here it is Paula!

This is the beginning of a new day.

God has given me this day to use as I will.

I can waste it or I can use if for good.

What I can do today is very important because

I’m exchanging a day of my life for it.

When tomorrow comes this day will be gone, forever,

Leaving something in its place I have traded for it.

I want it to be gain, not loss, good, not evil,

Success, not failure, in order that I shall not

forget the price I paid for it.

In addition to membership discounts for your new WABC (World Aquatic Babies & Children Network) membership or membership renewal,  your staff will soon be able to use the Swim Lessons University ONLINE TESTS based on the SLU DVD’s.    For just $10 per teacher, your teachers will be able to take a 25 question test and get a Certificate of Completion endorsed by SLU and WABC.

While your teacher must score 100% pct.  to receive the certificate (multiple choice),  they will not have to retake the entire test.  Instead, the questions they missed will pop up for them to answer again.  Once all the questions are answered correctly, the certificate will appear with their name on the certificate and the authorized signatures of Jim Reiser and Steve Graves.

The “Teach Like a Pro” Certification Test will be available in the next couple weeks with others coming soon, including: Parent and Me, Swim 101,  Swim Strokes 201, Breaststroke 301, and Butterfly 301 all to follow this year.

Feel free to email me with any questions at jreiser@swimprofessor.com

Mark your calendars for April 10^th, 2010 to attend a terrific  one day conference.   The clinic will be held near Washington, DC in Gaithersburg, Maryland and costs just $49.00!

Speakers include

• Jim Reiser, “The Swim Professor” &  founder of Swim Lessons University
• Steve Fenning, Owner of Vero Beach FL SwimAmerica
• Steve Haufler, Head Coach of the Orinda Country Club/Head Coach Orinda Aquatics.

What will you learn  and what is the schedule like?

9:00 – 10:00             Jim Reiser “Teaching Babies Better”

10:15 – 11:15          Steve Fenning “Teaching Beginners Freestyle and Backstroke”

11:30 – 12:30          Steve Haufler “Teaching Butterfly and Breaststroke”

12:30 – 1:30             Lunch Break

1:30 – 2:30               Jim Reiser “Presenting a Water Safety Lesson”

Pool Demonstrations

2:45 – 3:45               Steve Haufler “Teaching of Butterfly and Breaststroke”

4:00 – 5:00               Steve Fenning “Teaching of Freestyle and Backstroke”

Location:  Quince Orchard Swim & Tennis Club, 16601 Roundabout Drive, Gaithersburg, MD  20875.

For more information or to register, call Julie Nitti at 1-800-356-2722!

from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit

How can you teach water safety to children without a having a pool? Here are some ideas and video highlights that will help you get started!

Steps

1. FREE PRIZES. When I am asked to “take the stage” at an event like a Safety Fair or Children’s event at a mall, park, or children’s fair–the first challenge is always getting the kids to the stage. You can answer that challenge quite easily with a handful of free prizes. I usually have some economical goggles, pool toys, etc. and announce . . . “Girls and boys, children of all ages, come on up to the stage for a free water safety presentation. Bring your mom or dad with you too! I have stickers and lots of prizes too! Did you hear that boys and girls . . .free prizes! Come on up now! You’ll gather a crowd of children in a hurry!
2. STICKERS AND BALLOONS! The moment the children come up to the stage, we start putting stickers on the children and handing them helium balloons—all with our logo and contact information, along with a handout of the SAFER KIDS song (which you will use in a few minutes). Everyone loves free stuff and this certainly does the trick to stir up the excitement.
3. START YOUR PRESENTATION WITH QUESTION: Once you’ve gathered your audience. You want to engage them by asking a question. I like to ask, “How many of you are SAFE in the water?” Most of them will raise their hand. Then you really pull them in when you shock them with an animated “NO!” I usually act a little silly so I don’t scare them but stress and hammer home this point: “No one . . . not you, not your mom or dad, not even I am safe in the water!” And I can swim across the lake, I can swim a mile without stopping, and I’m even a swim teacher and a lifeguard—but that doesn’t make me safe. What we can be, you and me, is “safer.” Everyone say that . . . “Saferrrrrrrr.” The “r” in safer stands for “risk.” Where there is water, there is risk. But today, I’m going to teach you how you can be safer by following the Safer 3, a layered approach to water safety (that technical comment is aimed toward the parents but we are going to teach it to the children).
4. TEACH WATER SAFETY WITH A SONG. Continue the presentation by saying, “You have a song sheet with the words to the Safer Kids Song by Jim Reiser. I’m going to teach you that song so you can learn everything you need to know so that you can be safer when you’re in or around the water. Here’s how we’re going to do this: I will sing a verse of the song. Then you will sing that verse with me. Then we’ll talk about what we learned in that verse. Then after we learn each of the verses, we’ll put it all together. Ready, here we go with the first verse (same tune as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star): “Learning to swim is really cool, so you can have fun playing in the pool, but always make sure there’s a grown up watching you, that’s a safety tip that’s oh so true.” After you sing it, you talk about it. I may say, for example, “So you all agree learning to swim is really cool, right?” They say “yes!” “But what was that really important thing we learned in the first verse? To always make sure there’s a?” They all yell “grown up watching you!” So that’s the idea, and from there I move on to the next verse .
5. GIVE MORE PRIZES! In addition to keeping the children engaged during the 20-minute presentation with questions and participating in the singing, I will also throw out prizes, i.e., goggles, toys, t-shirts, temporary tattoos, to the children that answer the questions correctly. This technique really keeps them sitting on the edge of their seat!
6. GIVE CHILDREN HOMEWORK THAT CAN SAVE LIVES! Once I finish teaching the song, I get their attention again: “Now it’s time to give you your homework!” There are two parts two your homework. Part one; this song is my gift to you. Your homework is to practice this song every day until you can sing it without looking at the words. That way I know that you really know the safety rules. Part two . . . I want everyone to close their eyes. Now think of a relative or friend that you really care about (pause). Okay, open your eyes. I want you to teach them the song, just like I taught it to you. Then give your friend your copy of the song as a gift, and give them homework just like I gave you!
7. SHOW CHILDREN HOW THEY CAN SAVE LIVES BY DOING THEIR HOMEWORK. Over the course of the year, I will teach 2000 children the Safer Kids Song and I will give 2000 children this homework. Here’s a math word problem for you. If 2000 children learn this song and do their homework, thus teaching 2000 more children how to be safer in the water, how many children are now safer in the water? “4000!” I continue this example until we get up to 64,000, sometimes even 128,000, and make my point (plus get them to think and work on their math).
8. THANK YOU! Lastly, I enthusiastically thank everyone for coming and tell them I hope to see them in one of our “learn to swim” classes soon!

