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Replies: 21
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CU Medallion [55426]
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I've never faced this type of problem before in my life.
Jun 19, 2012, 10:54 PM
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I have this neighbor hood kid that is 14. His parents spit up a year ago, and I let him come over and help out with cutting grass and other simple thing that I can trust him to do by his self. His dad don't come around that much, so I kind of look after him as a man in his life. And I let him swim in my pool. Today he brought one of his friends over, and that kid is absolutely terrified of the water. I noticed that he wouldn't turn loose the side of the pool. I ask him if he could swim and he shook his head no. I went over to him and told him I would try to teach him. This kid was so scared when I got to him that he was violently shacking. I told him son, if you are that scared of drowning that he should just get out of the pool. The kid was to scared to walk up the steps by his self. And he was terrified for me to help him. How would you help this kid to over come such a fear of water. Even after I got him out, he was still violently shaking. I think he was afraid to let his friend know that he was afraid of the water. And I don't know where he found the courage to get in the first place. Never have I ever seen this type of fear before. And I don't have a clue of how to help him. Any thoughts ?
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CU Guru [1146]
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Re: I've never faced this type of problem before in my life.
Jun 19, 2012, 10:57 PM
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Try the YMCA . Good swimming programs.
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CU Medallion [55426]
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Re: I've never faced this type of problem before in my life.
Jun 19, 2012, 11:12 PM
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Thanks! the Y is a good thought and I never thought of that. He is definitely afraid. I've never seen that type of fear in 3ft. of water. I'm glad he didn't mistakenly jump in the 8ft end first. Because he is so scared, he may have drawn me trying to save him. He is a pretty big (I guess) 14 or 15 year old kid.
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Head Coach [787]
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Re: I've never faced this type of problem before in my life.
Jun 19, 2012, 11:14 PM
[ in reply to Re: I've never faced this type of problem before in my life. ] |
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Yes, and please...teach how to float first not swim. That way, the swimmer can always lay on their back if they feel unsure.
This kid would have to trust you a lot to allow you to teach him though. If you want to get that invested you have to gain his trust out of the pool and then go with him to lessons so he has a trusted frend there,
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CU Medallion [55426]
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Re: I've never faced this type of problem before in my life.
Jun 19, 2012, 11:32 PM
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I tried to give him a float. But he wouldn't turn the side of the pool a loose to get it. I'm just going to advise his parents to take him to the Y. And after they get him started I will let him come back and then I will help him. He is just to afraid I think for me to chance him actually dawning. I think that the Y would be the families best options. They probably don't even know that he is that afraid of water. B/c after I finally got him calmed down, he told me that they had never taken him swimming before. Heck, they maybe afraid of water also. You never know.
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CU Medallion [57152]
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Google "overcoming fear of water" and there are many approaches***
Jun 19, 2012, 10:57 PM
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110%er [7831]
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Overcoming any fear is tough. But first and foremost
Jun 19, 2012, 11:10 PM
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the person with the fear must really want to overcome it. But he will need to get swimming lessons.
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CU Medallion [55426]
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Re: Overcoming any fear is tough. But first and foremost
Jun 19, 2012, 11:20 PM
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I know. Me or my wife can figure out where he got the courage to get in the first place. But he locked up tight after he got in. I'm sure he didn't want to be embarrassed b/c he couldn't swim. But his fear really over whelmed him after getting in. I've never saw anyone ever shake like that.
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MVP [548]
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Re: Overcoming any fear is tough. But first and foremost
Jun 19, 2012, 11:22 PM
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Just throw him in the deep end, he will learn pretty quick.
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CU Medallion [55426]
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Re: Overcoming any fear is tough. But first and foremost
Jun 19, 2012, 11:34 PM
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That's terrible!!!
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CU Medallion [55426]
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110%er [7831]
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CU Medallion [55426]
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Re: maybe he should start with playing in the front yard
Jun 19, 2012, 11:35 PM
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Oh god some of you are terrible. He is just a kid lol.
Message was edited by: allorangeallthetime52®
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110%er [7831]
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Re: maybe he should start with playing in the front yard
Jun 20, 2012, 8:40 PM
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I really mean that. some peoples fear starts with getting water on their face. They don't know how to make their nose close off and keep their mouths shut
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Fan [54]
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Re: I've never faced this type of problem before in my life.
