Have you ever watched your child confidently blow bubbles underwater, only to struggle when it's time to kick their legs and swim forward? Or maybe they can swim independently but still have trouble floating on their back.

You're not alone! Children don't learn every swim skill at the same pace, and that's completely normal.

Swimming requires a combination of breath control, coordination, balance, body awareness, and confidence. These abilities develop over time, and mastering one doesn't automatically mean a child is ready for the next.

Let's look at why some skills come more naturally than others and how you can support your child's progress.

Swimming Is Made Up of Many Different Skills

Swimming involves much more than moving from one side of the pool to the other. Children must learn to control their breathing, maintain body position, coordinate their movements, and feel comfortable in the water.

Developmental milestones can influence when children are ready to practice certain skills. As we explain in our blog, How Developmental Milestones Play a Role in Your Child's Swim Progress, abilities such as reaching, rolling, and bilateral coordination can relate to swimming readiness.

Understanding these connections helps us recognize that every swimmer develops at their own pace.

1. Your Child Can Blow Bubbles but Struggles With Breathing While Swimming

Blowing bubbles is one thing. Coordinating breathing while moving through the water is another! When swimming, children must manage their breathing while also thinking about their arms, legs, and body position. That's a lot to coordinate at once. This is why we practice breathing in smaller steps, starting with blowing bubbles before gradually incorporating breath control into swimming movements.

2. Your Child Can Kick but Struggles to Move Forward

A child might kick enthusiastically while holding the pool wall but struggle to move forward independently. That's because swimming requires more than strong legs. Children must learn to coordinate their kicks, arm movements, and body position.

Bilateral coordination, which involves coordinating both sides of the body, is one developmental ability that can support learning more complex swimming movements. To help, our instructors practice individual movements before combining them. Breaking skills into smaller steps can make learning less overwhelming. You will often see our instructors working on kicking and scooping motions separately before having their students combine the two together.

3. Your Child Can Swim but Struggles With Floating

Swimming forward and floating require different body positions and movements. A child who can swim independently may still find it challenging to relax, maintain balance, and become comfortable on their back. This doesn't mean they've lost their progress. They're simply working on a different skill!

It is important to give your child time to become comfortable with the floating position while an instructor helps them practice appropriate body alignment and balance. For some kids, it's as simple as them not wanting to stay still long enough to achieve a proper float! No matter the reason, their instructor will problem-solve and help your student to learn to float in a way that works best for them.

4. Your Child Understands a Skill but Struggles to Put It All Together

Maybe your child can practice arm movements on their own but has trouble combining them with kicking and breathing. Knowing how to perform individual movements is different from coordinating them all at once.

In its article, From Babies to Adults: How Swimming Skills Evolve With Age, SwimExpert discusses how swimming instruction progresses from foundational skills toward more complex techniques as swimmers develop. Children need time and practice to build these abilities, and even children of the same age may progress differently. This is why we work on one part of a skill at a time, then gradually combine movements as your child becomes more comfortable.

5. Your Child Is Confident With Some Skills but Hesitant With Others

Confidence plays an important role in swimming, too. A child might happily put their face underwater but feel nervous about rolling onto their back or trying a new movement. Different skills can feel unfamiliar, and a child's comfort level may change from day to day.

How can you help as the parent? Make sure to celebrate effort, encourage your child to try without pressure, and allow them to build confidence at their own pace. These are important values to reinforce both at and away from the pool. Small steps forward count!

How Can You Support Your Child's Progress?

When one skill seems to come easily while another takes weeks of practice, remember these tips:

• Celebrate small wins. Becoming more comfortable with a skill is progress, even before your child masters it.
• Avoid comparisons. Every child develops different abilities at a different pace.
• Stay consistent. Regular lessons provide opportunities to practice and build on existing skills. We highly encourage lessons 1-2 times a week for best results.
• Talk with your instructor. Ask what your child is working on and how you can support their learning between lessons.

Progress isn't always a straight line. Some days, a familiar skill may feel easy; other days, your child may need extra encouragement. That doesn't automatically mean they've lost their progress.

Every Swimmer's Progress Looks Different

Breathing, floating, coordination, and independent movement are all important parts of learning to swim, but each comes with its own challenges. A child who excels in one area may need more time in another, and that's a normal part of learning.

At Swim Lessons with Mary, we believe in meeting each swimmer where they are and helping them build skills through individualized instruction.

Remember: Your child doesn't have to master everything at once. Sometimes, progress means learning a new skill. Other times, it's becoming a little more comfortable or confident with something they've been practicing all along.