Bendy knee dragging child down whilst swimming.

[swimknee]

Hi, DS7 has been having swimming lessons for almost 3 years now and still unable to swim 5m. He was recently seen by a physio who noted extra-mobility in his knees. It has now been discovered that it’s his kicking that’s dragging him down whilst swimming. Could it be caused by the extra mobility in his knees? If so any advice on what we can do about his kicking?

If he is hypermobile then he needs strength training. Stronger muscles mean the joints are supported better. Perhaps see if you can get a referral to a sports physio experienced in working with children, who would be able to advise on some appropriate exercises for him to do.

Has he had his gait analysed? It could be that the way he walks isn't helping either.

My (now adult) dc is hypermobile and has what they call 'swayback' knees.

@fromaytobe No, he hasn’t had his gait analysed. He had one assessment with the Physio and OT due to investigating some other difficulties he was having and was discharged. It was during the assessment that this was discovered. I should really have asked at the time exactly what they meant by extra mobility as they didn’t use the words hyper mobility.
They recommended the usual swimming, martial art, gymnastics etc. Unfortunately the only sport DS enjoys is swimming.

Can your child float on the water, or kick with the aid of a noodle or float? Until these skills are mastered they will not 'swim'.

If you've been 3 years with the same swim teacher or school, and made no progress, it might be worth trying someone or where different.

Many swimmers are hypermobile. That in itself would not be an impediment to swimming.

So he can do pretty much all the criteria for his stage (2)apart from the swim 5m part. He can float, push and glide etc. The kicking issue isn’t always present. They may be able to do it perfectly one time and then not the next. It is however more present when not using a float. I haven’t worked out the pattern yet- It could be linked to tiredness. I’m not really sure. He does have issues controlling his knee movements in general not just during swimming. He did do much better when another instructor tried him with flippers.

Has he tried breast stroke? It’s the crawl kicking that will be affected by hyper mobility.

@SummerFeverVenice No, he hasn’t been taught breaststroke yet as that’s in the higher stages. Interestingly enough he has used his legs like you would in breaststroke without being taught it.

Could the swim school adjust their teaching and 5m swim test to accommodate his hyper mobility? My DD has the same and the swim school refused us so I taught her myself, I understand not every parent has the time to do this though. It is worth an ask. Maybe yours will be better than mine was.

I'd do some research into hypermobility and the Beighton score OP, and see whether anything fits with your dc.

I'm a hypermobile swimmer, he probably needs to strengthen his core so it's engaged while in the water, this will lift his hips which will make him straighter in the water because it's preventing his legs from sinking. Swayback knees (which I have) shouldn't matter because you don't "lock" your knees during the flutter kick.

When he learns breaststroke he might need to make sure not to open his legs too wide ie not go too far past the hips.

Hypermobile shoulders, ankles and back are an advantage for swimming

Edited to add: if he does better with flippers it's probably because the increased resistance forced him to engage his large muscle groups like quads. Can he add general dry land strength training? You don't need specific exercises (unless at a high level), just the basic ones.

The swim part of stage 2 can be any stroke, so could be breaststroke or butterfly. Your child might fare better with simultaneous strokes as the legs and arms work together and may give more stability, and improve coordination.

Try butterfly kicks (legs together and wiggle body like a worm).

As said above, front crawl and backstroke kick is with straight legs (from hip) so if the 'problem' is knees, he needs to straighten his whole leg, which may mean developing the core, hips and quads (not just the knees).

Thanks guys, unfortunately the swim school follows the basics of the swim England criteria and adds a few bits of their own. To progress to 3 he needs the basics of front crawl. They won’t drop the 5m rule which I fully understand. He’s been in stage 2 for 15months and his kicking issue wasn’t picked up until I started complaining. I even tried to correct it myself by taking him swimming. The extra mobility in his knee was only recently discovered.
The kicking dragging him down was picked up by a different instructor to his usual one. Anyway they’ve offered him a free lesson on front crawl. Thank you

Sorry, I’d also like to say thanks for the suggestions and will take them on board. I’ll have a chat with the swim school and see what they think. I’ll need to see if it’s a case of him needing more practice and being corrected which where he currently learns he may have to repeat the whole stage again as he hasn’t moved up with the others in his class. He will have new children in the class who need to learn the skills that he’s already learned to be able to get to the swimming section of the stage. Even then it may be that he just can’t do that type of kick so will have to hope the swim school will loosen their criteria or take him out of staged swimming all together.

I think he needs to work on his core. Maybe try a private 1-1 swim lesson. If his head is too high that will also make his legs drop. Some pilates or yoga for kids might help. Also horse riding to strengthen the core.he doesn't need to practice more of the wrong technique which is why a one to one coach in the water might help better to correct things more quickly.

Just to echo what others have said with some anacdata, while I haven't had the exact same issues, my son starting gymnastics really improved his ability to swim which I put down to improved core and all over strength.

He used to swim with his legs pointing downwards and in order to swim more than 5m he would sink to the bottom, push off the floor and swim a bit further which worked but was very inefficient. He stopped swimming lessons for 3 months and not long after started 6 hours of gymnastics a week (unrelated). When he restarted swimming lessons he was able to swim properly with a nice style and without stopping, I couldn't believe it was the same child. While gymnastics might not be for your child, something else he enjoys that works on his core and other muscles might be useful.