Private Vs Group swimming lessons

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

Has anyone got experience of both, and can tell me are the private worth the additional cost (or ideally, a teacher for both our children at the same time)

We moved back to the UK just over a year ago, so they've only been learning 'British' swimming a year... And lessons have been off more than on. But our elder daughter appears to be making no progress. At least half her lesson appears to be waiting for other people to do stuff. DD2s group is better, as they are in the shallow end so can do more swimming and less waiting. (These are Swim England levels 4&5... Same as last January when they started... But realistically September since they 'lost' what they learnt Jan-March over lockdown) DD2 has nearly completed level4.

Would a private lesson stick to the levels the same way, or could we ask them to focus slightly differently... We mainly want them to be strong swimmers rather than perfect strokes. The
Can a teacher effectively teach them simultaneously at their slightly different levels. Will progress be faster?

(DDs are now 7&9. Elder child can be rather uncoordinated)

Thank you.

All my 3 children were taught in a group. However for 1dc I took her out for private lessons when she was at an eArly stage where indeed they ended up waiting and waiting. But once they are ok to swim in the deep with all children swimming in one go, group swimming is ok

Part of the issue with elder DDs group lesson at the moment is they have to do stuff one at a time as due to Covid her lesson is exclusively in the deep end... The lessons are done width wise, and the teaching pool isn't used at all. So the beginner stages are in the shallow end, the intermediate in the deep along the wall, and the more advanced I the middle. Before Covid they did lengths, but stayed in the shallow end for all the drills.

My dd wasn't a natural swimmer and she became very fearful after a bad experience in a school swimming lesson. I began to worry that she would never really learn but a series of private lessons made all the difference!

It varies wildly between different venues so you really have to talk to the teachers. At our main swim school stage 4 was all up the deep end and in stage 5 they started doing lengths. We moved them to a more expensive swim school with no more than 3 per class (so not private lessons, but not a millions miles off) and they went "down" a couple of stages but with higher standards, I think, in technique. They did really progress in those classes but my feeling was it was the culture of the swim school rather than the number of kids that made the difference.

A problem I had with group lessons in the middle stages was they tend to focus on one stroke each week. It's hard to progress fast when you're only really focussing on a stroke for one half hour session a month. With private lessons you have a bit more leeway to ask for them to focus on a particular stroke, but the teacher may or may not be open to that. However other swim schools might follow different systems. One near me teaches one stroke exclusively until the child masters it, then they move "up" to the next stroke.

In short we haven't done many private lessons at all, but I wish we had. We spent years and years with weekly swimming lessons, which my kids never enjoyed, with pretty mediocre results.

DD1 was late to learn, so she did 1-1 lessons for a year until she had 'caught up' with her age group. We wouldn't have out an 8yo into lessons with 5yos.
DD2 mainly did group lessons but she hit a patch where she didn't seem to be making progress, partly due to lack of swim time and partly other reasons. We moved out and did 1-1 lessons for a term or 2 until she could fit back in the next level up.
I think to make progress you need to be doing 'fun' swims alongside the lessons, and practicing/building up stamina that way.

DS2 had a mix of both. Mostly group lessons once per week. He was quite nervous in the water and seemed to manage to 'hide' in the group- putting his feet down and walking, pretending to swim, unspotted by the teacher. Our council pool did daily 1:1 lessons over half terms. The teacher had DS swimming in the first lesson and competent by the end of the week. We still did the weekly group lessons for years and added in a half term of 1:1s a couple more times when I could afford it- and he always made progress more quickly in the 1:1s - but perhaps enjoyed them less as they were less sociable!

Thanks for experiences. Looks like private lessons could be what she needs. We move in February, so will be a natural time to make the switch.

@TeenPlusTwenties

DD1 was late to learn, so she did 1-1 lessons for a year until she had 'caught up' with her age group. We wouldn't have out an 8yo into lessons with 5yos. DD2 mainly did group lessons but she hit a patch where she didn't seem to be making progress, partly due to lack of swim time and partly other reasons. We moved out and did 1-1 lessons for a term or 2 until she could fit back in the next level up. I think to make progress you need to be doing 'fun' swims alongside the lessons, and practicing/building up stamina that way.

It would definitely help being able to swim between lessons... Unfortunately the only child swimming time currently is the lessons. Adult lane swimming only the rest of the time. Nothing for babies-preschoolers so it could be worse.

To be honest I pulled mine from lessons once they had the basics because of this. They learnt technique later when they were ready to learn, I had a weeks private tuition (1 hour per day) for the 2 of them

I do a compromise of small groups (no more than 4). Although my DS(5) has ended up being taught one on one in his small group this school year due to no other takers which has been nice. He has come on a bit but is definitely behind his older siblings due to much less water exposure (lessons, pool as a family, and sea) the past year.

We had 121 after group lessons just weren't working. Although about 4 times the cost, there was 4 times more swimming going on because there was less waiting around. Could your younger one start 121 slightly earlier? We didn't do levels with the one who had 121. The co ordination just wasn't there. Our main aim once the 2024 Olympics were clearly not going to be a prospect was that they could be safe swimming in a pool and the sea. He could easily swim lengths continuously but would not have passed on technique.

If there is a large difference in ability could you start the younger one on lessons first and add the older one in later, although if co ordination is an issue they may benefit from some earlier interventions too.

Thanks for all your experiences.