Anyone had a child who struggled to progress in swimming lessons?

[GreenGoggles]

DD started lessons a while ago but is still struggling to progress when it comes to actually moving across the pool.

She has no trouble putting her face in the water, has straight legs kicks up and down as instructed (not like a she's riding a bicycle) but she doesn't actually move across the pool.

It's hard to explain but she's just sorting of stuck in the same place doing all the right things but not actually moving?

I've spoken to the instructor who says she's doing everything right but just needs to kick more to towards the bottom of the pool to gain momentum. Has anyone else's child struggled with actually moving and is there anything I can do to help. It's getting quite disheartening to see her trying so hard and getting nowhere.

How old is she?

6 and a half.

Give her time, she's still young

You need to take her swimming during public sessions, rather than lessons

She'll improve quicker

My son is a swimmer. It’s amazing how many swimmers even of national level have a poor kick. It’s a skill that just needs development.

Is she quite active in other ways? Running or climbing? That will help develop leg muscles. Also teach her to relax her ankles as she kicks her legs. Laying over an exercise ball and practising the motion is a good way to learn.

She’ll get there. Some kids just take longer but at her age they should be focussing on technique rather than speed so if she’s getting the technique right she’s already halfway there!

I have a 6 and a half year old stuck in stage 2. He messes about which doesn't help but I've noticed the teaching style is very different to when dc1 learned and they were far beyond stage 2 at this age. They help the children more and are too scared to let more than one swim at a time which means they spend half the lesson waiting. Dc1s classes used to have two swimming at a time so double the amount of swimming in a lesson and were far more 'go ahead and do it!' rather than 'ooh be careful, I'm here to help'.

Easter holidays we plan to do an intensive course to kick him up to the next stage.

I also think this will help.

DS1 has dyspraxia and he had 5 lots of 20 swimming lessons in a group, plus 10 individual lessons from the ages of about 8-13. It cost me an absolute fortune and he got nowhere. He could not get his feet off the bottom. he could not put his head under the water.

He started 'swimming' when we were on holiday in Cyprus and he just spent hours in the pool playing for a week. He now goes to a special swim session for kids with SEN and he can doggy paddle the length of a 25 metre pool but that's about it. We are working on floating and rteading water right now. He's 16 now.

One of mine was failing to progress at age 5. All the other children were joining the class and moving up after a term or 2. People were saying what a good teacher we had and how their older kids had done well with her.
I took DC out of lessons and left it for a few months before signing up for lessons somewhere else. Child did much better and never looked back

DS 8 and still in beginners class. Has been for about a year now.

We had 1-1 lessons for a week because no one else booked on the course. The teacher said to give lessons up for a while and try again when he was stronger. He was doing everything right, but just gradually sank rather than moving forward.

He was dyspraxic, we found later. It hadn’t been a problem before then. He was about your Dds age.

At that age they really need to be taken to swim once a week in addition to the lessons to make any progress. I made it a non-negotiable and DD progressed swiftly.

I agree with this. I was taken every weekend by my parents and I’m sure that’s the only way I improved.

We did it every Saturday or Sunday and every school holiday too.

Thanks for all the replies. We got at least once a week in addition to the weekly lessons and in half term we've been 5 times plus today's lesson which makes 6 visits to the pool in a week.

She's very active in all other ways and very capable at climbing, she's a little slow when running but nothing too noticeable and is always on the move.

The teacher said to give lessons up for a while and try again when he was stronger. He was doing everything right, but just gradually sank rather than moving forward.

This is interesting how old was your son when she restarted? Most weeks there aren't many in the class. Today just 4 children so she's getting lots of support from the teacher but it sounds very similar to your son. She seems to be doing everything he asks and her technique seems just as good, if not better than some of her classmates but it's exactly as you describe she just does not seem to move forward.

I’d say 6 and a half is still quite young to show an improvement. Worry when she’s older if she hasn’t improved.

When you take her to the pool are you giving her lessons? My eldest didn’t progress and it drove me crackers week after week watching money go down the drain. In the end I watched a few u tube videos and took them myself in addition to the lessons - it wasn’t playtime though - I followed a set lesson plan in the pool with her and gave her a bit of tough love. A nearly 7 year old physical issues aside should be able to swim and make progress

I'm less fussed about the lack of improvement than I am about the fact she's spent months doing it and still can't move herself across the pool whereas everyone else in her class can and she seems to be getting frustrated that she's not actually swimming.

Yes! even tried 1:1 lessons which didn't work either.

But at age 10 he randomly got the hang of things. Then 3 sessions later (a session is one hour), swam 25 metres in one go.

We live by the sea and it worried me silly for years & years!

So my advice is to stop pushing lessons and focus on her being confident with getting her head under water with goggles on. spend your money on weekly family swim sessions and have fun instead. Start lessons again when she's ready!

Yes we do some games and play with sinkies but most of the time when we're in the pool I'm actually trying to teach her stuff she's either done in lessons or that she needs to learn in stage 1 e.g floating.

It sounds like she's not strong enough or lacking technique. Try a different swimming teacher. Can she kick herself across the pool with a float?

So my advice is to stop pushing lessons and focus on her being confident with getting her head under water with goggles on. spend your money on weekly family swim sessions and have fun instead. Start lessons again when she's ready!

I only started lessons because she was annoyed she couldn't swim when we were on holiday in the summer and she wanted to learn. She's super water confident happy to go under, have water on her face and jump in.

I'm just wondering if it's something we can fix or not because overall she genuinely likes going and is determined to learn to swim.

With or without a float she moves a little initially and then no matter how much she kicks she doesn't seem to move. If that makes sense?

I think if she can't even propel herself with the float then it sounds like an issue with how she's kicking. Find a new swimming teacher.

If it's her technique then is that not something her current teacher could work on fixing with her? I would be reluctant to move as I strongly suspect the other groups would have more children so whilst she would have a different teacher overall she'd get less support or time to swim per lesson. I'm not sure which situation is better.

I’d get another teacher. She should be able to kick legs and move with a float.