Gamespot is right... Skyward Swords controls are bad.

[dano]

I had no problem at all with the controls, but i understand how it can be a little confusing, not needing to point directly at the sensor bar but instead find a "neutral" position every time you use the item...it can get a little confusing but the directional pad fixes that situation every time and makes it more intuitive an enjoyable.

Once you figure out and master the controls, this games in excellent, after beating it , it left me this nice feeling of accomplishment... and i'll say it now, a true masterpiece.

I hope your mother is enjoying it now that she got through that frustrating point, it´s so cool that she like to play video games, my mom also plays some, guitar hero metallica ( hard difficulty ) super mario brothers, wii sports, bomberman to name a few =).