One Tip to Improve Your Swimmers Floating Skills

It seems like there is a fussy floater in every swim class, doesn’t it? No matter if you teach baby & me’s or even the upper-level classes, there always seems to be one or two swimmers who could be better floaters.

Floating is a crucial part of every swimmers development yet swimmers often hating learning to float and, as a result, teachers often don’t enjoy teaching this important lesson.

So, how can you improve your swimmers floating? While there is no magic trick to instantly improve every swimmers ability to float, I have one tip that will relax swimmers who are resistant to floating. I use this tip in my own classes and also cover this in my teacher trainings: Revisit soft-under’s.

Soft-under’s is an exercise consisting of gently having your swimmer go underwater with limited arm and leg movement. This exercise is meant to calm your swimmer and help them feel the natural buoyancy of the water.

To successfully complete this exercise gently hold your swimmer under their arms and count to three in a calm, reassuring manner. This eases their fears, prepares them for what they are about to do and also ensures they inhale enough air before going underwater.

As they go underneath the water watch that they are blowing soft bubbles and gently move them in a swaying motion as they resurface. They should be under the water for roughly 3–4 seconds.

How does this exercise affect their floating? Soft-under’s forces swimmers to relax their body enough to then float with greater ease, decreasing resistance. Once you have completed this exercise 3 or so times, revisit floating and see how they react.

You want your swimmer to keep their arms outstretched, belly to the sky and ears in the water with minimal fuss.

Follow these tips and let me know how it works for your fussy floaters!

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