Video

Watch Swim Lessons University’s Jim Reiser teach a group of 2nd graders using many of the strategies discussed in the above article.

Sources and Citations

• Original Source: www.swimlessonsuniversity.com
• All proceeds from the SAFER KIDS WATER SAFETY BOOK AND DVD are donated to the Swim for Life Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization that teaches the Safer 3 to prevent childhood drownings.

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Teach Children Water Safety Without a Swimming Pool. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How to Teach Group Swimming Lessons

from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Have you ever wondered if there were some simple tips that could help make teaching swimming to small groups (6-12 students) easier? You’re in luck! Here are some teaching strategies that will make teaching easier for you (View our DVD Video on Teaching Group Swim Lessons), and more effective for your students:

Steps

1. Use your voice effectively. If you’re teaching a group, you will have to talk much louder than if you were teaching just a couple children. Make sure not to strain your voice (look up tips for saving your voice), but most importantly keep your commands and instructions short and to the point. The video provides more information on voice techniques.
   • In this example, which would be more effective? A. “Okay class, I want everyone to pay attention and listen closely to my directions.” B. “Oy!” The answer is “example B.” “Oy” means “attention” and is precisely 13 less words than “example A.”
2. Use proximity, touch, and facial expressions to communicate. An example structure could be moving in closer to the student that is not paying attention, putting a hand on their shoulder, and giving them a “look” of disapproval.
3. Use “buzzwords” and cues instead of long or winded instructions. If you’re teaching freestyle side breathing, for example, avoid saying: “Okay, I want you to start turning your head as your pulling hand passes under your body. Then take your breath and start returning your face back into the water as your dominant hand recovers and you begin recovering your other arm.” Instead, say, “Breathe, stroke one, stroke two.” Wasn’t that easy, precise, and to the point? And in just 5 words you communicate your message to the entire group.
4. Maximize practice space and practice time. Give each student a number or a color. For example, go to each child and say, “red group,” next child “blue group,” next child, “red,” next child, “blue, etc.” Since every other child is in an opposite group, you have maximized your space. In large groups, you may even want to go with three groups. In order to maximize practice time, have one group go, and then when that group is 1/2 to 2/3 of the way to the rope or wall, have the other group go. This way you are maximizing practice time and eliminating as much down time as possible.
5. Use a flotation vest for beginners. Nothing is more important than safety and practice time. By using a flotation device (preferably a progressive one), you can increase practice time and keep your beginners safer.
6. Use choral responding techniques. Most swim instructors make the mistake of doing all the talking which is a huge mistake when teaching group lessons from both a learning and behavior standpoint. Instead, give yourself and your students an “edge” be engaging them in the process. For example, let’s say that you want to teach your students the cues/buzzwords for the back kick. Simply state, “say what I say” or “repeat after me:” “Ears in the water,” they repeat, “Tummies up,” they repeat, “Small, fast kicks,” they repeat. Not only are they learning but by involving them in your presentation, you eliminate many behavior issues.

Video

Watch the “Swim Professor” demonstrate a sampling of some of the techniques you just read about above and more!

Sources and Citations

• Original source of article from Swim Lessons University. Shared with permission.

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Teach Group Swimming Lessons. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Watch 7 minutes of sample video from Jim Reiser’s brand new BUTTERFLY 301 DVD!

