Making good use of the extra school holidays!

The extension to the school holidays has allowed many of our swimmers to nab extra lessons or to have lots of extra play time in the water, both are wonderful for building and retaining aquatic skills. 

This month we're talking about stop - start progress and the learning plateaus all people experience when learning a new skill.

Our top tips to help your child develop a love and mastery of the water

Time in the water!
You just can't beat time in the water for building confidence, skill and the ability to be "at one" with the water.

Time to process
Learning any new loco motor activity requires time to develop the new motor skills.   Neural pathways from brain to body are built and strengthened as skills are practiced many times over.  
No doubt you have noticed the repetitive nature of learning to swim as kids practice the same skill over and over. 

This is not about looking to make Olympians, at least not in learn to swim!  All this repetitive practice helps to "lock" an efficient skill into to the learner's memory.  An efficient skill means your swimmer will be capable of traveling further through the water while using less energy.  Obviously the further you can move through water before tiring, the higher level of safety.  

Learning Plateau  TAKE PARTS OF THIS THEN PROVIDE LINK TO EBOOK
​When children don’t progress Often students learning a new motor skill like swimming experience a sudden lack of progress after a very strong start. This could be because of something called the ‘learning plateau’. Understanding the causes of a learning plateau, as well as the possible ways in which it can be addressed will help you to assist your students through this difficult and frustrating part of the learning process.

What is a learning plateau? Most of us are very familiar with the use of the term ‘learning curve’ as a description of the way in which people assimilate new information and/or develop new skills. Perhaps less well-known is to describe the time when a learning curve ‘flattens out’ as a learning plateau. This term describes the way in which a period of rapid skill acquisition can be followed by a prolonged ‘dry spell’ during which no discernable progress is visible. Students and their parents often react to a learning plateau with a mixture of surprise, frustration and bewilderment, especially in cases where initial progress was ​particularly rapid. It is important to realise that a levelling-off period could be seen as quite natural when learning a new motor skill like swimming. Swim schools should prepare their parents for the possibility of a learning plateau by explaining why it might happen and by suggesting possible ways to overcome it. You can do this by:  Explaining the nature of learning plateaus  Investigating the possible causes of learning plateaus  Suggesting possible strategies for overcoming learning plateaus Some people prefer to use the term performance plateau rather than learning plateau when referring to the flattening out of the learning curve while gaining new motor skills. They point to the fact that the absence of evidence of learning does not necessarily mean that no learning is taking place. It could just be that progress has temporarily halted while the learner is assimilating new information. This is a valid observation that we would do well to keep in mind.

​Why do learning plateaus occur? Learning plateaus can occur for a variety of reasons, such as:  Psychological, physical and neurological factors  Developmental stages  External factors. 

​Psychological, Physical and Neurological factors Learning a new motor skill like swimming is a complex activity. We should do our best as teachers to familiarise ourselves with some of the ways in which the brain and body respond to the introduction of a new skill and why progress sometimes stall for no apparent reason. Research on this is ongoing but there is wide consensus about the possible role of the following factors:

​Simple versus complex habits: One of the most common explanations for the learning plateau phenomenon relates to the so-called ‘Hierarchy of Habits Hypothesis’. According to this, motor skills are made up of a variety of habits in the form of a hierarchy. Complex habits are placed higher up on the hierarchy and vice versa. For example a child will first need to learn to stay afloat before he/she can begin to master a complex stroke). The hypothesis states that plateaus typically occur while learners are integrating lower habits in order to form the basis of more complex ones. We are all familiar with the child who temporarily looses the ability to kick when we introduce arms. Or who’s arms become ungainly when we introduce side breathing. In this sense a plateau can actually be a positive sign! Strategic shift: Some researchers have concluded that a learning plate

Strategic shift: Some researchers have concluded that a learning plateau represents a kind of ‘transitional phase’ between two phases of acquiring a certain skill. During this period of transition a person is acquiring a new strategy with which he/she will be able to increase the level of performance already achieved. As a result no improvement in performance occurs until the new strategy is successfully implemented. This phenomenon is perhaps most noticeable in young children at the stage when they make the strategic shift of transitioning to side breathing. As ​a 6 teacher you will need to help them through this stage by reminding them of the benefits of adopting the new strategy and of the importance of regular practice as a way to master it.

