Falling
and rolling became second
only in the water for a maximum of 15 minutes. T e target is still to reach
national curriculum standard in swimming for an 11 year-old by the age of nine.
He says: “We aim to keep swimming basic in the very early stages. From the age of six, for those who don’t already swim, pupils are pushing off in the shallow end from the side, on their fronts and kicking – sometimes we put fi ns on them. T e arms come later. “T ere is a catch- up lesson on Saturday for those who need it and from the age of eight, the outstanding swimmers will be drawn into a training environment, twice a week after school, and for older ones, there are even early morning sessions, with packed breakfasts eaten together at the pool.” It is little wonder, therefore, that Bute House has produced 11 IAPS national champions but that is again not really the point. T e crucial thing is for all the pupils to be confi dent in the water by the time that they leave and Hunt says that swimming is perfectly complemented as physical education by gymnastics. Time to acquire the basic movement skills in gymnastics must be provided by prep schools, even if this encroaches on the sessions of traditional team games, which should, of course, still feature. However, as Martin Reddin, the Director for Technical and Education at British Gymnastics, says: “T ere are certain development windows for children and if they miss that window, they will be playing catch-up.” Flexibility, balance and agility are best learned when
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nature to the boys so they could be readily transferred to rugby union
young, with attributes such as specifi c technical skills for other sports as well as strength and stamina being able to be acquired later. He emphasises: “Physical literacy must be learned young.”
Reddin cites the example of football with
Oldham Athletic, complaining that too many of their players were not truly two-footed. It was found that this was because many players could not balance on one foot. He gave a demonstration to more than 75 Football Association coaches and Sir Trevor Brooking, the FA’s Director of Development, on teaching the basic gymnastic moves for players in club academies. T ese included moves, such as taking off and landing under control as well as changing direction quickly. T ese attributes would benefi t pupils when they focus on other sports, such as football. Just how gymnastics can benefi t other sports fi rst
came home to me about 12 years ago, when I visited All Hallows Prep School in Somerset. Here, great emphasis was placed on acquiring gymnastic skills and it was explained to me how movements like falling and rolling became second nature to the boys so that they could be readily transferred to rugby union. T ey helped in their movement in the sport. It was an enlightened view and an approach that one would like to see more widely practised.
John Goodbody, the author of an audio book A History of the Olympics (Naxos), will be covering his 12th successive Summer Games in 2012 for T e Sunday Times.
Autumn 2011 FirstEleven 51
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