In Butterfly 301, ” The Swim Professor” shares with swim teachers a new, innovative approach to teaching butterfly to young children, while sharing sound teaching principals throughout the butterfly swim lesson presentation.

You can either click on the link below or paste it in your browser to get an “inside look” at my brand new video!

http://www.swimlessonsuniversity.com/Butterfly-301-DVD-pluBUTTERFLY-301.html

Here is a recent email I received:

Coach Jim,
I don’t know where you find your swim teachers, but I’ve got one thing to say… “Keep up the good work!”

My son Zach has been w/Ms Kali at Still Hopes on the Saturday am class. She has worked the class well to suit his needs.   Due to his autism, sometimes he can have trouble w/things as I am sure you can imagine.  He LOVES the water though, so we wanted to take the opportunity to utilize that to our advantage.

Zach works so hard for Coach Kali & has grown a lot over the last few weeks.  We will all miss swim class until January comes!  It is so awesome as a parent watching him striving for something & be able to acheive it.  I know it would not be possible though, without a dedicated teacher who wants to see my son excel as much as I do. This is Zach’s 2nd class & at both classes he has had wonderful teachers.

I just had to write you & let you know how pleased we are & for you to please give Ms Kali & BIG high-five & a “thank you!”  Please contiue to keep up the GREAT work!!!
– Crystal & John T.

Jim comments:

There is nothing more  rewarding than getting emails like these . . . . but these emails are not an accident.   At The Swim Lessons Company, we don’t find great teachers, we make them!  Yes, we do find good people but that is really the easy part.  The hard part is putting together a staff of teachers who will consistently earn you the testimonials like the one you read above.

HOW DO YOU DO YOU PUT A SUPER STAFF OF SWIM TEACHERS ?
Swim Lessons University was developed to do just that.  In fact,  the DVD video Teaching Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder was instrumental in the comments above on Coach Kali.

Yes, you can find a good water safety instructor here or there.  But if you want to grow your school and create a swim school where you can actually guarantee “learning and laughter,” you can’t expect just to find great swim instructors–you have to make them!  And www.swimlessonsuniversity.com holds the key to your success!

How to Teach Swimming Lessons Like an Expert Swimming Instructor

from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Have you ever wondered how you could teach swimming lessons more effectively? Have you ever wondered how you could teach your swim school staff members to improve their teaching too? In this article, I will share with you 7 Steps to make your swim lessons more effective!

Steps

1. Choral Responding Technique – Have your students repeat back to you the cues or buzzwords you are teaching (there are some great examples in the video attached).
2. Check for Understanding Technique – Create a close-ended question that will require a short response or create a “fill-in-the-blank” like question. This a fantastic way to see if your swim lessons students are understanding exactly what it is that you want them to do.
3. Demonstration Tactics – There are a number of ways to demonstrate a skill. Use swim demonstration tactics like the “right way vs. the wrong way,” incorporate choral responding into your demonstration, and many more (The learn-to-swim DVD “You Can Teach Like a Pro” shows the best ways to demonstrate swim skills to young children).
4. Start Signals – Have you ever been frustrated because you lost control of your class? The answer may lie in something as simple as using good, clear, start signals. If your swim students know what you want them to do and when you want them to do it, your class will run much smoother.
5. Learn to swim Progressions – Have you ever heard the saying, “Practice makes perfect?” Of course you have . . . and it’s nonsense! “Progressive practice makes perfect.” Swim Lessons students have a hard time practicing a swimming skill they don’t have the ability to do yet! But if you, the swim teacher, have swim skill progressions in place so they can learn the new skill in achievable steps, your learn to swim students will have much more success.
6. How do you Correct Your Students? The manner in which you give your swim lessons students feedback can make or break their ability to improve their skills. Not to mention you can hinder learning by hurting their confidence. In the You Can Teach Like a Pro DVD, you will learn 7 different methods of feedback and how to use them. Once again, just click on the video sample in this article and you will a nice sampling of what we are referring to.

Video

Watch this 7 minute video sampling of Jim Reiser’s brand new “YOU CAN TEACH LIKE A PRO” DVD for Swimming Instructors and Water Safety Instructors who would like to improve their teaching! To purchase the entire DVD, go to www.swimlessonsuniversity.com

Tips

• Visit www.swimlessonsuniversity.com

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Teach Swimming Lessons Like an Expert Swimming Instructor. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

You are invited to the upcoming 2010 Swim School Owners Business Conference. It will be held at the Crown Plaza in Sunrise, Florida on February 19 & 20, 2010.

This is a rare opportunity to learn from some of the most prominent people in the learn to swim industry. The conference will feature Jim Reiser of Swim Lessons University, Sue Nelson of United States Swimming, Mick Nelson of United States Swimming, and Lori Klatt, of the American Swim Coaches Association.
Even if you don’t own your own swim school you will receive invaluable information and concepts to bring back to your program. Cost is only $150 for up to 4 attendees, so you can bring some of your staff with you.
To register, call Julie Nitti at 1-800-356-2722 or email Julie at jnitti@swimamerica.org For your convenience, all major credit cards are accepted. Call Julie today!