​Remedial action: Sometimes a learner needs to ‘unlearn’ incorrect responses or bad habits and new learning stops while this happens. As a swim teacher you will often come across habits that were picked up as a result of well meaning parents or unskilled teachers.

​Exhaustion: Overtraining can also be indicated as a possible cause of learning plateaus. If a learner is pushing too hard, physical and mental exhaustion might set in. This can lead to a reduction in his/her ability to master new skills.

​Peaking: It may, sadly, also be that a learning plateau is indicative of a learner reaching the peak of his/her natural ability as far as mastering a specific motor skill is concerned. This should not be too much of an issue when teaching basic swimming skills to children who are otherwise achieving normal developmental milestones. At higher levels (i.e. when coaching students to swim competitively), peaking should always be seen as an ‘explanation of last resort’ and all other methods of overcoming the learning plateau should first be investigated before considering it as the possible source of the plateau.

​Development Factors Keep in mind the basic stages of child development when teaching infants and toddlers to swim. Pushing children to do something that they are physically incapable of doing can be frustrating for all concerned. Two specific things that you need to be on the lookout for are:

​General physical and loco-motor development: Ancient wisdom tells us that people shouldn’t try to run before they can walk. The same principle applies to teaching swimming to very young children! You can’t expect them to give vigorous coordinated kicks in the water if they are not yet able to do it on dry land! Good 7 swim teachers understand the different stages of child development and then tailor their instruction accordingly.

​The effect of growth spurts: During times when children are growing very fast, their bones sometimes grow faster than their muscles and tendons. This can lead to a reduction in suppleness and in a decrease in coordination as the central nervous system takes time to ‘factor in’ all the changes. It goes without saying that progress in learning new motor skills will quite possibly slow down dramatically as these changes occur, especially if it is happening at a very rapid rate. Keep an eye out for the ​effects of growth spurts and then do your best to reassure students that it will pass. 

​External Factors There are several possible reasons for learning plateaus that can be traced back to the teaching and learning environment. It goes without saying that as teachers we should do our best to eliminate these from our training programmes. The most important external factors include

​Ineffective teaching methods: The use of ineffective and/or outdated instructional methods and strategies can sometimes act as a real barrier when it comes to the acquisition of a new skill. Do your best to stay ahead of the curve by using the best possible teaching methods.

​Scheduling: Ineffective scheduling of the introduction of new skills can often leave students overwhelmed, unmotivated and frustrated. Sometimes teachers are so excited by the initial rapid progress that they increase the pace at the very time when it would be better to concentrate on the integration and consolidation or new skills. 

​Ineffective assessment and evaluation: Without regular assessment and a system for tracking progress it is obviously going to be difficult to know which students are progressing and which are not. An effective evaluation systems allows swim schools to monitor progress and take action where necessary

​Lack of practice. Acquiring and assimilating a new skill takes time and practice. Sometimes learning plateaus develop due to learners not practicing the new skill often enough. It might be due to a lack of in-class practice time, lack of self directed practice or a combination of both. Children attending just one lesson per week, or who have irregular attendance often get “stuck” for long periods. Parents should be ​encouraged to increase attendance at these times rather than give up in frustration.

​Personal circumstances. Sometimes a learning plateau is simply due to personal circumstances and attitudes. It could be that the child is fatigued due to other activities, that he/she is losing interest in the skill that is being taught or that there is a general lack of motivation to learn. Teachers need to keep the class fresh and interesting to help keep children motivated.

