There are many reasons why adults decide to learn how to swim. It may be purely for safety reasons, or perhaps they wish to pass along swimming skills to their children. Adults may also be looking for low-impact sources of exercise, which swimming provides. Adults learning how to swim should pay attention to safety concerns, including wearing a life jacket until there is a degree of swimming ability. Learning to swim as an adult can be daunting, but it can be accomplished with swim lessons.
Skills in the Water
Beginning adult swimmers can start their journey by improving their basic skills of movement in water. These simple exercises also help adult swimmers gain confidence in the water. Adult beginners can practice getting into and out of the water, whether it's a pool, lake, ocean or river. They can submerge their heads and breathe out of their mouths and noses, a skill helpful when swimming. While wearing a life jacket, they can practice swimming motions with their arms and legs, learning the movements that cause their bodies to be propelled through the water.
Basic Movements
Adult beginners can learn basic movements such as dog paddling while wearing a life jacket. They can continue improving their entrance into the water by jumping in. Head bobbing, breathing in while the head is above the water line and exhaling while it is below, helps teach proper breathing while swimming. Using basic dog-paddling techniques, adults can learn to roll over to their back or front while moving in the water.
Strokes
After adult beginners have learned breathing techniques and have become more comfortable in the water, they can advance into learning more advanced strokes. Legs can propel the body forward with a scissor-style kicking motion. At the same time, reaching ahead with alternate arms and cupped hands and pushing the water back teaches how arm strokes are used in swimming. Beginners can practice with life jackets until they have enough confidence to swim with the safety vests.
Improvement and Refinement of Swimming Strokes
Once adults have enough practice to swim short distances without the aid of a life jacket, they can proceed to practice holding their breath and using similar swimming strokes to swim underwater. Adult beginners can improve their strokes by reducing wasted motions that produce splashing and do not help propel the body forward. Adults wishing to learn additional strokes can explore the breast stroke and sidestroke. They can also practice treading water, where the body is in more of an upright position in the water with leg kicks and swirling hand strokes being used to keep the head above water in a stationary position.
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