Help me with my Daughters swimming?

Something tells me that the OP, and the father of the 8yr old are seeing comments they weren't expecting. Dan

Dan and smotanaro, you're not the only ones who mention that my younger daughter is spending too much time practicing. I am hearing this all the time. But this is not my or coach's intention.. and I am also worried that she could burn out and I even offered her to swim only 1 hr and to spend the other hr on other sport for an example, but its just the fact that she refuses to get out of the water until her coach is near the pool or other team arrives to take the lanes. She swims with her 12-13Y teammates along with her elder sister (cause we can't afford travelling twice a day to take both girls for training in different hours) and perhaps this is one of the reasons. Of course she doesn't swim 4-5 km per session like elder teammates, however she is having great fun with them, so I can do nothing to stop her (believe me I tried and the outcome wasn't good). The only period she doesn't swim is during Christmas vacation (2 weeks) and during August when we are travelling out of the country (3-4 weeks). However, coming back to the point of this thread is that the Coach is a major factor in proper technique development of kids in their early age, so you can't leave them to any coach, but find a good one. A good coach is not necessarily a coach of some famous swimmers, but a coach who loves and knows his job. If the coach is the "brain" of kid's development, the parent must be the engine. And I forgot to agree in my previous response with "laineybug", but you have to take extra/paid stroke-technique classes. As early you take such classes as cheaper they will be. Not like me to spend a lot of $$$ for a year and half, but that was my fault, cause I didn't pay attention on time, so I deserve it perhaps.

I am father of 2 daughters (13Y and 8Y). Both swimmers. And training of daughters is something that I care much. My elder daughter started to swim at her age 9 and at that time I was thinking that to learn proper swimming is something easy-peasy, and that only power and strength make the difference between the 1st and last place at competitions. You all know - I was wrong. I caught up late, at her age 11, when I understood that she has power, but no technique. She was making 42 sec - 50free (without mentioning timing in other styles). I hired another good individual coach and it took him over a year and half to break the bad habits and wrong swimming technique. Now she makes under 28s her 50 free and 35s in 50 breaststroke, which is acceptable for the time being. My younger daughter started to swim at her age 6 with the new coach and she started to learn the proper swimming from the very begining and for the last 2 years she became very good, cause 50 free tooks her only 37s. After all the above fanfaronade and mounting the high horse, here is my point: If the coach is bad (i.e. unaware of his real task), don't let your daughter to swim a minute more under his guidance. But you have to be pretty sure if the coach is really bad or your daughter is just having her lay-low period and other distractions, or she just might need some rest (a week or two off the pool). - Watch your daughter's training sessions (for a whole week, not one day only) and take notes what exercises he/she is giving each day to his/her students (cause each day is different). - Watch how the coach is communicating with his/her students and whether he is making any adjustments in his/her students technique or training and also make a research about the coach's past success/failure. - Watch the mood in the team, cause teammates are one of the biggest help in your daughter's success, cause they compete with her all the time and push the limits. - Then have an in-depth conversation with your daughter about her thoughts, mood etc. and make sure that this shall be a two-way discussion, not only you speaking and answering questions yourself.. :) (if you are the pusher in the family, let someone else talk to her). Make sure not to over push your daughter, cause at the end she could end up quitting, but do not slack too much either. As everyone else previously mentioned, she must have fun, cause if she's having fun she'll train harder. FYI 5 times a week 1,45 hr is not too much. My 8Y older swims 6 times a week, 2 hrs each session.

Hi Steppinthrax,Varna01 is absolutely correct - emphasis should be placed on making the effort to teach proper stroke technique that will lead to more efficient, and faster, swimming, as your daughter continues to develop in the sport. And as Varna says, the earlier you start on this process, the more you will save in the end. I tell this to my Masters swimmers all the time - developing proper stroke technique will save you from having to make a trip to the doctors' office due to injuries induced by poor swimming - not to mention make you a better swimmer! Also, just to respond to some of the commenters here who felt the need to raise issues about the yardage that age groupers are doing - although in my opinion, yardage is not as important at a young age as technique, I feel that these decisions should really only be of concern to coaches and families. If the families do not feel comfortable about the amount of yardage, they can bring this up to the coaches directly. Best of luck to you both!

