High School Swim Team?!?

Don't be nervous! High School swimming can be so fun and a great experience. I personally love it! Lots of kids who really want to try a new sport, try out for swimming so chances are you won't be alone. The best advice I can give you is to maybe go swim a bit at a health club or local pool. Practice! It will be easier for you to work out the hardest parts when no one is watching.

Flip turns take some practice. I used to get really dizzy and lost whenever I tried one. I would practice just doing a somersault in the middle of the lane to get the motion down. Just put your head down and flip yourself over. Its probably easier than you think! After you get comfortable with the motion practice swimming into the wall, flip turning and slowly pushing off. Take it slowly so that you can get the motion down.

For backstroke practice counting your strokes into the wall. Also look up! The ceiling is the best guide you have to where the wall is. Once you hit the flags, count your strokes into the wall. Once you practice this, it will be so much easier.

I really do hope that you try out! Swimming is one of the best sports you can do and you can swim for most of your life. The coaches are there to help. Good luck!

Don't worry! While you are on the team, you will have a coach who is there to help! He/she will teach you the turns, dives, and perfect positioning for every stroke! If you feel that you need extra help, go to practice early and or talk to your coach. And I promise you that you will have time to improve before a meet. Swimming competitively is a great experience, yes it can be frightening, but personally, I think that makes it all the more fun :-)

And also, to throw in a bit of cheesy inspiration, remember that every person that is great at something, started out exactly where you are!

Back stroke help:

1) go slow to the wall, and count your strokes from the flags. That is what the flags are for. When you know how many strokes get you to the wall, go faster, and drop 2 strokes to start your turn. So, if you counted 8, swim faster, and turn at 6. Once you do that a few times, you will figure out whether you need to turn at 5 or 7 or even less.

2) Look up. Most pools have lines above the pool. It may be ceiling tiles, metal work, or paint. when you start out, follow one that is directly above you. You will go straight if you follow a line that is parallel to your lane.

Depending on how big your high school swim team is, you will not get cut and the coaches will help you to improve. Also some more advanced swimmers on your high school team might work with you to help you improve. Good luck. You can do it.

Don't worry, wether your amazing or terrible, the coaches will help you improve. Usually the pool is divided among lanes and each skill group goes into a specific lane. After your first few test sets and test practices they'll place you in the appropriate lane. You'll get a lot better and your going to find that there are a lot of people in your boat as you join the team.

I had the SAME problem... I was VERY slow and I STUNK at swimming but I LOVED the sport and kept trying harder. my friends made fun of me, but I was very determined. I practiced in my neighborhood pool as much as possible. I even went to swim during winter!

it was a challenge but I kept moving forward... Now I double the time of my friends that made jokes about me!... It just depends how determined you are and if you love what you are doing. Your coaches will help you with any problems you may have. Do great and have fun!

Hope this helped!!! :)

Don't worry, most high school teams have a variety of swimmers. Some of the swimmers at my school are pretty good, and others can't even finish one length of the pool.

Spend less time on here and more time in the pool...