Teach your child to swim efficiently in a straight line on their stomach

Here are some tips that will help your child learn to swim effectively on the stomach:

• Position your child in a horizontal position with the legs straight behind him. Tell him to try and touch the back wall with his toes.
• The kick should be performed with the knees and toes glued together. The child must not kick with his legs apart.
• To teach your child how to kick their legs the right way, tell them to “tickle their big toes together.” This exercise can also be practiced while sitting in the steps of the swimming pool so they can see and be aware of the movement.
• When swimming on their stomach, the head should be in the water and the eyes pointed towards the bottom of the pool. Swimming with the head above the water creates a lot of resistance and makes it difficult for the child to propel himself since the legs will also tend to go towards the bottom of the pool in an upright position.
• Always use the key words “1, 2, 3, eyes in the water” so as not to surprise your child and to have time to take a breath.
• Have them do some “Reach and Pull” with their arms. The idea is for the child to get the water as far as possible and push it below his body to his leg. I like to tell children that they should try to touch or scrap the bottom of the pool with their fingers while pushing the water backwards.