So my daughter is 6 and is swimming on the summer team. She is a very good little breaststroker and has a powerful kick. However she uses a modified version of this kick on her backstroke and freestyle, but it seems to affect the freestyle far more.
I have no idea how many times the coaches say and I say, "keep your legs straight"; "kick up and down from your hips"; "touch your big toes with each other", she STILL does this awful wonky breastroke kick action which slows her down and snakes her across the pool!
So I'm now wondering if she's doing something mega-wrong with her pull and feels she needs to compensate on her kick? She turns and looks at the ceiling to breathe, but I thought that was pretty "normal" at that age, but otherwise it looks reasonable. She is also very competitive in the lane, wanting to catch up with whoever is at the front, so I have said that it slows her down when she bends her legs, but she still persists.
Anyway if any of you more experienced in coaching littlies have any tips, I'd very much appreciate it.
Parents
Former Member
I have a 6 year old daughter and I can't even get her to stick with lessons. I keep thinking "when I was 6 I was already on the team kicking butt". But she is stubborn and I've got to chill and not pressure her as much as it bugs me. We go to the pool and go down the slide, dive for rings (it took years to get her face under water), go to the lake and play in the waves by shore. I figure just loving the water is good enough for now. Funny thing she figured out on her own that she can move a lot faster kicking with straighter legs and the little bugger motors around the pool now kicking in a nice streamline. If I could just get her to listen to me for a bit and add the arms and proper breathing ....
I have a 6 year old daughter and I can't even get her to stick with lessons. I keep thinking "when I was 6 I was already on the team kicking butt". But she is stubborn and I've got to chill and not pressure her as much as it bugs me. We go to the pool and go down the slide, dive for rings (it took years to get her face under water), go to the lake and play in the waves by shore. I figure just loving the water is good enough for now. Funny thing she figured out on her own that she can move a lot faster kicking with straighter legs and the little bugger motors around the pool now kicking in a nice streamline. If I could just get her to listen to me for a bit and add the arms and proper breathing ....
