Crawl stroke leg exercise
The child is sitting on the stairs in the children's pool. The step should be selected so that the legs are approximately half underwater. In a first step, the legs and feet are stretched. Then the child slowly starts moving the straightened legs up and down. The leg stroke starts off very weak and then gets stronger and stronger. The legs always remain straight.
This exercise is central to learning a correct crawl and back bone stroke and is part of the core element of drive.
This exercise requires no other exercises.
Please read the Safety notes before you start.
Preparatory exercises
Land exercise
This exercise is about giving children a feel for movement with straight legs. To do this, you take a swimming mat and place it on the ground on land. The child then lies down on the mat in a prone position and tries to lift the straight legs up. You should definitely show this exercise first. Most kids do it wrong the first time and only lift the lower part of the leg. Be persistent here. If the child cannot do the exercise on land, it will be all the more difficult in the water.
Insist that the exercise be done slowly first. Three seconds the right leg, three seconds the left leg. If it is your own child, you can also help with both hands by holding the leg with one hand on the upper leg and one hand on the lower leg. This allows you to correctly bring the leg up.
arm over knee
Here are two tips:
Start the exercise slowly. This means that first the left leg is lifted completely stretched for two to three seconds, then the right leg. During this slow exercise, the legs crash into the water with great force. Sit down next to your child, introduce them first and then put them together.
We also recommend that you keep one arm above the child's knees from time to time during the core exercise. The most important thing when doing the exercise is to keep your legs straight. With the arm over the legs, it is possible to prevent the child from bending the knees too much.
Common mistakes
Ride a bike
The leg stroke is done from the knees instead of from the thighs and from the hip. The legs are not stretched during this process.
This is the most common mistake that can be seen today among many children and also numerous adults. The mistake is very serious for all exercises that build on this core exercise. The leg stroke is a central element of back and crawl swimming and with such a leg stroke you not only ruin the leg drive, but also the entire water situation.
Tightened feet
The feet are not stretched, but tightened. During a later crawl stroke, the feet are alternately slightly tightened and stretched. However, stretching the feet is not a very natural position and is therefore trained in this exercise.
Give yourself enough time at the beginning of the exercise and check that your feet are straight. Continue to pay attention to your stuck feet as soon as the slow leg stroke begins. With your feet pulled on, break off your leg and try again.
