Puppy to Crawl
Swimmers who already paddle gradually lengthen the paddle until the arm recovers over the water – a natural route to front crawl.
- Stages
- Stage 3
- Difficulty
- Developing
- Skills
- Forward Travel, Front Crawl
- Equipment
- None, Float
- Age
- 5–99 years
- Group size
- 1–10 swimmers
- Time
- About 5 minutes
- In a lesson
- Skill Development 1, Skill Development 2
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Allow rests at the wall between widths.
What it develops
- Swim about 10 metres on the front
- Show early actions for all four strokes
How to run it
- Swim puppy paddle across the width.
- Next width: make the paddle longer, pushing back to the leg.
- Next: let the hand come out of the water at the leg and swing back to the front.
- Finish with a width of front crawl arms.
Teaching cues
- Longer paddles.
- Push back to your leg.
- Lift out and reach forward.
Make it easier
- Float under the chest.
- Face out for all stages.
Make it harder
- Face in with side breathing on the last width.
- Count strokes to cross – try to use fewer.
Common faults
- Returning to short paddles when tired.
- Stopping the kick.
Corrections
- Shorter distances so technique holds.
- 'Legs keep the engine running.'
Assistant / L1 role
- Swim or walk alongside and call the stage the swimmer should be on: 'puppy', 'long puppy', 'crawl'.