What are you really paying for when you take adult swim lessons?

Each day I interact with people in all walks of life. However, when I meet people in the service industry we often end up talking about how much they are charging, whether it's worth that price, how much time it is taking, and guilt about whether the price is too high. The dishwasher repair man charges more than I do just to arrive at my house, never mind the repair time itself. My rate per lesson hour is less than his to drive to my house. So what is it that my students are paying for?

They are paying for my knowledge. This is information I have learned over more than 40+ years teaching swimming, being a swimmer, coaching kids, reading books about swimming, watching DVDs, listening to CDs, going to conferences, hiring other professionals to teach me their strategies and understanding first hand how fear paralyzes people. I too have had to overcome a terrible fear and it took me a long time so I know how hard it can be to take those first steps and keep moving forward.

Experience matters, believe me it does. Experience is knowledge in action. It's the difference between knowing that being in the water next to the student is much more important to the student than having the teacher walk along the deck with a pole outstretched in case the student needs to grab it. That tells me the teacher doesn't want to get in and get wet and therefore the teacher's needs trump the students. We never do that, believe me. More than that, quite often knowing when not to do something is just as important as knowing when to do it. All that experience is critical. It allows us to work with more precision, better final outcomes, the ability to adjust when necessary, and it can mean the difference between success and failure for the student. 

Time is a currency we spend each and every day. If someone is calling us for our services and they have the knowledge and some experience but no time to implement – time becomes very important in the transaction. It drives me crazy when a student calls for lessons and tells me he/she needs to be able to swim fear free in 5 weeks for a cruise. They want us to be able to determine ahead of time how long it will take them in the water to be comfortable, confident, be able to float for 5 minutes in deep water securely and happily as well as be able to swim free style with correct breathing in 5 weeks. That is not going to happen. However, it is true that we are being hired because we have the time to do the work and that alone is valuable. (Not to mention the knowledge and experience that prompted them to call us in the first place.) It's also true that the cruise goer will have to devote at least 5 days a week for an hour or more for the entire 5 weeks to be able to do some of what they want to accomplish. We can't guarantee it all. 

Value is our last element, but certainly not least. Being able to offer provenexperiences that are worth the price paid shows the value of what we do. We offer testimonials from our students who have overcome their fear, love the water and spend as much time as they can swimming. The smiles on their faces are testimony enough but each of them has had the experience of his/her life and learned how wonderful it is to be able to enjoy the peace and tranquility of the water. 

Then there is the fact that we can save your life, as well as make it more enjoyable. We've taken the tests, done the water work and are willing to use it all; for the cost of half of what the dishwasher repairman charges. I'd say our lessons are really a bargain.