Little swimmers begin learning their circle arms once they have shown confidence swimming unassisted, once they have performed an extended hold in their 'rocket' positioning, and once they gain the ability to lift their head out of the water for a big breath.
The transition from our Crab level (learning reach and pull arms) to our Octopus level (learning circle arms) can be challenging for some little swimmers, the main hurdle: reaching tall out of the water for a successful stroke. Little swimmers have built the habit of pulling themselves in the water using their 'reach and pull' arms yet, as they grow and have to pull a larger weight, this method is no longer efficient.
To encourage tall circle arms, we ask little swimmers to reach for the sky and to swim with no bent elbows (or as we call them, spaghetti arms!). In doing so, swimmers are directed away from the habit of dragging their arms in the water, and rather reach tall for a much stronger stroke.
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