How to Motivate a Child for Swim Team: Expert Tips to Help Your Little Swimmer Succeed

Everyone wants what's best for their child, and as a new swim parent, you may want to know how you can motivate your child to give their best performance in any sport. Often, parents cannot be the ones to motivate their child, as motivation needs to come from within to create success. 

This article will explore various ways to motivate your child to swim for their swim team. This can include letting your child go at their own pace, showing them the fun in swim lessons, looking for a fun coach or teacher, and setting goals for young swimmers. Keep reading to learn more!

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Why Doesn’t My Child Want to Swim?

There are various reasons why your child may not want to swim including having a bad performance recently, becoming bored with the lessons, not getting along with other swimmers, and not connecting with their swim coach. 

Additionally, maybe your child feels extra stress and pressure to perform well and therefore, swimming became more of a job than a fun sport to participate in with their friends.

If your child doesn't want to go to practice or wants to quit their team, it is probably worthwhile to have an honest and open conversation with your child to determine the best way to move forward and why they are feeling the way they do.

As a parent, it is important to set a good example and recognize their hard work. Many parents are the key to their child's swimming success. This can include the parents' attitude and engagement with the program, swim coaches, and their child. 

Motivating Your Child to Swim for the Swim Team

If your child is new to swimming, they are most likely motivated to practice and become a better swimmer. However, over time this excitement can diminish and children can lose interest in any sport, such as swimming. If that happens, what can swim parents do to encourage their kids to continue participating?

Try Joon To Help Swim Parents

Joon is an app designed for children (ages 6-12) to make routine tasks more fun! With Joon, you can motivate your child to stay on top of their daily routine. 

Common tasks or to-dos can include: put clean clothes away, practice a sport for 10 minutes, unload the dishwasher, and clean the bathroom.

So, how does it work? With Joon, you can assign daily tasks as "Quests" and Joon will do the rest! Your child will have the opportunity to choose a virtual pet to care for, feed, and grow, by completing tasks assigned to them!

Assign a task such as "practice breaststroke for 10 minutes at the community pool" and your child will level up once this task is completed!

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Let young kids go at their own pace

Like with any sport, it is important to allow your child to go at their own pace and decide how much they are willing to participate and engage in the sport. 

Additionally, allowing them to own their swim lessons and set their own goals and challenges will help boost their confidence and motivate them to attend swim training. 

Show them the fun in swim lessons

As with any sport, showing them the fun in swim lessons is important. For younger swimmers, give them room to breathe and have fun with their friends at the pool. Yes, they are there to learn and practice but the swim lessons should also be a place for fun!

Your child will have more fun if you, as a parent, are actively engaged in their swim progress. Support your child by showing an interest in what they're learning and you will help them have a successful swim season.

Engage a fun teacher or coach

Having adequate coaching is important. If your child is new to swimming, having a good coach can be the difference between your child giving up being a part of a swim team in its entirety or pursuing swimming as a more serious sport. 

Coaches typically are responsible for a lot of the successes of a team. They are expected to handle a variety of different personalities and teach the team skills that are not just important for swimming, but in life as well. 

Therefore, making sure your child gets along well with their swim coach is an important aspect of keeping them motivated and engaged in their lessons. 

Set goals for young swimmers

As a parent, it is important to help your child set reasonable goals to work towards. This will also keep parents involved and in constant contact with coaches to check in about performances and new skills learned. 

Some examples of challenges and goals can include:

• Challenging your child to swim two laps around the pool without taking a break
• Encourage your child to practice a newly learned swim stroke for 15 minutes at the community pool
• Motivate your child to swim across the pool in a certain time

However, it is important to encourage your child without distracting them. Tell your child that you like to watch them swim. If your whole family is on board and actively encouraging the young swimmer, they are more likely to succeed in their sport!