My daughter is a USA swimmer and has had a decline in her stamina now for about 3 weeks. Her goal is to go to State and she only needs to drop 3 sec. on her free and 6 sec on her *** and she is frustrated. Can anyone give me ideas on how to help her or ideas as to why this might be happening
Parents
Former Member
I don't want to belittle your daughter's goals or cast doubt on whether she can reach them, but she might have reached a "plateau" in her swimming development. By that I mean a time period when her personal records don't improve for no apperant physical reason, similar to a baseball player going through a batting slump, or any athlete simply having a below average (for them) season. This happens to all swimmers at all levels of ability, and there is usually nothing to "fix." They simply have to weather this period.
Probably the most important thing you can do as a parent is to be emotionally supportive. Speaking from my own experience, one way to make a plateau worse is to hyperfocus on "the problem" and begin to doubt yourself and your swimming ability. She is young; you can bring the perspective of an adult by reminding her of how much she has already accomplished, and by pointing out that those last 3-6 seconds to reach her goals are nice, but they are not the sole determinate of her worth as a swimmer or a person. I doubt that she started swimming, or continues to do so just to reach those goal times. You can remind her of all the reasons she did start, and all the wonderful reasons to continue, even if she does not make these two particular goal times this season. Continue to be positive and supportive, and when she is ready, she will break out of this period in a way that will astound her and everyone around her.
Matt
I don't want to belittle your daughter's goals or cast doubt on whether she can reach them, but she might have reached a "plateau" in her swimming development. By that I mean a time period when her personal records don't improve for no apperant physical reason, similar to a baseball player going through a batting slump, or any athlete simply having a below average (for them) season. This happens to all swimmers at all levels of ability, and there is usually nothing to "fix." They simply have to weather this period.
Probably the most important thing you can do as a parent is to be emotionally supportive. Speaking from my own experience, one way to make a plateau worse is to hyperfocus on "the problem" and begin to doubt yourself and your swimming ability. She is young; you can bring the perspective of an adult by reminding her of how much she has already accomplished, and by pointing out that those last 3-6 seconds to reach her goals are nice, but they are not the sole determinate of her worth as a swimmer or a person. I doubt that she started swimming, or continues to do so just to reach those goal times. You can remind her of all the reasons she did start, and all the wonderful reasons to continue, even if she does not make these two particular goal times this season. Continue to be positive and supportive, and when she is ready, she will break out of this period in a way that will astound her and everyone around her.
Matt
