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.
I learned a long time ago in "baby-proofing" classes that the whip/frog kick is almost inherent. At very young ages, the flutter kick has to be taught, as it is not intuitive. You need a good teacher who can relate well to small children, and make the experience as much a game as a teaching event. The teacher has to be able to adjust the teaching style and examples to fit the student.
Don't try to just have her swim the whole stroke all at once. Start with prone position floating (emphasizing body and head position), then a push off the wall to a float, then add "foot wiggles", then use the wall and a kickboard if necessary. Don't mess with the arms and breathing until the kick is fairly well established.
Too many people impatiently want it all right away. I believe you build from the basics, and floats/kicks set the stage for everything else.
I wouldn't worry too much. However, my oldest son does the same thing. He's inherited his natural breaststroke kick from me and can't kick freestyle to save his life (like me). I do think, if he ever got serious about swimming, a year-round coach would probably be quick to put him in fins or zoomers to force him to point his toes. I think that is one of the only ways to make a breaststroker break the feet flexing habit.
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. Hmmmm.... natural born breaststroker it seems. She's blessed!
At this young age, they can't really think about two different things in the same time. So if you want to break this natural breaststroke ankle position/action, the simple solution is to teach her how to flutter kick with a kicking board.
May take a little longer since she's a natural breaststroker, but she'll get there you'll see!
She's 6. As long as she's having fun, does much else matter?
I agree. At that age the very best thing is for the kid to develop an unshakable love of swmming. Not only will it form the basis for an active healthy lifestyle, but also if she does take up serious competitive swimming, she will need to draw on that love of swimming to get through years and years of tough practices.
There is a community center a little too far from where we live for us to make regular trips there. They have a big 10-lane SCY pool and a "recreation" pool with a water slide, several fountains, a "tile beach", a dolphin statue etc. For several years we have taken our daughter (now 8 y.o.) there on occasional weekends. We all do some laps together and I sneak in a little stroke instruction, then we play in the fountains, go down the slide and in general play in the water. Afterwards we shower up in their spacious locker room and have an indoor picnic in their snack area. My daughter has learned a lot during those "play" days.
Thanks for the input - I was watching her this morning and I think she looks forward in the water rather than looking down which means her head is higher and her hips drop so she tries to get them on the surface and propel herself forward with the breaststroke kick.
Still don't know where she inherited the breaststroke from as I was a fly swimmer in my youth, but a rubbish kicker in general.
Anyway she wants to gatecrash the morning lap swim with me tomorrow, so I'll get her kicking with the board, and perhaps doing some catch-ups concentrating on looking at the bottom. Hopefully it'll begin feel "right" to her so she does it at practice.
I know it'll click eventually, but we'd love her to get the A regional qualifying time in her 25yd free in the next 3 weeks (she already has made the back, br and fly :D ) as far as I know only 1 girl in our region has made it, and DD has been coming 3rd or 4th in the meets, so isn't far off.
Its at times like this I wish I had got her interested in a sport I know nothing about!
As a breaststroker my first thought is,"she can swim BR,who cares about free",but I understand free is important.Buy her some fins.She'll have fun with them and find it is MUCH easier to flutter than whip in fins.
She's 6. As long as she's having fun, does much else matter?
Recovering Near-Psycho Swim Parent
Yeah I keep telling myself that! I watch those legs slowing her down, and the other kids catching her, and think "if only she'd keep her legs straight like the others she'd be well ahead". Then again to watch her beat the 8 yr olds on breaststroke is pretty damn awesome!
I think I really need to get a grip :D
PS we are not getting her into year round USA swimming anytime soon
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 ....
