Stroke Sampler Warm-Up
An easy warm-up of one width of each stroke with a single focus each – loosens up and lets the teacher see everyone's strokes.
- Stages
- Swimming – Stage 8, Swimming – Stage 9, Swimming – Stage 10
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Skills
- Coordination, Endurance & Pace
- Equipment
- None
- Age
- 8–99 years
- Group size
- 1–20 swimmers
- Time
- About 5 minutes
- In a lesson
- Introduction / Warm-up
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Agree lane direction before starting; swimmers enter the water safely, not by jumping into a busy lane.
What it develops
- Swim continuously with good technique
How to run it
- Swimmers swim easy widths: front crawl (long reach), backstroke (still head), breaststroke (glide), and dolphin kick or butterfly (body wave).
- Repeat the round, adding a streamline off each wall.
- The teacher watches each stroke and notes a focus for later in the lesson.
Teaching cues
- Easy pace.
- One focus per stroke.
- Breathe comfortably.
Make it easier
- Choose any three strokes.
- Rest at each wall.
Make it harder
- Lengths instead of widths, with turns.
Common faults
- Racing the warm-up.
- Skipping the focus point.
Corrections
- 'Warm-up pace – save it for later.'
Assistant / L1 role
- Watch the first width of each stroke for two named swimmers and note one thing for the teacher.