Come on in; the water’s fine!

This will be my son’s third year taking swim lessons for the summer months. He is excited and I have watched him grow and gain confidence. The first time he was asked to put his face in the water he was afraid. Now he is diving off the high dive board. When I train I always use this as an example of what is going to happen with their first call.

Naturally the newbie is going to be as nervous on his first call as my son was his first time in the water. His instructor helped him relax and as a trainer I help the newbie relax on the first call. The more role-playing the trainee participates in and the more live calls he gets to monitor the easier it is to become familiar with what is expected. The first time in the water is going to be a little scary as the first time on the phone can be scary as well. The longer that you are in the water the more comfortable you are going to become, just as it is with the more calls you take the more comfortable you are going to become answering the phone.

When it is time to take the first call, I tell the newbies that I am next to them and I am not going to let them drown. I monitor the call and pass answers to them by note, whispers or hand signals I explain that the first time my son went into the water he choked because he did not hold his breath correctly. The newbies too will choke in a sense, as they will stumble through the call. The more confidence that my son gained the easier it was for him to hold his breath. The more calls taken, the more the script is imbedded in the newbies head.

Training is not scary, as I am not going to let anyone drown. I will throw the life preserving suggestions to a newbie to keep them afloat. I am not saying that a newbie will not go under water a few times or lose their breath because they will. However, I am not going to leave them to struggle. It is better for a newbie to lose control sometimes and then gain their strength. This builds confidence in helping “save” them instead of calling for the trainer. The same with my son once we learned that he could get above water without calling for his instructor; it was not a problem for him to go under water. He was happy that if he got into a situation he was able to get of it and it was not as scary to go under. Once a newbie realizes that they may wind up in an unfamiliar situation and reach a solution without seeking help it becomes a lot easier to take that next call with confidence.