kids: parent of 8 year old needs help!

Ask your daughter which program is more fun, and take her lead. Or shop around. A lot of places have more than one competitive team. Maybe there is one that has better coaches and more suited to what you and your daughter wants. There are also people who give one on one, or one and two private lessons, and if they are good, they can really help a young swimmer with technique. Getting DQ'd will not be the end of the world either. I remember my son struggling with learning the breastroke pull out. He just could not figure it out. At a little dual meet, he did it backwards, kicked first, then pull down, and the meet ref very patiently explained what he did wrong. He was bummed because he had won the event, but then he told me he finally understood how to do it right.

If she is having fun and not at risk of injury, relax. If she is at risk, withdraw from the team and/or complain to the head coach. If she is not having as much fun as in the other program, consider withdrawing to the other program. It's a judgment call, but I do not think her future as an Olympian or college scholarship athlete will depend on getting serious (as if that is a concept that makes any sense for an 8 year old) at this age. She may be that good, but talent will tell, and burning out her joy in the sport might be the one thing that will surely mess that up. If you think she would enjoy additional technique work away from the team, consider hiring an experienced coach for one on one, or (with some trepidation) try to bone up yourself. Querry, will you know more about coaching that hew newbie coach? Will any conflicting direction you give her cause a problem with her current coach?

Yeah, I think because she's only 8 you don't really need to focus on teaching her yourself or drilling her extra. In fact, if you try to make her work more than she already is she may come to dislike the sport. At that age I think it's more important to develop a love for the water and the sport and to remain healthy and uninjured!

As for fun, she was having just as much (maybe more) at the lower level. (the extra money saved would go an awful long way towards her college fund). I am concerned as to whether she'll still find it fun if she gets DQ'd, but I think she's relatively safe from that. Re do I know more about coaching? As regards any normal coach, obviously I would say No. As regards this coach... I don't know - I know I know more about the strokes. I had no intention of getting involved in the coaching - I figured now that she had a real coach I could get out and leave it to the experts. But that's the problem - she clearly isn't. She isn't correcting major problems, including those that will get kids dq'd. Re safety - again, because of everything else, I am worried, but I'm no expert - hence the question. I know I don't like seeing them doing all that heavy stretching before they've even warmed up, but I'm reluctant to interfere. I'm hoping that's ok for younger kids, but it's not something I feel comfortable with. I wouldn't hire a coach for the very reason you've enumerated. I don't want a conflict. (although there isn't any technique instruction going on to interfere with...) I think instead I just want to stop her technique from getting REALLY bad habits, and I don't really trust myself. So, ideally I'd just like some answer that kind of gently guides her towards some stroke improvement. I don't want her going backwards! So, do people really believe that it doesn't matter what bad habits she picks up between the ages of 8 and 10? That all of that will simply "right itself" later on? I have some trouble accepting that.

I don't know if the bad habbits will right themselves later on, but I believe that they can be righted. If that makes any sense. I mean my university team does extensive drills to correct our backstroke form (and other forms too, but mainly backstroke right now...). A lot of us had good coaches growing up, but sometimes we're still making stroke / body position errors....certainly not something that would get us DQ'ed...but enough to slow us down considerably.

like the other posters, it's important that she's having fun and meeting new friends, and maintaining a positive self image. I've been swimming since I was 6 and don't really remember anything competitve until I was about 11 (when all of a sudden it got serious...and by 12--you get the idea). What i remember from being under 11 is: making friends, having fun, enjoying the support of the older kids, looking forward to swimming, being in awe of the older faster kids, and getting the support of my parents. The best thing you can do is keep her active, take her to higher level swimming competition if possible, and being around all the great role models that swimming attracts. And is mom or dad in the pool? or at the tennis court? that helps kids too, seeing mom and dad engaged in sports too.

Mom and Dad are only in the pool when we take her swimming outside of training, but we're a big sports family. We cross-country ski together every weekend in winter (that's when the swimming has to take a back seat, because my daughter is a phenomenal cross-country skier) Mom and Dad are serious cyclists, and my daughter is sports crazy. We also all skate together and we show up at all her sports, including her soccer matches. She has to give up something soon to make way for the extra swim time. As for the repeated fun references - that is a given. My daughter only does things she enjoys, and we work hard to protect that. Also, unlike some people, we don't believe that fun and competition, or fun and technique improvement, are mutually exclusive! I guess I compare the swimming to her skiing where she's had terrific coaches who imparted technique along with enjoyment of the sport. I really don't see why she can't have a lot of fun, along with a bit of technique improvement.

Unfortunately, I can't shop around till this time next year. Every other competitive program in the city has a waiting list (we're in Canada and swimming resources are probably not as plentiful as in the States). If I'd known what she was getting into, I probably would have put her into a different club, or re-registered her with the "fun racing only" program. At least I can get back to that in January, but she has to wait until next September to get in somewhere else. As for her lead, she's the one that's conflicted. She has a good friend swimming with her that moved with her to this club. Her friend is quite restless about the swimming she's getting (her friend is a serious future talent), but desperately wants to race. (she's very competitive) My daughter is very competitive once a race starts, but would be fine with more relaxed swimming if her friend joined her. My daughter feels, however, that no-one is helping her with some of her strokes, and I've been reluctant to step in and help her. I taught her to swim, and felt comfortable working the kinks out of her strokes at a more rudimentary level, but at this point I wanted to bow out. So when she followed her friend to this club, I was thrilled. Now I'm not.

Yes, but you cannot ignore the rest. Many of the best coaches were lousey athletes, or didn't compete. But to not have swum, AND to not have any certification AND to not have coached are not good in combination. Even then, I'm ok if someone is realistic and open and transparent. If someone at least tries to break down the strokes, a lot can be achieved. I guess it's not possible that a club could be short of coaches due to reorganization and be so desperate that they get anyone who will volunteer to fill in? (I even accept that in 5 years, this person may become a great coach if she sticks at it, AND if she frees up enough time to devote to it) I know every other suggestion is more palatable, but I gather from what everyone is saying (ok, not quite EVERYONE) that there's no way that you can have a bad uncertified coach with neither swimming background nor coaching experience? I have zero problem with a coach with no swimming experience - in fact, that's why I'm reluctant to do the coaching myself. As to the age thing, I LOVED swimming growing up. Nevertheless, every coach I ever had was able to contribute to my techique. I don't know if they were good, but they tried. One of the least experienced couldn't figure out why I couldn't get my backstroke respectable and was secure enough to go to another coach for suggestions (which worked!) I'm having a lot of difficulty with the suggestion that technique isn't important, or relevant. I'm also having a lot of difficulty with the suggestion that fun and technique are mutually exclusive, or with the suggestion that only a pushy parent would want both. This has nothing to do with my not approving of the coaching "style" of the person. So far, of the complaining parents, I'm the one that's been the most in the background. I'm trying to find a good suggestion which doesn't involve creating waves (pardon the pun) and which doesn't put pressure on my daughter. Nevertheless, the swimming shrinks are convinced that there must be something wrong with me for wanting to get more for my money (not inconsiderable, I might add) than just pool time.) I find Dorothy's answer much more constructive - does anyone know of anyone like that in Toronto? My ideal, I think would be to find someone like Dorothy suggests, and have that person help my daughter as well as perhaps also give me tips as to what to watch out for. Anyone have any suggestions for Toronto...? Geo?

Even Bill Boomer didn't swim, infact I believe he had a background in soccer, and he helped make alot of changes in swimming.