Revisiting the metaphorical concept of “No Strokes First - All Strokes First”: Part one: Beginning strokes

Abstract

The aim of this article is to address the familiar question “Which swimming stroke should be taught first?” The discussion is usually focused on breaststroke versus crawl. Provoked by these naïve discussions of which stroke should be taught first (as if stroking equals swimming, which it emphatically does NOT), the question was answered metaphorically in an earlier article “No Stroke First – All Strokes First” (Stallman, 2008a). Here in Part I we identify and describe six strokes, all of which might be a candidate for any learners ‘very first’ stroke. We describe them as beginning strokes. Having identified and learned which one that a learner finds to be their easiest, the learner should then acquire the others. This strategy not only places the learner’s easiest stroke first but adds the other “beginning strokes” and launches an all-around foundation upon which all other strokes can more easily be learned.