Kids swim crash courses

[focuspocus]

My DS 9 is very behind on swimming. Not comfortable in the water at all, has been having weekly lessons for a few years and is still in the second stage. He's very tall for his age and the other kids in his class are all far younger and half his height. I'm feeling bad for him but want to persevere so that he becomes a stronger swimmer and more confident in the water but won't make him go all the way though the stages.

There are crash courses available in the summer holidays which are an hour every day for a week Mon- Fri. There is one crash course at this stage each week for 5 weeks. 9 kids can be enrolled in each course.

Would it be unreasonable to book him on more than one of these over the summer holidays?

How about every other week so he isn't doing something he doesn't like all through the holidays. I agree that swimming skills are very important though. I was never proficient in the water be and really regret it. Apart from the importance of safety, you miss out on so much fun if you aren't confident in the water.

I found crash courses much more effective than weekly lessons. They get much more confident in the water though 9 kids at once is a lot.

Have you asked the pool if they will move him up a stage if he does the crash course as my kids usually do these crash courses and our pool still doesn't move them up a stage. It is good fun, good exercise and good for confidence though.

This does sound like a good idea. However I would probably look for alternative lessons as this really doesn't seem to be working for him.

DS2 finally learned to swim - in a half term of half hour 1:1s.
I think the fact it was 1:1 made a huge difference- he couldn't walk across the pool making swimming motions with his arms while the instructor wasn't looking!!
If he doesn't really enjoy it, a weeks and weeks of daily lessons might just turn him off further.
If 1:1, a short course might get him going- and then can you go with him for fun in the water- which builds confidence and gives him more pleasant associations.

Thank you both for your responses.

@shiningstar2 yes I do also feel he's missing out. DD is confident and enjoys being able to go swimming with friends and on those inflatable courses. I don't think DD is ever going to get to that stage but I'm hoping he'll be happy in the water and not feel like he's missing out later.

@Clymene yes it is a large group. Sometimes in his normal lessons some of the class don't come and it makes a big difference as he can't hide and has to do more swimming.

I forgot to ask is what it be wrong for me to take more places over the holidays in case there's someone who doesn't get one? I don't think they've been advertised yet, I just thought about it this morning and looked it up.

@Rulefff I hadn't actually considered that he might improve enough even after a couple of crash courses to move up! I would be very happy if that's the case and will check.

@DDivaStar yes I think you are right. We did ask at the leisure centre for 1:1 but there seems to be a long wait list so will need to look elsewhere.

My DD did one of these and it was crap tbh. The only thing she got from it was a rash from all the chlorine. Mostly because the class ended up very mixed- she ended up being the only one at the age/stage advertised whilst the other kids seemed to be over ability, really confident, bored and messing about or at the other extreme clinging to the side and scared to jump in. Weekly 1:1 lessons made a big difference, I’d recommend these hands down over a crash course if within budget.

@Portonic yes that's him when the instructor isn't looking! I think I will book him on one and get onto looking up 1:1 lessons elsewhere.

My ds did crash courses a few times. They really made a difference, especially when he did one about breaststroke. It's his best stroke now! He also did a diving course.

One to one lessons with the instructor in the pool make a huge difference. Some pools offer these as crash courses too.

Loads of leisure centres run courses with an instructor trying to shout instructions to a group of kids in a pool and miming actions. It’s totally ineffective for kids who need to learn the strokes. Once they are (much) further up the stages, having the instructor out of the pool where they can better assess stroke and turns is useful. But it’s completely unhelpful for a a child who is struggling to understand what they’re supposed to be doing to do breaststroke/butterfly legs at all. They’ve no idea if what they’re doing is what they’re supposed to be doing, or even what the correct motion even is supposed to feel like.

@RandomQuest that wasn't a good experience. They are mixing stage 1 and 2 for the crash courses. I guess we have spent a lot over time in having normal classes over years with no progression so paying out for 121 short term seems a worthwhile investment.

Have you looked into the 1:1 as my son did one of those and it really helped. The instructor goes into the pool with them too. I do find the council run lessons so slow as it takes ages to move up a stage. And sometimes they don't have a space in the next stage so the child could be waiting for ages to move up.

Mixing stage 1 and 2 is often fine. It’s all non-swimmers at that point anyway.

Sometimes the best lessons are to be found in weird places. Lots of good, small swim schools operate out of small, obscure venues you probably didn’t know existed. In my experience, large leisure centres often run the worst swimming lesson programmes.

