What it is
Front glides for infant swimmers in a parent-taught class, supported by the parent using either a palm-up hold or a football hold. The parent is the primary support; the instructor's role is to build the parent's confidence and keep the lesson predictable.
Essentials
- Two support holds: palm-up (palms under the infant's chest or belly, thumbs wrapped around the shoulders) and football hold (fingers around the child's ribs, thumbs on the chest, thumbs facing each other, palms facing out).
- Hold the child as horizontal as possible; child's feet extend away from the parent's chest.
- Bend your elbows and control the child's depth.
- Keep the face above water; encourage kissing the water and willful attempts at face-in.
- The parent always enters the water first.
- The parent must demonstrate face-in to the child (walk backwards, face looking down).
Progression
- Palm-up support (calm/relaxed children) → football hold (more active children).
- Front glide with face above water → encourage kissing water → willful face-in attempts.
- Front glide to the wall (extend arms in football hold, child reaches for wall, parent assists exit).
- Supported Back Glides.
What goes wrong
- Parent fear: If the parent is afraid of going underwater or of doing something, the infant picks up on that emotion immediately and acts out. Correct by teaching the parent confidence before pushing the child's skill.
- Child falling over: Infants are wobbly; support with the forearm and hold the child's hands between their legs during entry to prevent a fall.
- Rushing the face-in: Do not force the face under. The goal is comfort on the stomach with the face looking down; the parent models it and the child follows at their own pace.
How you know it worked
The infant shows relaxed comfort with face in water, breath held, and arms straight, and gives joyful smiles while the parent moves them through the water with ease.
How you teach it
The major focus of a parent-tot class is the parent, not the child. Teach the parent to be calm and receptive to your activities and songs; once the parent is confident, the child thrives. Go slow, build confidence, earn trust, and look for happy babies. The class is typically 30 minutes and should be consistent and predictable so the infant develops clear expectations. Make it clear to the parent that real progress requires significant time in the pool outside of class.
Use the two support holds as vertical difficulty: palm-up suits calm or relaxed children, while the football hold gives more control for active or hesitant swimmers. You can run the same front-glide activity with a hesitant infant or an advanced three-year-old by adjusting the hold and the depth. Walk backwards to encourage the child to put their face in the water looking down; the parent must do this themselves first so the child sees it. Keep activities interesting and vertical—vary the support hold within the same skill rather than jumping to a new skill. As the parent masters each step, show them the next variation (deeper hold, longer glide, pass to the wall) so the lesson always contains a growth opportunity within its predictable pattern.