Master Swim Instructors Keep your voice up, let others get hoarse! The second part

So let’s say you just finished 6 hours of swimming instruction at school. Your throat is a little dry because you ran out of water in the last class. You have a little sore throat but you really feel good.

A master swim instructor should be aware that your vocal cords are just like any other muscle in your body and need a bit of TLC when they are tired. This would be when a swim master would suck on a throat lozenge (not medicated) just some honey and eucalyptus and increase his fluids with regular sips of water or lemon juice.

Instead of cooking that “chili con carne” and drinking that glass of wine tonight, they settle for some lemon juice, macaroni and cheese. A swimming teacher would refrain from yelling at the children and would chase the children to read them the bedtime story, before they themselves went to bed early. Only to wake up in the morning feeling well rested and refreshed with his voice back to normal.

It doesn’t take much; just a couple of changes to push yourself you’re taking care of yourself. An expert swim teacher understands the stresses and strains of our business and respects them accordingly.

Let me add some of my practical swim instructor voice tips that could or should now become best practices for all professional swim instructors.

Ten tips to avoid voice abuse in swimming instructors

1. Limit the amount of “out of class or poolside” conversations.

2. Slow down your speech, pause more often while speaking. In fact, become the listener more.

3. In noisy environments, do not use your voice or tonality at all, switch to large body movements and expressions that communicate.

4. Take sips of room temperature water before, during, and after class.

5. Do more relaxation and exercise to relax tense muscles, definitely get a massage if necessary.

6. Whenever possible, use a microphone or a loud speaker, it is not possible to use “the group” to give feedback and instructions when your students are around,

7. Never speak when you are under emotional stress or harshness.

8. Avoid sugary drinks, alcohol and smoking at the end of the day. Lemon juice, honey, and a bit of ginger are a great alternative and lift my spirits.

9. Use your facial expressions to communicate as much as possible.

10. Always stay in a happy and positive mood and if you need rest, take it. Do not come to work if you are sick or indisposed.

As the owner of a swimming school, he used to be adamant, when the voice of one of the swimming teachers started to ring, he used to give them the mandatory 4 days off. This didn’t make me very popular, but I really wanted to save my swim team from having to go through voice abuse and ultimately throat surgery and the experiences I endured.

If you know someone who can use this knowledge, please, with my blessing, pass it on. Who knows, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have more “master swim teachers, with their voices intact” in the coming years.