2. I. How Habits are Formed
II. Important Habits in Lifeguarding
III. Habits we need to Mix-up in Lifeguarding
IV. Ways to Break the Scanning Habit
I. Your Input/Takeaways
3. Backing out of the Driveway - The 1st Time
Requires a lot of concentration, which involves:
Unlock the car door
Adjust the seat
Put foot on the brake
All while applying slight Mentally estimate distance between the
Remove foot from the brake pressure to the gas garage and the street while keeping
pedal and break wheels aligned and monitoring for
oncoming traffic
12. Other Positive Habits in Lifeguarding
Professional Appearance/Demeanor
Positive customer service
Smiling
Practicing Proactive Behavior
Cleaning!
Others Vital Habits in Lifeguarding?
13. The “Unexpected Car Habit you”
The Scanning behind
When Scanning becomes Habit
It is a routine, automatic behavior – Stimulus Habituation
Stored in Basal Ganglia and no longer involves critical
decision-making skills and active thought processes
Leaves more room for Internal Noise and other Distractions
Critical events in the pool (Body on the Bottom, distressed
swimmer, drowning) is our unexpected car behind us in the
driveway
18. Lifeguard Workshop & Lifeguard Playbook
Routine
Identify cues with Lifeguards:
Drifting off
Cue Reward
Boredom
Anxiety
19. Lifeguard Workshop & Lifeguard Playbook
Brainstorm ideas to change the routine and help lifeguards create new,
improved habits
Discuss strategies they currently use to “Break the Scanning Habit”
Provide new ways they can “Break the Scanning Habit” (examples
coming soon!)
Encourage LIFEGUARDS to come up with ideas that might work for them
Avoid exclusively “One Size Fits All” approach
Tailor to individual/groups of lifeguards!
20. Lifeguard Workshop & Lifeguard Playbook
Create a Lifeguard Playbook with lifeguards of “plays” to break
the habit of scanning when cues arise
21. How Lifeguards can “Break the Scanning Habit”
Use as many SENSES as Possible!
Which is the primary sense used in lifeguarding?
Sight!
Let’s not let the others go to waste!
22. Hearing
Self-talk
Quietly talk/whisper to yourself OUT
LOUD – counting patrons, saying patrons
bathing suit colors, etc.
Talking will help you focus in on the
scanning (helps manage internal noise)
Then, you can also HEAR yourself
Hearing yourself can improve and
reinforce observation skills
23. Hearing – “Other Talk”
Brief interactions with
pool patrons verbally
Are you OK?
24. Smell
Peppermint
Wakes you up!!
Scent in break room
Scent hooked
under chairs
25. TOUCH
Improves stimulation
Strategies developed with Pool Management Group:
Snapping Wristband/Rubber Band
Clapping
Against thighs
Silently
Hands together
Aesthetically pleasing sound to humans
27. What Supervisors can do -
Variations of Dummy Drops/Vigilance Drills
Avoid “Testing for the Test”
Breaking the “Dummy/Silhouette Check” Habit
Don’t want to forget the surface (in addition to
the bottom)!
28. What Supervisors can do -
Variations of Dummy Drops/Vigilance Drills
Variations of BOB –
SOS (Swimmer on the Surface):
Colorful sweatbands:
Wristbands
Headbands
Temporary Tattoos
Baseball gloves
Sports Tape
29. Flow Theory –
Mihály Csíkszentmihályi
Flow - feeling complete energized focus on an activity,
with a high level of enjoyment and fulfillment
“In the Zone”
Optimal for the lifeguard and for their performance
