Arab Educational Information Network

The aim of this study is to identify the impact of using instruments of innovative assistance (hanging jacket) in the freestyle teaching for beginners. The empirical research has been used. The research was conducted in summer swimming lessons and included 16 new learners (8-10 years old) divided into two groups (8 each). The homogeneity and parity of the candidates were verified through the age, height and weight variables. Three tests were used to determine the effectiveness of the educational method in the process of teaching freestyle (i) standing in the water for 20 seconds (ii) kicks of the two legs reciprocity and progress in water for 15 meters (iii) swimming for a distance of 15 meters. The first group have used the jackets as assistant instruments, which are worn on the chest and are hanging from the back with rubber ropes attached to an iron roller. Additionally, it has been suspended by a wire that is installed in both sides of the pool and is at a height of 1.5 meters from the surface of the water. The other control group was trained without the instrument of assistance. The study was carried out for eight months consisting of one lesson a week (60 minutes). The using of hanging jackets shows that there are significant improvements in the time of learning freestyle for new learners and this results in decreasing the fear factor. (Published abstract)