More Shallow or deep?

[buss]

Hi nice site,
We are having a 34 x 16 IG installed june 7. We have to decide to make the shallow end 8 feet or 10 feet. Anyone have a suggestion. Is it better to have more deep end or more shallow end? 8' to 3'. Our kids are 7-5-2.
Thanks I intend to upload bi-daily pictures once construction begins.
Chris

 

[Richard320]

I'd go heavy on the shallow.

Most pool activities consist of cannonballs and horseplay. Horseplay needs more room, in the shallow end. You need room to put one of these so that neither side has to tread water.

 

[whoozer]

With little ones I prefer more shallow for play.

 

[FinsUp]

Obviously pool size and shape are a matter of both personal preference, space available, budget considerations, etc. I personally don't believe that you can go wrong with too much shallow space. When we finally made the decision to pull the trigger on installing an inground pool my DW decided that she liked the L-shaped pool(s) the best. Our kids are currently 1-3-9 and it has and is working wonderfully well for us. What really sealed the deal for us on our pool were the words of wisdom from the builder that we finally went with. After 30+ years of building pools.

"It's hard to beat the large shallow end provided by the L-shaped pools. It's where the little kids learn to swim and hang out. As they reach the middle years it's all about the deep end. Diving for golf balls and jumping off the diving board, etc. When they reach the teenage years, believe it or not, it's back to the shallow end. The girls don't want to get their hair wet and enjoy laying out on the rafts. The boys want to be by the girls of course, showing off, chicken fights, etc. Adults will congregrate in the shallow end, both those with young children as well as older adults who just want to cool off."

Please don't think that I'm trying to sell you on an L-shaped pool, rather just giving a few reasons to have the largest shallow end possible. :-D

Plus, I think it's a lot easier to vacuum the shallow end of my pool then it is the deep end.

Here's a picture of our pool from last Labor Day weekend. Notice the dispersal of people and their relative ages.

 

[geekgranny]

Our pool was here when we moved in. It is mostly a diving pool with 10 ft bottom. Previous owners had teenage son when they built. We have very little shallow end and it drops off very fast from shallow to deep. I'm 5'7" and only have to go a few feet out from shallow end wall before I am over my head.

I don't like this although I have been a "fish" since I was a wee tot and swam competitively when I was younger. When we moved in here our daughter was a teen so about all she and her friends did in the pool was float to sun bathe.

My neighbors large rectangular pool has a beach entry, then steps, and a generous shallow end and a generous deep/diving end. They have big cookout/swim parties so I get to see the benefits of their pool layout. Their connected spa is on the shallow end and takes up about half of the width beside the beach entry and steps. They don't use is as a spa but it makes for a great kiddie pool.

And yes, I've seen the age/gender distribution a lot at her house, with a few exceptions. The swim team girls, even if teens, spend a lot of time doing what the boys do. Parents mostly jump in every once in a while, a few dives off the board and a cannonball, or some just a dip, but most don't even bring suits because of all the kid activity, but other wise are eating and drinking and gathering in groups. There are always a couple or three people visiting near the pool and watching the kids. Most of the teen girls congregate at the steps with the dogs and love having their pictures taken with the dogs. The beach entry is great for dogs who haven't discovered the delights of swimming. Some doggies, though, will never enjoy swimming. The dogs basically don't want to go near all the activity in the deep end. Dogs are welcome, if they will get along, but few actually are swimmers.

I think the suggestions above are good. I think a pool is much safer with much more shallow than mine. My good friend has a kidney sports pool. 4.5' each end and 5.5' in middle with pole holes on each side for sport net. The drop slope from shallow to deep is very gradual and comfortable. She has a sheer decent for most of one side. The 5.5' area has been great for her younger grand kids to jump off.

I like the idea of the L shape. My neighbor had enough room to put in one long pool so that there is a pretty good amount of space between activity areas and the slope to deep end is very gradual before it makes a more dramatic drop for diving area.

Neighbors pool has decking all the way along one side that is wide enough to accommodate a bunch of lounges pointed towards pool, with enough space between lounges for kids and/or dogs to run (hard to stop both from running, especially the dogs) and to not get splashed when someone does a cannonball. I really like that too.

gg=alice

 

[Melt In The Sun]

Similar to GG above, I didn't have a choice. We have shallow at both ends and ~5.5' deep in the middle. I wish we had a deep end! If I ever have a pool built, it will be like FinsUp's pool - maybe not vinyl or that exact shape, but the same idea and BIG enough to have a nice deep end and plenty of shallow space for kids or volleyball, etc.

 

[geekgranny]

I do like the very deep end and most of it being deep helps to avoid people from hitting bottom when they dive in closer to the middle. Many people don't know how to do shallow dives.

But I still like the idea of a lot of shallow for many reasons. To me, if I were building, and wanted diving area an L or Lazy L would seem most practical. Even though my neighbor's pool is much wider than mine I still cringe sometimes when a bunch of the boys (and a few girls) are especially active in the diving area. My neighbor's parties are sometimes large with 40 or so adults (sometimes more) and all the accompanying kids and grand kids and dogs. Last party had a great live band (friend of their family). They have several large picnic tables, built by husband, pushed together to make a very long picnic table, about 30 ft. It is basically a permanent part of the rustic, woodsy, backyard decor. Out here everyone has lots of room as you have to build on an acre or more. Most of us are separated by woods but still close enough to have neighbors pretty close by to walk to or in case of emergency.

gg=alice

 

[buss]

Thanks all. We are going with the extra space in the shallow end.
Chris