​Some strategies for helping swimmers move beyond learning plateaus Learning plateaus can have a variety of causes, there’s no ‘catch all’ prescription for dealing successfully with all. The following strategies might help to address some of the more common causes: Prepare the parents: Make new parents aware of the fact that initial progress in learning a new skill might be quite rapid but that there might also come a time where progress becomes very slow or cease completely for a while. Emphasise the fact that you will be there to help them through if this happens. Doing this will greatly reduce the bewilderment and anxiety that often go hand in glove with the onset of a learning plateau. Concentrate on assessment and evaluation: It isn’t too difficult to determine when a student is experiencing a learning plateau. Finding out why can be more complicated. Widen the scope and range of your assessment and evaluation methods in order to be able to accurately determine, and address, the cause of the learning plateaus that you are faced with. Try your best to move beyond 9 generalizations (e.g. ‘He seems to be doing quite well’) towards continually assessing specific areas including: willingness to ‘go under’, breath control, mobility, effective propulsion (strokes and kicking), body position etc. Focus on fun every now and then: Training during learning plateaus can be very tedious and difficult. Remind parents and children of why they took up lessons in the first place by including some appropriate ‘fun activities’ that you are certain they will enjoy in your instruction and training regimes. Simply allowing a bit of time for free play in the water before or after a class can also go some way towards reminding your students that swimming is supposed to be fun! Pay attention to scheduling: Lumping together too much new information is perhaps one of the surest ways to confuse students and can be a major factor in the onset of a learning plateau. Do your best to achieve the ‘holy grail’ of scheduling namely moving fast enough to continue challenging your students yet also moving at a pace that allows them to keep up. Emphasize the importance of practicing new skills. A skill that is not practiced is a skill that will never be completely mastered and a learning plateau can be the result of a lack of practice. It is important that children engage in self directed (i.e. outside of the formal instruction environment) practice as often as possible. You will need to constantly remind students and parents that the limited amount of time that they actually spend in class will not provide nearly enough practice. You could perhaps even ‘do the math’ by showing parents recommended practice times for certain skills and then pointing out how much of that (i.e. very little!) is actually covered in class! Maintain a varied training and instruction programme. One of the techniques that elite athletes use to guard against performance plateaus is called ‘periodisation’. This simply means that they split the year into periods where the focus is placed on different activities (i.e. sharpening skills, developing endurance, competing etc.) the main benefit of this approach is the elimination of the tedium that 10 comes with having to do the same thing day in and day out. It also brings the opportunity of paying focussed attention to certain critical success factors. What works for elite athletes can also work for small children! Varying the focus of your instruction techniques will certainly help students to focus on different development areas. Encourage beneficial ‘dry land’ activities. Not all students have ready access to a swimming pool. However, the vast majority of them will be able to engage in land-based activities that can increase endurance, strength, muscle tone and cardiovascular health. Encouraging students to take part in such activities can therefore help eliminate some of the physical factors that may contribute to the onset of a learning plateau. Land based activities need not be formal in nature, although encouraging older students to take up a bit of running or even weight training will probably be of great benefit to them when they take to the water. Land based activities can also include simple self directed exercises given to students to help them improve on specific motor skills (e.g. kicking) required for success in the pool. Emphasize the importance of rest and recovery: Sometimes older students respond to a learning plateau by attempting to ‘train through it’. This can lead to even more frustration and even injury. The paradoxical truth is that it is sometimes possible to overcome a learning plateau by scaling back rather than vice versa! Training adaptations do not only take place in the pool but also while the body is resting. Depriving your body of sufficient rest and recovery periods can therefore be extremely counterproductive. As a teacher you can ‘model’ the importance of this fact by the way in which you design training regimes and also by continually reminding your students of the importance of allowing their bodies the chance to respond to all the training that they have been doing. Discuss the importance of ‘lifestyle factors’ with your students and their parents: It is sometimes possible to trace the cause of a training plateau back to something as simple as poor diet or not getting enough sleep. This might be a bit difficult to address as ‘playing the nanny’ is obviously not part of your role as a 11 teacher. There can, nonetheless, be no problem with pointing out the way in which healthy lifestyle habits can significantly contribute to optimum performance in the pool. Conclusion Students experience learning plateaus in different ways but most would agree that they can be extremely frustrating. Learning plateaus can also lead to a dip in self confidence, loss of interest and even the eventual withdrawal of a student from a class or training activity. Part of your role as a teacher is therefore not only to do your best to spot the onset of learning plateaus in your students, but also to assist them in their efforts to triumph over them. In doing so you will not only earn their gratitude, you will also taste the satisfaction of seeing that flat line rising again. Perhaps even to places that you would never have thought possible