teaching teenager to swim

[xtc]

yes i know i'm a failure but ds(15) can't swim yet. i neglected to take him much until today.

he really does not want private lessons

any techniques i should use. googling is useless.

Good goggles are a must.

I can appreciate that he doesn't want an instructor. But along the lines of I wouldn't want to teach dd to drive .... I would (finances permitting) see if your local swimming pool ever hire out the whole pool and an instructor for an hour, even if its silly o'clock in the morning, he will get so much out of a private one hour lesson, than 1:1 with you; all those hormones!
BTW, its what I did for me.

oh really! he is very conscious of people watching. i imagine it will be lots to hire the whole pool!

can you swim now?

If I remember it was about a £100 for the hour lesson and the pool, BUT ... it was at 7 in the morning on a sunday, which aint great. It gave me confidence and I learnt the basics (very basic)

i never thought you could hire the whole pool, i will definitely look into that. thanks for the idea. i suppose the other option could be group classes for adults.

also i have no idea how to teach swimming and i could sense the teacher's (teacher tots in the pool at the same time) disapproval of my techniques.

The thing is sometimes you have to speculate to accumulate, and while it might cost, it might just be the kick start he needs.
Adult lessons also sound fab to me.

Adult lessons are a good idea. Also, look in the library for books on learning to swim. I think if he could read about what he's trying to do first it would make it easier for him.

thank you snorkle and saphron, book is also a great idea

My mum couldn't swim and went on a long weekend at a hotel where they taught a group of about 3-4 adults to swim in the private hotel pool. Can't remember the name I can't ask her at the moment as shes on holiday but could be a solution...