Is the slope to deep end “usable”??

[CLEMom]

I’ve read a lot about slope, but wondering how “usable” that slope will be if it’s at the recommended slope of 3:1? For ex, can kids and most adults balance themselves? Play comfortably if they can only touch bottom on the top part of the slope? How gentle does a 3:1 slope feel when walking it? I read a few posts with statements like, “if a kid gets going on the slope and can’t stop their momentum” which has me worried. Is it comfortable to walk without losing balance/feeling like you’re falling down hill on a 3:1 slope? Here are our planned dimensions (with image attached), but still time to adjust since construction hasn’t started…

14x28 feet rectangle
3’4” shallow end (3’ water depth)
6’ deep end (5’8” water depth)
Slope from 3’4” to 6’ over 10’ run.
Goal is to maximize “usable” space for kids who typically play in shallow end now (at 8 & 10 years old) and occasionally like to dive for toys in deeper water.

Thanks for any input!

 

[kimkats]

I will tell you the 3' end will be almost useless as it is just too shallow long term. Measure where 3' hits you and think about doing a good swim stroke. Your knuckles will scrape the bottom of the pool in 3' of water. I would go for at least 3'5" water depth but think 4' is the best depth AND that will make the slope much less.

At my best friends house growing up they had a diving pool with a fairly big shallow end. The slope was not usable. It was just a slide into the deep end or a walk out from it.

The 4' to 6' would be much easier to use. Now if you really want full usable go for a "sport" pool 4.5 x 6 x 4.5 You can mark the 6' part for cannon balls fun.

Now lets talk about the best of both worlds....................a L shaped pool!!! The "foot" part is all 4' or 4.5' deep for major shallow fun like volley ball or watermelon ball (look it up! The best pool game ever!). Then the "leg" part is the diving down and cannon ball area!

Build the pool for the kid's future size as they are growing every second of the say as you well know from buying them shoes and pants LOL

 

[JJ_Tex]

+1 on 3' being too shallow.

We have friends who have a 3' pool and its just awkwardly uncomfortable and everyone gravitates to the "deeper shallow end" which is the ~4ft area.

Ours is 3' 8" and goes to 6' in a similar length as yours with no issues. We too wanted to maximize the useable shallow end and then quickly transition to 6' so the transition from shallow to deep is not a straight line, with the steepest part being the 4.5-5.5 area. No issues with the steepness for us.

 

[Newdude]

The slope was a concern for me for little kids or ones that didn't swim well. My own kids were fish by the end of the first season, but friends kids kept it a concern for some years.

The safety rope which was supposed to help corral anyone who needed it was its own issue because it begs for them to play with it and hang on it right at the edge. Kids will kids.

For everybody else, the slope lets them hang out at their sweet spot of depth. We will all typically swim and then go find our spot on the slope to stand mostly submerged. Unless you're playing a shallow end game, people want more water 9 times out of 10, not less. Above ground pools are great for being deeper but not deep, but evenso, nobody just stands there and everybody drops to bob around.

In the end, don't put too much thought into it because everybody will adapt to what's in front of them. As said above, don't build a pool based on the kids height/ability now because they'll be fish in no time whether or not they can stand today. In a year or three they'll be standing and it won't be a concern again until you're watching grandbabies.

We keep a small, medium and large life vest for anyone who needs it. I have teens now but some littles came to a recent party and they came in handy when they got tired but of course wouldn't get out of the pool. Lol. Puddle jumpers are GREAT for the littles and allow plenty of movement while removing most of your worry.

 

[CLEMom]

JJ_Tex you said, “No issues with the steepness for us.” And Newdude you said, “the slope lets them hang out at their sweet spot of depth” — so do you both think that the slope in my drawing would allow for comfortable standing/playing without falling or “sliding” or easily losing balance on the hill?? I’m worried the slope is largely unusable space.

 

[Newdude]

so do you both think that the slope in my drawing would allow for comfortable standing/playing without falling or “sliding” or easily losing balance on the hill??

Yup.

I’m worried the slope is largely unusable space.

I could park a Mack truck in your backyard and the kids would find a way to play on it. 15 games would be invented in minutes.

They'll walk the side slopes all around the deeper spots too. It doesn't take much to balance on the wall.

 

[Bperry]

JJ_Tex you said, “No issues with the steepness for us.” And Newdude you said, “the slope lets them hang out at their sweet spot of depth” — so do you both think that the slope in my drawing would allow for comfortable standing/playing without falling or “sliding” or easily losing balance on the hill?? I’m worried the slope is largely unusable space.

Remember that they aren’t going be be “sliding” when they are standing on the slope as there’s water surrounding them (unless this will be an empty pool). Humans are somewhat bouyant as well and so it’s not the same when you’re in the water. I’d make the shallow end deeper as well.

 

[Lineman7]

Let me throw this out there... we went 3ft to 6ft on our pool. I'm glad we did, and it was the PB idea. We walked in to sign the contract, he looked at my wife and said "how ya'll feel about making the shallow end 3ft?" She is 4'8". She enjoys her 3ft shallow end. Also, it has help give my 6yr old confidence because he can tippy toe and keep his head above water. Now, with that being said, our slope is aggressive and not really "useable." I have slipped on it before I got used to it. It'll get ya if you are unaware of it. The slope is fun when you are diving skimming the bottom of the floor, it's kinda fun to slide down the slope into the deeper part of the pool. I'm 6'4" so I hang out on the slope a lot because I can get the perfect standing chilling depth. Had some family out for the 4th. They are all tall. By the end of the day, I realized we were all on the slope chilling, having beers. Everyone kinda found the perfect depth.

We don't regret the design. Heck, hard to regret anything pool related when it's 107 outside

 

[SJPoe]

JJ_Tex you said, “No issues with the steepness for us.” And Newdude you said, “the slope lets them hang out at their sweet spot of depth” — so do you both think that the slope in my drawing would allow for comfortable standing/playing without falling or “sliding” or easily losing balance on the hill?? I’m worried the slope is largely unusable space.

Your pool layout pretty much is exactly the same as ours - 3' water depth at the shallow end, 8' at the deep end, and a slope in between. We're 18x36, but other than that, the same layout. The actual pool depth is a bit more, 36" from floor to the top of the coping.

The kids (11 year olds now) have a blast - sometimes in the shallow end, sometimes in the deep end, sometimes on the slope, or the walls all around. They are like water-based mountain goats...

We do have a rule that there is no jumping into the pool on the shallow side of half-way and there is a visual marker for that - otherwise, they just make up games and just take the pool as it is. Not sure it would ever occur to them that it could be deeper or not. If we have a lot of 'new' kids in the pool, we have two metal loops that we can attach a buoy-rope to in order to provide a better marker of where the slope starts, as it can catch you off guard if you're not expecting it.

If I was redoing the pool today, I'd maybe make the shallow end a little deeper, as others have said, adults can't swim serious laps, or do flip-turns at the end...but we don't really do that anyway, so it doesn't really worry us.