My son is 13 and this is his first year swimming in a club. For many different reasons he was late getting into the sport and slow to warm up to it but right now he is loving it and wants to do everything he can to get better. The problem is he is not getting better fast enough (for him). I keep telling him to be patient and put in the work, but it's completely devastating to him to go to meet after meet and have marginal improvements. I want to stress that he is the one who wants this - to improve his times, to get faster, to not be dead last in every event. He is very much aware of where he is right now. He does not want to be an Olympic swimmer, obviously, just a better one than he is right now. We talk about improving in relation to his own times, not comparing himself to others, enjoying the fun of it, but he is 13 and I guess it's not great for your self esteem when your times are so much worse than your teammates. He keeps asking me, when is it going to kick in for him. Right now he swims 4 times a week about 2 hours each practice. He does some dryland (not much). I guess what I am asking is - what can we do to help?
His technique is actually pretty good. He has been swimming since 6, just very casually taking lessons once a week. But he joined the team only this past September. Never wanted to take the swimming further, and then suddenly he did. He also takes technique/stroke development lessons fairly regularly.
He HAS improved since September, cut 2-7 seconds off most events. But at 13, he is still the slowest in every event and that is what he is upset about.
I guess what I am asking is this - if he continues swimming, putting in the time and the effort, like he does now - WILL he improve? I am not that familiar with swimming, my older daughter is in gymnastics and it is unimaginable to start gymnastics at 13 and still have any kind of future ahead of you. Is swimming the same? Or is it a sport where everyone who is hard working and willing to do the work and be patient can get reasonable results (when I say reasonable I mean middle of the pack, not last in every event like he is now). Is it reasonable to tell him to expect to get better at 14, 15? He is wiling to be patient, he just needs to know it IS going to happen eventually.
His technique is actually pretty good. He has been swimming since 6, just very casually taking lessons once a week. But he joined the team only this past September. Never wanted to take the swimming further, and then suddenly he did. He also takes technique/stroke development lessons fairly regularly.
He HAS improved since September, cut 2-7 seconds off most events. But at 13, he is still the slowest in every event and that is what he is upset about.
I guess what I am asking is this - if he continues swimming, putting in the time and the effort, like he does now - WILL he improve? I am not that familiar with swimming, my older daughter is in gymnastics and it is unimaginable to start gymnastics at 13 and still have any kind of future ahead of you. Is swimming the same? Or is it a sport where everyone who is hard working and willing to do the work and be patient can get reasonable results (when I say reasonable I mean middle of the pack, not last in every event like he is now). Is it reasonable to tell him to expect to get better at 14, 15? He is wiling to be patient, he just needs to know it IS going to happen eventually.
