Teach the backstroke first

1. Teach the backstroke first. Start with a simple method to learn, like the backstroke. This technique relies heavily upon the body's own buoyancy and doesn't require a lot of fancy body movements that take time to perfect. Once your adult student has learned how to float on their back, you can start teaching the arm and leg movements.

   • Ask your student to hold the wall behind their head while they float on their back, then instruct them to flutter kick their legs. This is a great way for them to get used to the motions.
   • Once they feel comfortable with this, they can try flutter kicking while floating away from the wall.
   • Finally, teach them to swing each arm straight back over their head and into the water to complete the backstroke form.
2. 3
   Teach your student the freestyle stroke. This is one of the most common swimming strokes, so it's a great starting point for beginning adult learners. After your student as mastered the flutter kick while hanging onto the wall, begin teaching them the proper breathing techniques. Ask the student to put their face in the water, turn their head to the right and breathe in, turn their head back down and breathe out under water, then turn their head to the left and breathe out. Practice these moves over and over until the student is comfortable.^[8]

   • Next, try adding in the arm motions by teaching the student to flutter kick while bringing one arm over their head into the water at a time. After they have mastered this, you can start syncing the breathing with the arm movements.
3. 4
   Teach a few more basic swimming strokes. You should demonstrate the forms yourself, so that your students have something to work towards. Show them some more basic swimming strokes – that includes the breaststroke, butterfly stroke, sidestroke, and elementary backstroke.^[9]

   • The more comfortable the student gets with these forms, the more confident they will feel in the water.
   • Adults, especially, enjoy structure and form. Learning formulated methods for swimming may help many of them feel more confident and successful. source