I have a 12 year old son who has been swimming USA-s for 5 years.
He loves swimming.
He just came home from an intensive swim camp(overnite) that lasted 5 days.
He also attended this camp last year.
Last year when he returned from camp he was hesitant to return to his team. He loved the training at camp. I brushed it off.
This year he's upset about returning to his usa-s team again and quite disgusted. After 5 days of learn new drills and almost revamping mosts of his races he just regrets training with his team. He says he loves the people but hates the sets. He says they have been doing the same drills for the past 5 years.
Now as a parent I have observed the coach writing a workout on the white board and then just spacing off but since I'm a new swimmer..i figured..what did I know?
What do I do...change teams???? We are saturated here in western pa.
He's not a diva but a technically beautiful swimmer. And he loves his sport.
Would it hurt to drop a year around club and he would just swim middle school?? Or find him another USA-s team?
Thanks for reading and any opinions would be greatly appreciated.
Would it hurt to drop a year around club and he would just swim middle school??
From personal experience: I quit swimming just before my 12 birthday for a year. I was a pretty good age-group swimmer, 32.0 in the 50M free at age 10. But then I did not break 30 in the 50 until after I turned 13 (I have a summer birthday, so this was just over 2 years later). The guys who I was competing with 2 years earlier were under 28 by then. And really, I never caught up.
So does a year off matter at that age? From personal experience I think the answer is yes.
Thank you all for responding..
you have no idea how valuable your input was.
Last night I had a talk with my son and pretty much offered a USA-s team change(I had emailed a friend for details on her team) or just quit.
He was not happy with either decision...he just wanted heard by his coachs about what's bothering him and wants to add input for training and changes but was so sure that the head coach wasn't going to listen. I told him he had to give her a chance similar to what he needs from her. She does not directly coach him anymore but write the sets and we are a small team(40) and she's very important to her swimmers. He asked me to speak on his behalf but I will but he also needs to find his voice and trust in the coach.
Our team offers 2 outdoor swims(one has low attendence and is coached by a young kid who in his second year of college, someone for my son to look up to). I approached him and gave him a quick run down of my sons current state of mind. He agreed with him and said he feels the same way with his swimming sometimes and said he'd talk to him as a fellow swimmer.
Then head coach came in and I gave her a brief description of whats going on and immediately said she wanted to meet with him and us(parents). She's flexible in scheduling and wants to meet away from the pool.
This kid just loves swimming(competing, training, etc.)..everything about it. He never slacks off in practice and was highly recognized a second year at his camp for his drive and desire(which was attended by swimmers ages 12-17). He may not practice 5 days a week all year. And he has had results....they just need to talk.
Thank you again..really I didn't know what to do and your knowledge and experience is priceless...
I have a 12 year old son who has been swimming USA-s for 5 years.
He loves swimming.
He just came home from an intensive swim camp(overnite) that lasted 5 days.
He also attended this camp last year.
Last year when he returned from camp he was hesitant to return to his team. He loved the training at camp. I brushed it off.
This year he's upset about returning to his usa-s team again and quite disgusted. After 5 days of learn new drills and almost revamping mosts of his races he just regrets training with his team. He says he loves the people but hates the sets. He says they have been doing the same drills for the past 5 years.
Now as a parent I have observed the coach writing a workout on the white board and then just spacing off but since I'm a new swimmer..i figured..what did I know?
What do I do...change teams???? We are saturated here in western pa.
He's not a diva but a technically beautiful swimmer. And he loves his sport.
Would it hurt to drop a year around club and he would just swim middle school?? Or find him another USA-s team?
Thanks for reading and any opinions would be greatly appreciated.
Out of curiosity, was this the UVa camp in Charlottesville? The timing of the camp sounds like it. My daughter's friend did it and had an absolute blast. They also videotape underwater and give a lot more personalized feedback.
Thank you all for responding..
you have no idea how valuable your input was.
Last night I had a talk with my son and pretty much offered a USA-s team change(I had emailed a friend for details on her team) or just quit.
He was not happy with either decision...he just wanted heard by his coachs about what's bothering him and wants to add input for training and changes but was so sure that the head coach wasn't going to listen. I told him he had to give her a chance similar to what he needs from her. She does not directly coach him anymore but write the sets and we are a small team(40) and she's very important to her swimmers. He asked me to speak on his behalf but I will but he also needs to find his voice and trust in the coach.
Our team offers 2 outdoor swims(one has low attendence and is coached by a young kid who in his second year of college, someone for my son to look up to). I approached him and gave him a quick run down of my sons current state of mind. He agreed with him and said he feels the same way with his swimming sometimes and said he'd talk to him as a fellow swimmer.
Then head coach came in and I gave her a brief description of whats going on and immediately said she wanted to meet with him and us(parents). She's flexible in scheduling and wants to meet away from the pool.
This kid just loves swimming(competing, training, etc.)..everything about it. He never slacks off in practice and was highly recognized a second year at his camp for his drive and desire(which was attended by swimmers ages 12-17). He may not practice 5 days a week all year. And he has had results....they just need to talk.
Thank you again..really I didn't know what to do and your knowledge and experience is priceless...
Sounds like it was a good talk with your son. I hope the talk with the coach goes just as well.
What do I do change teams????
maybe,
ask your son what his swimming goals are
if he wants to train and be a great swimmer,
put him in the best program that is convenient for your family
Would it hurt to drop a year around club and he would just swim middle school??
Maybe, maybe not, but if he wants to be a good swimmer
it's important to train hard between 12 & 18
those are critical years
Does he have other interests and talents?
Or find him another USA-s team?
maybe
As a coach, I applaud you because you did exactly what you needed to do!!!!
I'm just glad that it looks like it will turn out to be a positive experience for both your son and his coach!!!!!
Great Job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*~UPDATE~*
We definately made the best choice.
We opted to talk to the coach but not us our son, the swimmer and her and because of his age(to make him comfortable)we were there also.
She came to our home on her own time and sat and listened and was prepared for 90 minutes.
Like I said before he is 12 and is frustrated. Communications is key and every point was discussed and she even hit points that he didn't mention but frustrated him.
She identified particular senior swimmers with similar personality traits as my sons and relayed back their stories and frustrations and sometimes their demands. And that its ok, freak out and they will work it out together.
I'm just so impressed with our coach.
I would have NEVER expected that from someone.
She asked for the materials from his camp and took them home with her and watched his video.
On her own time at our home..wow
He staying with his team and now knows that he can talk to her (head coach) anytime and discuss what he needs..and also his age group coach. He's on the verge(13 soon) of juniors/senior group where she will be his full time coach.(I hope he remains a AG just a little longer though, but thats not up to me..)
She helped him find his voice.
He's really at ease because he can continue to do what he loves...swim.
Once again, thank you...i couldn't ask the other parents what to do..because they always seemed shocked and say--oh well my little susie would never say, or do that...they are perfect.(((Vomit)))
But I knew I could turn to swimmers!!! Thanks
As a coach, I applaud you because you did exactly what you needed to do!!!!
I'm just glad that it looks like it will turn out to be a positive experience for both your son and his coach!!!!!
Great Job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree. Well, not as a coach but as a fellow swimmer.
Since you are close to here, any chance you will be heading down to MD for Jr Champs this month?
