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Lesson 1 of 6
  • All years

Range of skills, alternating strokes front crawl and backstroke, floating

I can swim front crawl and backstroke with my arms recovering over the water.

Lesson 1 of 6
New
New
  • All years

Range of skills, alternating strokes front crawl and backstroke, floating

I can swim front crawl and backstroke with my arms recovering over the water.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Move: quality swimming using a recognised swimming stroke requires balance and control.
  2. Move: recovering your arms over the water enables you to reduce the resistance created by the water.
  3. Think: using a long arm front crawl pull with arms recovering over the water increases distance travelled per arm pull.
  4. Feel: self-motivation enables us to enjoy moving in the water.
  5. Connect: working with peers to provide feedback aids improvement.

Keywords

  • Front crawl - a recognised swimming stroke using alternating arm and leg action on the front, with arms recovering over the water and breathing to the side

  • Backstroke - a recognised swimming stroke using alternating arm and leg action on the back with arms recovering over the water

  • Floating - the ability to stay on the surface of the water without sinking

Common misconception

Moving your arms faster makes you swim faster.

When learning front crawl and backstroke pupils must have opportunity to catch the water and feel the water so that they are able to pull as much water as possible.


To help you plan your all years physical education lesson on: Range of skills, alternating strokes front crawl and backstroke, floating, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Pratice the arm action at school, ideally pratice the action in front of a mirror. Use peer observations to encourage the pupils to identify why some pupils are travelling further off each arm pull when swimming front crawl and backstroke.
Teacher tip

Equipment

mixture of floating objects, large round floating mat

Content guidance

  • Additional qualification required
  • Risk assessment required - physical activity

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Prior knowledge starter quiz

Download quiz pdf

4 Questions

Q1.
Which gas do we need for our muscles when exercising?

Correct answer: oxygen
carbon dioxide
sulphur

Q2.
What should your ankles be like when performing an alternating leg kick?

stiff
still
Correct answer: relaxed

Q3.
What do you call the process of moving air out of the lungs?

inspiring
inhaling
Correct answer: exhaling

Q4.
Where does your face go when doing a push and glide?

backwards
Correct answer: in the water
up

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

4 Questions

Q1.
Why is it important to recover the arms over the water when swimming front crawl?

Correct answer: to reduce resistance
because it's fun
to splash

Q2.
What can you do when getting feedback to improve your performance?

ignore
Correct answer: listen
talk

Q3.
Why is it important to keep the arm close to the ear when the arm recovers over the water when swimming backstroke?

Correct Answer: to maintain balance, maintain balance, balance

Q4.
What does being in a long stretched floating position reduce?

Correct answer: resistance
fear
speed