I won't go into any details because I don't know who might be reading this, but after my son's first day of USS he does not want to go back. He hadn't been in the water in 6 weeks (summer rec)and worked so hard (swam over 500 yards!) and did some of the best kicking (compared to the other kids with fins!).
I won't make him go back, but we now need to find a way to get him feeling good about what he HAS accomplished in swimming.
Anybody else, swimmers themselves for a long time, teach their own children to swim? We originally didn't want to, but we are now convinced that that is the best thing for our son. Help please :)
Parents
Former Member
Karen,
I am a part-time coach for an age group swim club, and I work with the 8 and unders. There are a lot of 5 and 6 year olds in my group who sometimes seem like their parents are encouraging them more than they have the competitive drive to be there. Of course it's that way, they're 5!
The thing I like to tell their parents, and the kids when they start getting anti-swim practice, is this: It's swimming. It's important to introduce your kids to the water early, and often, and get the swimming bug in their system. But they're still little kids. If they like "practice" and think it's the best thing in the world, then let them go. Little kids need to play, which is why almost all of our 8 and unders are on what we call "restrited swimming". They learn to jump off the blocks, and a couple even try to dive, but we don't use fins, or kickboards, or refer to anything as a set. It's a lot like extended swim lessons, especially for the younger kids, and the joy they get out of it is realizing they can swim from one end to the other, and that people are cheering for them during meets, and that they get to race kids their own age, in their own way.
I think, at this point, it's important for your son to understand that swimming is fun, and that it's okay to not like USS. There were days in high school when I didn't like it either.
Make sure he knows that he is a fantastic swimmer, and that he did a really great job. If he enjoys swimming, he'll get a little older and discover the world of competitive swimming head on. If USS was too much, maybe try him in a summer swim club, or simply take him to the pool and let him race you! I had a teammate in Pittsburgh with a 4 year old son who wasn't quite ready for swim team but thought coming to Master's practice with his dad and racing all of us while we did laps was the best thing in the world.
Karen,
I am a part-time coach for an age group swim club, and I work with the 8 and unders. There are a lot of 5 and 6 year olds in my group who sometimes seem like their parents are encouraging them more than they have the competitive drive to be there. Of course it's that way, they're 5!
The thing I like to tell their parents, and the kids when they start getting anti-swim practice, is this: It's swimming. It's important to introduce your kids to the water early, and often, and get the swimming bug in their system. But they're still little kids. If they like "practice" and think it's the best thing in the world, then let them go. Little kids need to play, which is why almost all of our 8 and unders are on what we call "restrited swimming". They learn to jump off the blocks, and a couple even try to dive, but we don't use fins, or kickboards, or refer to anything as a set. It's a lot like extended swim lessons, especially for the younger kids, and the joy they get out of it is realizing they can swim from one end to the other, and that people are cheering for them during meets, and that they get to race kids their own age, in their own way.
I think, at this point, it's important for your son to understand that swimming is fun, and that it's okay to not like USS. There were days in high school when I didn't like it either.
Make sure he knows that he is a fantastic swimmer, and that he did a really great job. If he enjoys swimming, he'll get a little older and discover the world of competitive swimming head on. If USS was too much, maybe try him in a summer swim club, or simply take him to the pool and let him race you! I had a teammate in Pittsburgh with a 4 year old son who wasn't quite ready for swim team but thought coming to Master's practice with his dad and racing all of us while we did laps was the best thing in the world.
