For a long time, I had been contemplating learning to swim. Previous attempts at learning the sport were failures. Many times had near-drowning experiences which led to crazy fear of water. This time there was something different. I had made up my mind. I decided to give it a shot once again. I joined swimming in January 2021 and since then there is no looking back.
In the process of learning the beautiful sport. Here are lessons I learned about learning a new skill.
Break things down into small pieces
Learn one thing at a time. Break it down into very small pieces. I joined swimming classes. They had structured it nicely. All this was highly customized based on my needs. If I failed to learn a step. They used to make sure to break it down even further into smaller pieces.
- Step 0 - Getting a feel for the water
- Step 1 - To be on the shallow side. Immerse oneself completely in water. Stay there and again get up.
- Step 2 - To hold the side of the pool. And, try to stay afloat.
- Step 3 - Once I was comfortable holding my breath underwater for a few seconds. The next step was to learn to float.
- Step 4 - Leg movement.
- Step 5 - Learn to roll. From back to front, front to back.
- Step 6 - Hand Movement along with learning to breathe at the right time, leg movement.
- Step 7 - Practice. Practice a lot.
- Step 8 - Learn new techniques.
Deliberate Practice
Keep practicing. Once, you fall in love with the process. Everyday grinding is a humbling experience. There would be good days, there would bad days. By the end of it. It is quite certain that you'll learn.
Give it time
There is no answer to how much time it would take to learn a certain skill. People like certainty, that is why people around sell certainty. There is a swimming channel on YouTube run by swimming coach Michael Nitro. He ends each of his videos by saying:
- Don't get frustrated
- Have Patience
- Make sure to practice
Powerful, isn't it?
Have a Coach
Coaches help in course correction. I did learn basic swimming in a month or two. Swimming is a fairly technical sport. It involves all body parts. There are very small things that need to be done correctly. And, those might go unnoticed. Only someone experienced can course correct you. Improving technique is important. The coach sees you, they help you improve.
- "Your legs are sinking, make sure they don't sink."
- "Try to do bi-lateral breathing?"
- "Don't keep your fingers open, keep the close"
- "Don't drop your elbow"
Coaches can offer you the needed encouragement too. All progress in swimming is hands down because of 2 coaches. While one helped in building the initial confidence and making the basics correct. Another one took it on him to help me improve the technique.
I'm truly blessed in life. To have found the best teachers, mentors, coaches in life almost always at the right time. With swimming after various failed attempts with other swimming coaches. This time finally, it clicked. Yay.
Set clear goals
Post learning, I didn't leave the class. I wanted to continue it forever and improve. The coach helped set clear goals. Every day he defined how many freestyle strokes need to be done? How many breaststroke? How many drills?
After every couple of days, he ensured that I do a little bit more than what I was previously doing.
Progress
While aiming for perfection is nice. It doesn't happen overnight. There is always room for improvement. Keep observing between yesterday and today what did you improve? What is a new thing you were unable to do before but are able to do it now?
Hold yourself Accountable
Having a friend to go with is nice. Every time there won't be friends to go along with. There is also a possibility that friends decide to quit in mid. There has to be something more powerful that keeps you going.
Document the Journey
When chips are down it is easy to forget the wins and give up. Keeping a log of your journey helps you to see days when you made progress.
Consistency
Maintaining some level of consistency helps. Even some days of gap resulted in a decrease in stamina. It takes time to again build up stamina. To see progress there is a need to put in consistent effort.
What I feared most. Has now become an integral part of my lifestyle. I love swimming. When swimming I am mentally at peace. In a very focused state.