Art of Swimming - November Newsletter

Finish 2022 with a swim

By popular demand, we are delighted to offer two additional workshops this year. On the 27th November Steven will be offering a one day workshop on swimming with more confidence at Champneys Henlow Grange which is a beautiful warm and tranquil pool perfect for this course.

During this workshop Steven will be taking you through the foundational skills to build a more comfortable relationship with the water. This workshop is ideal for anyone who finds breathing with their face in the water challenging and for those who would like to feel more relaxed and comfortable when swimming.

Sustain your front crawl

On the 4th December we have a follow-up front crawl course which is suitable for anyone who feels they have a basic understanding of the front crawl, but finds it difficult to put the whole stroke together and keep going for more than a couple of minutes. The workshop will focus on sustainable and efficient swimming by improving alignment, learning to improve propulsion without putting on undue strain and breathing with ease.

Last workshop dates for 2022

27th November - Shaw Way To Build Confidence in the Water

4th December - Sustain Your Front Crawl

Thank you for all your comments and feedback

Neurodiversity-4-Shaw charity update

As mentioned in previous newsletters, Steven is very excited about his latest project Neurodiversity-4-Shaw. Since our first fundraising event Crawl for Life last Month at Vobster Quay in Somerset we have been working hard in setting up the charity and setting out our plans for the future. With the help of some great supporters we have formed a board of trustees and put together a funding proposal with the aim of organising a 10 week pilot study early next year, which will be offered free of charge to participants. The aim is to gather data and measure outcomes with a view to expanding the programme nationwide later in the year. In the meantime, check out our JustGiving page.  Any donations, however small, would be gratefully received to help us with the cost of the setting up the charity. If you are interested in reading our proposal or have any ideas or suggestions please get in touch.

We are planning a number of exciting events in the new year to build awareness around Neurodiversity-4-Shaw so watch this space and checkout our website.

Groundwork sessions on Zoom

I am proud to say that over the 30 years that I have been teaching the Shaw Method it has evolved hugely, both in terms of how the strokes are swum to promote optimal efficiency, but even more significantly in how the strokes are taught. 

My students often tell me that learning to swim the Shaw way is easy on the body but hard on the brain. This is definitely true, as changing habits requires a great deal of mental effort. For many years I have been promoting land based exercises as a way of reinforcing the work I do in the water. However, I now realise that without what I now call the groundwork, which ideally should be repeated at least every couple of days, it is almost impossible to learn and maintain the Shaw Method strokes. For this reason I have decided to offer groundwork sessions on Zoom to enable students to practice from home. 

For 2023 I will be incorporating groundwork sessions with all my day workshops, one-to-one lessons, and weekly courses. The Zoom sessions will enable students to develop the right sequence of movements under my direction and supervision and enable them to learn more successfully. It will also offer students with the opportunity to ask questions and receive valuable feedback.

Crawl Groundwork

Roll and Reach