Common Beginner Swimming "Mistakes" That Are Actually Good

As a parent, you watch your child’s swim lesson with a keen eye. You want to see progress, and it's natural to look for a perfect, clean swimming stroke. So when you see your child creating a chaotic amount of splashing, or seemingly "forgetting" to use their arms, it's easy to think, "Is that right? That looks like a mistake."

We're here to let you in on a professional coaching secret: some of the most common beginner "mistakes" are, in fact, crucial developmental steps that we get very excited to see.

Learning to swim is not a neat, linear process. It's a messy, wonderful journey of discovery as a child learns to command a completely new environment. From our "Long-Term Athlete Development" perspective, it’s our job to distinguish between a genuinely bad habit and a productive "mess." This guide will pull back the curtain on three of our favourite "good mistakes" and explain why they are actually signs of fantastic progress.

"Mistake" #1: All That Splashing

The Parent's Perspective: It looks chaotic and inefficient. All that energy is going into making noise and getting water everywhere, not into moving forward. It seems like they're just playing around instead of learning.

The Coach's Perspective: They Are Building Their Engine. When we see a child kicking up a storm, we see an athlete discovering their power source. A huge, splashy kick is the first sign that a child is learning to generate propulsion from their hips and engage their entire leg, not just flicking their feet from the knee. This is the absolute foundation of a powerful swim stroke.

The Dreamer's Insight: We call this "building the engine." 80% of a swimmer's propulsive power comes from their core and legs. Before a child can have a graceful freestyle, they must first have a powerful kick. The splashing is the raw, unrefined output of them learning to connect their mind to their largest muscle groups. Our job isn't to stop the splash; it's to help them channel that raw power into a more efficient, focused kick over time. A quiet kick is often a weak kick. A big splash is the sound of an engine starting up.

"Mistake" #2: Putting Their Face Down in the Water

The Parent's Perspective: It can look like the child is giving up or is scared. They might think, "Why aren't they keeping their head up to see where they're going? Isn't that safer?"

The Coach's Perspective: They Are Discovering Balance. This is, without a doubt, one of the biggest breakthroughs a young swimmer can have. A child who is comfortable putting their face in the water is a child who is learning the single most important principle of swimming: a horizontal body position.

The Dreamer's Insight: Humans are vertical on land. In the water, we must be horizontal to be streamlined and efficient. Keeping your head up forces your hips and legs to sink, creating immense drag and putting you in a tiring, inefficient "climbing a ladder" position. When a child voluntarily puts their face down, it shows they are overcoming their instincts and trusting the water to support them. This is the key that unlocks natural buoyancy, balance, and the foundation for every single swim stroke.

"Mistake" #3: "Forgetting" to Use Their Arms

The Parent's Perspective: It looks like the child is being lazy or isn't trying hard enough. "They are just kicking! When are they going to learn the full stroke?"

The Coach's Perspective: They Are Following the Right Sequence. When we see a child focused entirely on their kick while holding a kickboard, we see a learner who is following the "Foundation-First" process perfectly. Rushing to add arm movements before the kick and body position are strong is one of the biggest errors in swim coaching.

The Dreamer's Insight: This is a deliberate and crucial part of our Dreamer Blueprint™. Trying to coordinate arms, legs, and breathing all at once is overwhelming for a beginner. It leads to a messy, inefficient stroke and a lot of frustration. We isolate the skills. We first build the "engine" (the kick) and the "chassis" (the body position). Only when those are strong and consistent do we begin to layer on the complexity of the arm stroke. A child who is focused only on kicking isn't being lazy; they are successfully mastering the most important part of the stroke first.

So, Are There Any Real Bad Habits?

Yes, of course. And that is why a professional swimming coach is so important. A real bad habit would be a flutter kick that comes only from the knee (a "bicycle kick"), or always turning the head to only one side to breathe. The coach's job is to tell the difference between productive, developmental "messiness" and a true technical flaw that needs to be corrected.

So the next time you're at the poolside, we invite you to see the swim lesson through our eyes. The journey to a beautiful swim stroke is often paved with a lot of loud, splashy, and wonderful "mistakes."