Skill Drill Swimming Activities for KS3

Students practice three types of active rest techniques during swimming to maintain movement while recovering, learning to rest without stopping completely

Progressive diving practice moving from sitting to crouching to standing positions using a five-step technique sequence for safe, controlled entries

Students learn to accurately measure their resting heart rate and understand cardiovascular response to exercise through guided practice and data collection

Teaching students to accurately measure their own heart rate using manual pulse-taking techniques

Teaching students the essential rules and protocols for safe and efficient lane swimming in shared pool spaces

Focused practice of different stroke-specific kicking techniques (flutter kick, breaststroke kick) with immediate teacher feedback and self-assessment opportunities.

5-minute practice swim where students test their sustainable pace and self-assess effort level on a 1-10 scale to develop pacing awareness

Practicing reaching rescue techniques with clear communication and instruction giving to casualties

Progressive practice of underwater somersault rotation technique in stationary position to build confidence and body control

Students practice perfect streamline position from seated poolside entry, competing to achieve the longest underwater glide distance

Progressive practice of streamline push-offs from the wall, focusing on body position, power generation, and glide distance maximization

Students practice adapting swimming stroke technique to cope with increased resistance, learning to modify stroke length, breathing patterns, and rhythm

Focused practice of smooth transitions between different swimming strokes at the wall

Developing surface diving technique through systematic object recovery from pool bottom

Rotating stations where students explore different swimming training equipment to understand their purposes and benefits

Progressive practice from stationary somersault to complete tumble turn with wall contact, push-off and return to swimming

Progressive practice of simultaneous two-handed wall touches for breaststroke and butterfly turns, starting from controlled approaches

Pairs use tablets to record each other performing a skill (3 attempts), then analyse the video together using specific criteria to provide constructive peer feedback and identify improvement areas

Structured activity teaching students to give and receive constructive feedback using What Went Well (WWW) and Even Better If (EBI) framework