Good Morning
I have posted before and as some may know I am the parent of a 13 year old age grouper. I have a question for all of you coaches and former swimmers as his mom and I have never swam competitively? How much volume should he be swimming at his age? I limit him to three hard workouts per week at this point and one dive practice. He also takes a lesson from a great private coach once a week that is just technique oriented and is just thirty minutes long. His total yardage is probably around 15K per week. Some of the other kids his age are doing twice the volume and the subtle pressure is there.
What do you suggest?
Thanks
Spudfin
PS I would rather he study more than swim more........
In my experience with coaching, I did notice a difference when a kid went from 3 to 4 practices a week. Jumping from 4 to 5, usually not much difference. Jump up to six or more and you start to see a huge difference. Of course, this was a general observation, but seemed to hold true over the 300+ kids I have coached over the years.
I swam for a Division III school that stressed putting academics first. It was a very enjoyable experience. Since DIV III schools do not give athletic scholarships, I did not have the pressure that I know scholarship athletes deal with.
Many parents have your concerns and I think much depends on the particular child. You still have many years ahead of you to see what develops. I think you might want to consider waiting until your child is 16 to revisit the issue of swimming during college. In the meantime, if your child wants to swim more, consider letting him give it a shot and see if he maintains his grades. You may find that his grades actually improve because he will know he has less time to waste. ;)
In my experience with coaching, I did notice a difference when a kid went from 3 to 4 practices a week. Jumping from 4 to 5, usually not much difference. Jump up to six or more and you start to see a huge difference. Of course, this was a general observation, but seemed to hold true over the 300+ kids I have coached over the years.
I swam for a Division III school that stressed putting academics first. It was a very enjoyable experience. Since DIV III schools do not give athletic scholarships, I did not have the pressure that I know scholarship athletes deal with.
Many parents have your concerns and I think much depends on the particular child. You still have many years ahead of you to see what develops. I think you might want to consider waiting until your child is 16 to revisit the issue of swimming during college. In the meantime, if your child wants to swim more, consider letting him give it a shot and see if he maintains his grades. You may find that his grades actually improve because he will know he has less time to waste. ;)