Steppinthrax, The description of the 'stroke school' was on the team's website. Other parents talked about it too. You might ask the coach if he offers it.

Dan and smotanaro, you're not the only ones who mention that my younger daughter is spending too much time practicing. As long as the motivation is hers...

This 'stroke school' I mentioned is not just for younger/beginning swimmers, it is for all levels of swimmers. I'm not sure I agree with the way that team was set up, but it was what it was. The coach was well known and parents were willing to pay extra. Another thought--could your daughter be playing too much with the older swimmers during practice? Guess what it comes down to--if you feel the coach isn't doing his job then you will need to look for another team.

I am father of 2 daughters (13Y and 8Y). Both swimmers. And training of daughters is something that I care much. My elder daughter started to swim at her age 9 and at that time I was thinking that to learn proper swimming is something easy-peasy, and that only power and strength make the difference between the 1st and last place at competitions. You all know - I was wrong. I caught up late, at her age 11, when I understood that she has power, but no technique. She was making 42 sec - 50free (without mentioning timing in other styles). I hired another good individual coach and it took him over a year and half to break the bad habits and wrong swimming technique. Now she makes under 28s her 50 free and 35s in 50 breaststroke, which is acceptable for the time being. My younger daughter started to swim at her age 6 with the new coach and she started to learn the proper swimming from the very begining and for the last 2 years she became very good, cause 50 free tooks her only 37s. After all the above fanfaronade and mounting the high horse, here is my point: If the coach is bad (i.e. unaware of his real task), don't let your daughter to swim a minute more under his guidance. But you have to be pretty sure if the coach is really bad or your daughter is just having her lay-low period and other distractions, or she just might need some rest (a week or two off the pool). - Watch your daughter's training sessions (for a whole week, not one day only) and take notes what exercises he/she is giving each day to his/her students (cause each day is different). - Watch how the coach is communicating with his/her students and whether he is making any adjustments in his/her students technique or training and also make a research about the coach's past success/failure. - Watch the mood in the team, cause teammates are one of the biggest help in your daughter's success, cause they compete with her all the time and push the limits. - Then have an in-depth conversation with your daughter about her thoughts, mood etc. and make sure that this shall be a two-way discussion, not only you speaking and answering questions yourself.. :) (if you are the pusher in the family, let someone else talk to her). Make sure not to over push your daughter, cause at the end she could end up quitting, but do not slack too much either. As everyone else previously mentioned, she must have fun, cause if she's having fun she'll train harder. FYI 5 times a week 1,45 hr is not too much. My 8Y older swims 6 times a week, 2 hrs each session. Thank You for this reply, Yes, my wife and I have "carefully observed" the way the coach works with the students. We have observed other children. We are finding that this new coach she has is not necessarily BAD she is just not correcting our daughter well (which is what I meant by "micromanage"). Some of her stroke mechanics is wrong and we have watched other kids who used to be with her who have improved greatly. Every component of their stroke has became perfect!!! We don't want to move her to another team, but we may end up having to hire a private coach for her to work on her mechanics temp, until she can see an improvement.

This 'stroke school' I mentioned is not just for younger/beginning swimmers, it is for all levels of swimmers. I'm not sure I agree with the way that team was set up, but it was what it was. The coach was well known and parents were willing to pay extra. Another thought--could your daughter be playing too much with the older swimmers during practice? Guess what it comes down to--if you feel the coach isn't doing his job then you will need to look for another team. How did you find out about the "stroke school"? Yes, you are correct she is swimming with much older children she is in the 12-15yo group (junior), she just turned 10. Also the coach only swims freestyle (98% of the time) during the practice. Thanks