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.

@AfternoonTeaAddictsound alike my dd also dyspraxic. She just took forever to get it. We gave up at about 10. She can do a very messy flailing doggy paddle probably about 25m.

i loved her to a SEN class as the other one she was in was so bloody focused on technique she was could never atain it. All I wanted her to do was to be able to swim a few metres - I didn’t really care if she looked messy.

I had lessons as a kid, went every week with school and also on a Saturday with my friends. I've never managed more than half a width. I'm dyslexic and it's definitely a coordination thing with me. Can't ride a bike very well either!

Any scope to do a session of 1:1 lessons to focus on the areas your DD needs to work on?

We did a block of 10 lessons to get DC1 out of the small pool (he was close to 9 😮 had been doing lessons for three years with a covid break though!!) Several years later he is actually a really strong swimmer.

Yes, dd absolutely struggled. We did baby swimming lessons for fun and then started her on proper lessons as soon as she was old enough. She could not swim at all. She made absolutely no progress. We tried many different swim schools. We hit success around age 10 with a private swim school. She finally made a doggy paddle across the length of the pool. We kept her in until she got enough swim strength to save herself if she fell in the water, which was always the minimum goal.

dd has ASD, which we did not know until she was older. That definitely contributed to her problems learning to swim. At this point she can drive a car, but still can’t ride a bicycle. Coordinating all those limbs and balancing is just too much.

Have you tried getting her to lie on a dining room style chair or a pouffe, so her legs are sticking out, and practising her kicks on that? If her feet are at the surface of the water she won't get as much thrust as she would if they were lower in the water, so maybe she needs to work on that?

I would say that we always found most progress occurred on the weekly intensive courses and in 1:1 lessons, which is obvious really. The best thing about the 1:1 lessons is that your child won't be comparing her progress with the other kids and feeling demotivated, but naturally it is much more expensive. But might be worth it as she can rejoin a group class later and feel equal to the other kids' abilities? Or if you feel up to it, could you do the teacher part in sessions outside the class until you've worked out where she's going wrong and helped her sort it?

I have had my daughter in lessons for three years
She makes progress at a tiny, tiny level. She is not good at all. She's 8 and she basically cannot swim.
At one point I paid for double lessons each week for six months.
She's done crash courses.
She currently has 1-1 lessons.
So essentially I feel your pain.

It's interesting a few posters have mentioned their child struggling to swim and also ride a bike. She actually cannot ride a pedal bike despite being a whizz on a balance bike since before 2 and a scooter.

We've already practiced kicking feet in the bath but we can definitely try on a chair if it would help her progress.

Can she ride a bike? Apparently they can be linked

I’ve got a similar aged child who didn’t seem to progress for a while. After doing two weeks of private intensive lessons (daily lessons) last summer, it made a massive difference. Continued with weekly group lessons but with the basics established, they progressed very quickly. Went from Stage 1 to Stage 3 during the intensive lessons and is now (six months later) on Stage 5.

Ah just saw your response, I heard from a swim teacher that often these things click at the same time

From experience, I took my eldest out of swimming class years ago aged 5 after he just mucked around....restarted when he was 9yo and quickly picked it up and was done and dusted with lessons within the year. I have done the same with the other three DC and it is definitely so much easier. My youngest has additional needs so we knew he may take much longer even aged 7 or 8.

Is she learning with the Swim England programme?
If she is, there's your answer.

Every school around here uses the swim England programme. I'm not sure it's the reason she's struggling to move across the pool.

I'd take her out and try her when she's older but would rather try to work through the issue as I'm not sure giving up would be the right approach to help her confidence.

@GreenGoggles
Sounds look you may need to be tougher - games and sinkies aren’t going to get her swimming - is she in armbands?

Not sure what you mean by tougher? When I take her we do some games and then I also get her to do what she would in lessons.

She doesn't wear arm bands.