Jun 19, 2012, 11:44 PM
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I know my friend got over this fear by learning to play games in the shallow game that take your mind off the water. For example, we played floating ping pong, so you almost forget you are in the water. Once his mind was focused on that, after a few weeks, he felt comfortable shooting hoops on our pool net. Eventually, he got past the fear and the only thing he wouldn't do is play any games that involve holding your breath. He made a lot of progress though, considering it stemmed from a near-drowning experience when he felt off his dad's boat as a little kid. Maybe something like that will help?
Plus, if he can face the fear, he could become Waterman, à la Batman.
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Fan [54]
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Re: I've never faced this type of problem before in my life.
Jun 19, 2012, 11:44 PM
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shallow end*
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Fan [54]
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Orange Blooded [3632]
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Hope you find a way to help!***
Jun 19, 2012, 11:46 PM
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Recruit [81]
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Re: I've never faced this type of problem before in my life.
Jun 20, 2012, 12:58 AM
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1st off, kudos to you for noticing the issue and getting him out of that pool. That guy could have easily drowned had you not picked up on the situation and acting accordingly.
I'm a only a swim coach; I don't really have to teach people how to swim as much as I teach people how to swim with better technique, however, I do get the occasional few people who think swim team is the same thing as swim lessons. If I had to teach this kid to swim, below is how I'd go about doing it:
With people like that you gotta ease them in and just show them that the water won't hurt them. I'm going to assume there are walk-in steps at your pool. Take it almost like he's a goldfish that you have to let get accustomed to the temperature of the water for. Let him get in one step at a time on his own time. Make sure he knows that you won't let him drown or get hurt in any way, and the water won't hurt him. Make him think back to the time he was in the pool already. Point out the fact that he, in all reality, was OK if he was holding onto the sides. The goal here is to let him get to the point where he can stand on the bottom of the pool (or sit on a step depending on the pool depth) and put his head under (even throw in blowing some bubbles).
Once he has gotten over the initial fear of the water and he's comfortable in it, then you can start with the basics. Teach him floating and the fact that if he is in a pool and he gets where he can't touch the bottom, he can go under and jump to move around. Basically, teach him not to panic.
At this point, you can start teaching kick (everything starts with kicks). Let him hold onto the side of the pool and teach him how to flutter kick and maybe the scissor/breaststroke kick as well. If you have a kick board, let him use the kick board to kick around the pool. Again, always be in the pool with him so he can be comfortable and know that you will be there if something happens. Always demonstrate before you make him do it, even if he has to get out of the water to see you and focus on what you're doing.
Once he gets a handle of the kicking with the kickboard, see if he can kick with his arms in front of him (streamline). At this point, he should be relatively comfortable in the water.
After that, you can work on adding the arms. As a coach, I call the basic stroke freestyle, but to the outside world I think it's called the crawl. Go back with the arms on the side of the pool or holding onto the bottom of the kickboard and let him kick and use his arms one at a time to pull back and go back to the kickboard. His face should be in the water for this, so when he needs to breathe, tell him to lift his head up and breath (once he gets this down, you can tell him to breathe to the side if you want to coach him up a bit). After that, ditch the kickboard and see if he can use his arms and his legs at the same time.
These steps may take a week+ to get through. I would strongly suggest getting a trained (Red Cross or other notable service certified preferably) professional to teach him lessons. I live on the coast, so it always hurts a bit inside when I see news of somebody who drowns. I think it should pretty much be a mandatory life skill, even if you only get to a pool/beach once or twice a year or less. You never know when you could run into a situation where you need to swim.
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CU Guru [1989]
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Screw the YMCA, he needs a psychologist. Not jk***
Jun 20, 2012, 2:38 AM
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Orange Blooded [4896]
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Get him into a Red Cross swimming school
Jun 20, 2012, 8:43 PM
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they are offered at many public and neighborhood pools.
I taught some classes when I was in HS and had a kid like that - turned out he had seen someone drown.
There may be no basis - some fears seem irrational but can be overcome.
I would never call a kid like that "nuts".
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Orange Blooded [2563]
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If the pools big enough....and if the kids big enough as you
Jun 20, 2012, 9:08 PM
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say.
Find something he likes....standing in the shallow end where he is well above the water level and let him throw a baseball till he gets his feet under him. Then he'll take to it.
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Replies: 21
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