Courtesy: Jukka Shemeikka.
Swimmers mature from young children to adults in the pool and we need a tool to support their growth, performance, and reduce their injuries. Swimming needs a standardized tool to assess athletic development and performance.
We often wonder why a swimmer is not at their best in the water. 87% of swimmers age nine or over sustain an injury and the re-injury rate is in excess of 70%. Injury does not need to be a requirement to be a competitive swimmer.
The Swimming Performance Assessment is a standardized 7-move test specific to swimming, which does not require any equipment and can be performed on deck in less than 5 minutes. It is free to learn the introductory assessment. Any coach, parent, volunteer, or even teammate can be trained to perform the test. Perform the test and see if the athlete’s decrease in performance relates simply to concentration or is truly a stroke problem. If it is a stroke problem, the tester can identify which part of the stroke is faulty.
Most swimmers continue to train despite feeling pain or having their times drop. This tool helps the coach, parent, volunteer or teammate better identify the source of the problem and quickly fix it before the swimmer develops a chronic injury less likely to respond to simple measures.
Many top competitive sports believe injury prevention is key to athlete development, top performance and a long athletic career. This assessment establishes a sport-specific link between dry land and pool training for the entirety of a swimmer’s career.
The Level 1 Swimming Performance Assessment is FREE and is the entry-level assessment, which defines the basic movements and requirements to optimize the swimmer’s training and performance while preventing injuries. The assessment and its instruction can be learned by watching a 20-minute video.
Watch the Level 1 free video here.
