Why?

In general...why we do what we do...

Behind the Swimstitute's theories and philosophies on coaching and swimming is over 70 years of combined experience in the sport.

With extensive backgrounds that include significant time spent at different levels of swimming, and seeing it from different points of view: swimming (high school, college, and USS), parenting (summer league, USS), and coaching (summer league, high school, USS), in conjunction with constant learning that includes consulting with other coaches, attending seminars, lots of reading and studying, as well as continuing to work in the water ourselves; the Swimstitute offers unparalleled swimming instruction.

From getting you and your babies comfortable and having fun in the water together in our parent/tot class, to breaking down your stroke piece by piece with our underwater video, we will make you better. From the adult who is terrified of the water, to the competitor who appears to have it all, but needs to drop .05 to qualify, we will make you better. And from the lap swimmer who wants to be more efficient and stop fighting the water, to the seasoned triathlete who is looking for the same, we will make you better.

We have not reinvented the wheel, but with a huge helping of our experience, splashed with the best of the rest, we have developed our own progression of teaching. Following a general progression of safe - comfort - efficient - fast, we will meet your requests.

Swim Coaching/Stroke Refinement

Most people who excel at something, anything, have certain tangible traits in common…excellent mechanics, efficiency, and a good base knowledge. There are also intangible traits such as drive, vision, goals, and "hunger". With the limited amount of time we have with each swimmer (at most a few hours a week), it is difficult for us to have much sway when it comes to the intangible traits, although we will continually strive to have a positive effect and keep nudging the swimmer in the right direction. Our focus clearly will be on the tangible traits such as stroke mechanics and getting as efficient as possible in the water (least resistance), in conjunction with explanations of how we want it done and why we ask them to do it.

In a majority of team settings it is very difficult for the coach to be able to give specific direction to a swimmer, much less follow it up with feedback. The coaches are simply outnumbered. At the Swimstitute, we do all instruction on a much smaller ratio of swimmers to coach, in most cases, 1:1. Athletes progress at different rates, they learn by different methods, and they need different emphasis, etc. Our approach maximizes the potential to deliver what each individual needs to succeed.

As much as most of us enjoy the "team" atmosphere of swimming, the actual race is an individual sport. Even on a relay, it is just one at a time in the water. It is different in a sport such as football, where individual help at refining skills can make a great difference in play, but a great amount of time must be spent on the field with teammates, as they will be interacting and influencing each other constantly during each play. Not so in swimming. Time spent working individually does not contradict time spent with the team, nor does how one swims depend on how another swims (not withstanding the psychology of it all).

Coming from a "yardage" mind set growing up we are all for putting in the mileage to improve your swimming. In fact, we believe that a lot of individual comfort and being able to learn the tiniest facets of what works best for each individual can come from just "swimming". But there are basics that everyone should learn in order to have a good foundation of the sport. If in the end, because of flexiblility (for example), a slightly different angle works for best for you, so be it. But the basic building blocks should be instilled in order for the athlete to even be able to make the choices that work best for them.

One of our goals at the Swimstitute is to teach those basic building blocks. Whatever "yardage" the swimmer puts in at practice should help to instill what has been learned. We believe that at least 95% of what we teach is simply how it should be and can be backed up by the latest studies and knowledge. Up to 5% of what we do, we do because we "feel" it is best. It is the product of over 70 years of experience.

Come and see for yourself the difference some one-on-one attention can make.

Learn to Swim/Private Lessons

Sacramento and the surrounding area offers numerous opportunities to enjoy the water…lakes, rivers, pools, etc. The ability to swim proficiently, or to, at the very least, be safe in the water, makes all those opportunities look much more rewarding. Whether enjoying the neighborhood swim party, fishing, kayaking, camping, boating, etc., swimming not only enhances the activity, it enhances the odds of you coming home.

As mentioned above, "we have not reinvented the wheel, but with a huge helping of our experience, splashed with the best of the rest, we have developed our own progression of teaching. Following a general progression of safe - comfort - efficient - fast, we will meet your requests."

Like everyone else, we had the decision to chose between private and group lessons, or offer both. Group lessons are almost a mandatory decision for many pools because they can accommodate the most people in the shortest amount of time, it "appears" to cost the customer less, and the pool makes more money. From a business standpoint, that seems like it makes good sense. But let's look a little deeper, as we did when we started the Swimstitute...

Since we are in the business of teaching a lifesaving skill, let's look at the process and results. If your child could attend school with one teacher to one student, do you think the results would be different than a classroom setting? Isn't that one of the big complaints and benchmarks about public school...how many children are in each class? We have chosen to answer that with...1. We can work on exactly what that student needs to work on. There is no waiting around for the other students. There is no opportunity for "playing" around with the other students. If there is a class of eight, someone is going to be the best swimmer, someone is going to be the worst. Someone is going to be a little ahead, someone is going to be a little behind. Teaching them all the same thing is not going to work well for the majority of them. At the Swimstitute the swimmer gets face-to-face attention the entire lesson...not just a few minutes when it is his/her turn. It is always his/her turn!

Now let's consider finances. We challenge you to really do the math, taking into consideration all aspects of the equation. Be sure that all variables such as how long the class is, how many students are in it, and the price, are all included in your calculation. Figure out the cost per minute that the student gets face to face time with the instructor. We think you will be surprised.

Lastly, we are more than confident that our instructors are the very best there is to offer. We are very careful about who we hire. Even with all the experience they come to us with, there is constant vigilance in training, correction when needed, and what our expectations are of them. All of our instructors have years of experience, at this writing all are over the age of 21, all are 'Certified Stroke Technicians' by the American Swimming Coaches Association, and many have been coaches as well as instructors.

You will find that not only are private lessons much more productive, successful, and cost efficient, they produce excellent results. The Swimstitute provides unparralleled, year round, indoor private lessons with exceptional instructors.

Come and see for yourselves!

Parent/Tot Lessons

Nursery school in the pool! From ages 9 months to 36 months, toddlers along with an adult join in a class of no more than seven other "couples" for singing, water play and familiarization, as well as learning how to work with your child in the water.

This is generally you and your child's first structured foray into the water. We aim to make it fun, and at the same time, educational. We will try to teach you how to hold and work with your child in the water, so that you can do it without us and help to prepare them for learning to swim in the near future.

This class is meant as the first stepping stone to taking swim lessons. We don't expect anyone to learn to swim in this class. Learning to go underwater without panic, kicking feet, falling into pool into adult arms, float a little, etc., will be what we are after. And bring your singing voice...don't be shy!


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