@riesenrad @FishcakesWithTooMuchCoriander

At this stage breast stroke and butterfly with DS seem a very long way off! I have noticed with DD who is a few stages up that she is able to take on board the feedback from the instructor and make changes. She wasn't fast through the earlier stages but not as slow as DS and happy in the water.

@Rulefff yes a 1:1 in the pool seems like the best thing. No escape and a all lesson rather than lots of waiting with so many kids in a class.

@FishcakesWithTooMuchCoriander thanks will start asking around about other providers.

I highly recommend 1:1 in the pool. They are not cheap but they are definitely worth it. I paid for weekly lessons with a 4:1 ratio and then every holiday did a 1:1 lesson, ds3 has gone from non swimmer to stage 5 in 14 months. And I second what a pp has said, his swim school is a small privately run one from a goat farm!

(waves at you)

Hello, adult who was once exactly like your DS here!

Honestly, I think an intensive group class would simply be five hours of the same thing your DS gets at his ordinary lessons. Definitely 1:1 lessons would be the way to go if possible. I had swimming lessons as a child, both at school and at weekends, and I too was in a group with kids much younger than me. I hated it. I couldn't get the hang of it and was embarrassed and properly terrified of deep water. Basically, I got to adulthood without being able to do more than float and a few strokes of doggy paddle. I only learnt to swim as an adult, and that was when I had a boyfriend who had been an GB water polo player and I basically learnt mostly by messing around in a pool with him and learning to enjoy being in the water. I'm still quite a shit swimmer but I can manage a length of a pool at least and I'll splash in the sea and snorkel on holiday etc (actually snorkelling is the best for me because you don't have to coordinate your breathing and you're just sort of pootling about face down, which you can do indefinitely if you're able to float).

Just as an aside - is it just swimming your DS finds hard, or does he struggle with sporty stuff and coordination in general? I am super uncoordinated and it turns out that I'm actually dyspraxic. But it was very apparent in ways beyond my crapness at swimming.

Agree on looking at small providers / pools. Check local swim clubs too as they might be running courses- they might also be able to give direction on 1-2-1 sessions.

Do you swim? Might also be worth getting in the water with DS and build some water confidence through fun / play swimming.

Goal might be good too- clearly not every child who takes lessons will end up in the Olympics or even wants to. But, there are other things (like passing the test to do inflatables like your DD, playing with mates in the summer in the ocean / river- and then things like water polo, triathlons if he likes other sports but loathes the thought of swimming laps). More to swimming than being a swimmer.

Crash courses were the only reason my DD ended up swimming. She just didn't have the muscle memory for it otherwise. For 3 years she went every single half term if we didn't go away. One summer she went for 3 weeks straight. One week was the equivalent of a whole term in terms of improvement. They're worth their weight in gold if you have the patience. It's v annoying going to the pool daily though.
She quit age 10 just before COVID but got to stage 6 after 3 years. She's recently started again age 13. She started in stage 5 in Feb and is currently in stage 7 with a view to doing a club tryout in sept. Booked in for a crash course in summer and is by far the oldest and tallest in the class. Don't fret about that. Once they start to be able to swim and get confidence it's much more fun.

Oh also, DD loved rookie lifeguard and flip and fun. If your pool offers that it's worth trying it. At once stage we were going to the pool twice a week but it worked.

My DD did them last half term as she is stuck on stage 2 due to losing confidence in lockdown. She was the oldest in the group which were mostly beginners (stage 1 and 0) and so it meant they did a lot of very basic stuff she found boring which meant she did not progress at all. Wont be paying for it again. Out local pool is parkwood leisure if that helps.

@Phillipa12 wow that's amazing progress and gives me hope :)

That’s exactly what we had and we ended up with very confident should have really been stage 3s mixed in with complete beginner stage 1s that were scared of the water. Also have you checked the typical age range? In the one DD did the eldest kid was about 6 with the typical age being more like 4 so IDK how comfortable a 9YO would be in that sort of group. I can’t recommend private enough though! DD did them via a swim school that rented private pools so it was just her and the instructor in someone’s ridiculously fancy basement pool!

Well it should all start off with all kinds of frog and dolphin legs on your back and things like that, rather than anything like the actual strokes. But it’s impossible for many kids to figure out what they’re supposed to be doing without someone to actually move their legs in the right way. They’re odd movements so you have to learn that what feels very strange is what you’re supposed to be doing.

Hopefully you’ll find a swim school that works for your DS.