Home › Artistic Swimming – Stage 9
Smooth Speed Control
Perform the same movement – a roll, a tuck or an arm shape – at three speeds on the counts, learning to control speed rather than rush.
- Stages
- Artistic Swimming – Stage 9, Artistic Swimming – Stage 10
- Difficulty
- Developing
- Skills
- Body Control, Transitions, Rhythm
- Equipment
- None
- Age
- 8–99 years
- Group size
- 1–16 swimmers
- Time
- About 5 minutes
- In a lesson
- Skill Development 1, Skill Development 2
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Standing depth or confident swimmers only.
What it develops
- Smooth transitions between positions
- Move to counts and rhythm
- Synchronise with a partner or group
How to run it
- Choose one movement, e.g. layout to tuck to layout.
- Do it on eight counts (slow), then four counts (medium), then two counts (quick).
- Discuss which speed was hardest to keep smooth.
- Finish with the slow version, as smooth as possible.
Teaching cues
- Use all the counts.
- Smooth at every speed.
- Slow is harder than fast.
Make it easier
- Two speeds only.
Make it harder
- Partner pairs perform each speed together.
Common faults
- Finishing early on the slow version.
- Splashing on the quick version.
Corrections
- 'Spread it out over all eight counts.'
- 'Quick but quiet.'
Assistant / L1 role
- Count each version at the teacher's tempo and note who finished early on the slow version.