Please critique

Let me also say that I have no idea why the videos showed up in the post. I was trying to just post links, lol.

Curl Burke is a great program. They trained at my college. I remember trying to train with them one time and just couldn't keep up. And, the kids were like 14 or something. But, they train at alot of different pools with different levels. Tom Dolan and Ed Moses came from that club.

Forgive me if I'm way off base, but it scares me a little that you've both taken and posted this much video of your 9 year old for stroke correction. I may have no reason to be frightened, but please remember that one of the MAJOR priorities when a swimmer is young (IMHO) is having fun. Speaking as one who has coached for 20 years, I don't know many kids who like their parents to constantly critique their strokes. That's what coaches are for. Your son has plenty of time to develop and refine all of his strokes--there's no rush to get it all right this summer! Again, not meaning to offend here. Just want to voice my concerns :) You are forgiven for being way off base. Just like anything in life, learning the proper way to do something will make it that much easier later on. As I mentioned, my children play piano and from the very beginning they were taught how to hold their hands and body posture before even playing a note. My son thought it was very cool that folks who are accomplished swimmers, some ex-collegiate or even more advanced, could give him pointers. He's already mighty proud of himself for the strides he has made since last season, and I reinforce it. I always tell him the good, and gently propose improvements he can make. I do not have a swimming background, but I have learned a lot in the past year and am improving myself. I teach him simple things like balance, head position, etc. On his rather large neighborhood team there is very little stroke development, and to help me be a better teacher I was hoping some of you could see things that I don't. It really amuses me that some people make assumptions on this topic. Reminds me of the woman with the black eye whose husband gets dirty glances on the assumption that he did it. So you assume that I am some cut-throat dad working my son to death while other kids play. FYI, we work on his stroke 2-3 times a week for 30 minutes, and he probably does a total of 5 laps in each.

It really amuses me that some people make assumptions on this topic. Reminds me of the woman with the black eye whose husband gets dirty glances on the assumption that he did it. So you assume that I am some cut-throat dad working my son to death while other kids play. FYI, we work on his stroke 2-3 times a week for 30 minutes, and he probably does a total of 5 laps in each. Hey, I tried to be nice :angel: We just have different parenting philosophies and I'm willing to agree to disagree. My worry wasn't that you were heaping on extra work or being psychotic. My worry is that you might be one of those parents I, personally (and this might be just me) dread to have as a parent on my team. I (again, personally) don't believe in parents coaching their kids--especially when the parent has no background or formal teaching in what he or she is trying to teach his or her kid. The fact that you are posting videos for random masters swimmers to view and offer correction suggestions, suggests to me that you are not an expert yourself. I, personally, am annoyed when a parent on my team tries to teach something he or she doesn't understand for themselves. They often don't really understand whatt they're teaching and they end up making my job harder. I've coached swimming for 20 years now and have spent 37 years as a swimmer. I have a hard time coaching my own kids because they would really rather have me be a supportive mom. I wouldn't, in a million years, dream of giving my kids tips on their Tae Kwon Do forms or sparring since I know little about TKD. I wouldn't think of asking others on a site about tips for them either. If I was concerned about their instruction, I'd find a good program with good coaching. But, that's just my personal philosophy. I do happen to know a lot of coaches who have that same philosophy so get used to hearing about it and try not to have such a thin skin... ***Ahhh, might have been a good tidbit of information to include that your son suffers from Asperger's syndrome and, quite possibly, needs a little extra direction. I amend my above post to say that, as a coach, I'd be MUCH more tolerant of a parent with a child who has special needs giving their child some extra direction. That makes sense to me. If you were like most parents I encounter who do this kind of thing with their swimmers who are learning perfectly well in practice, I'd be irritated. But, it looks like your situation is different. I apologize if I offended!

I was at the pool yesterday and watched workouts for children and then after a master swimming group, with the same coach. The workouts were identical used the same workout boards. The coach was there and the instructions given were, don't stop, follow the workout. There was not a single stroke correction except the word go, thats good, and keep it moving. I saw so many blatant stroke faults and not a word said about stroke correction. Just keep moving. Read the workout posted. So, you're saying you would have loved for your inexperienced mom or dad to take you aside and correct your strokes three times a week? You seem to have little regard for coaches. There are actually many of us out here who "coach" and spend entire practices doing nothing but yelling out stroke instructions to our swimmers as they swim. I would have hated it if my mom or dad hovered around the pool coaching me all the time. One of the best things about swimming was that it was MY thing and not theirs...

Re:BR-The overall timing is good.He brings his hands too far back.This is decreasing the power of his in-sweep and causing his recovery to start too low(too far beneath the surface) which messes up his streamlining.He is kicking out.The kick should be back.The feet start outside the knees and they should not get wider than where they are in the catch.2 good drills for him would be-1)practicing the pull bent over the lane line with it crossing at the arm pits 2)breaststroke with a pull buoy between the knees.

The biggest problem with swim coaches and kids the coaches just heap on work and they forget proper technique. Some coaches believe the faults will correct themselves, they don't.

I was at the pool yesterday and watched workouts for children and then after that a master swimming group, with the same coach. The workouts were identical used the same workout boards. The coach was there and the instructions given were, don't stop, follow the workout. There was not a single stroke correction except the word go, thats good, and keep it moving. I saw so many blatant stroke faults and not a word said about stroke correction. Just keep moving. Read the workout posted.

I did not say anything about all coaches. Better a parent that cares then a coach who does not. I happened to be there and watching a so called coach. I have no respect for that coach. Is it required that I respect a coach that seems to know how take money under false pretences. Any parent could have written the workout and any parent would have been able to do as good a job as that coach. So, you're saying you would have loved for your inexperienced mom or dad to take you aside and correct your strokes three times a week? You seem to have little regard for coaches. There are actually many of us out here who "coach" and spend entire practices doing nothing but yelling out stroke instructions to our swimmers as they swim. I would have hated it if my mom or dad hovered around the pool coaching me all the time. One of the best things about swimming was that it was MY thing and not theirs...

Forgive me if I'm way off base, but it scares me a little that you've both taken and posted this much video of your 9 year old for stroke correction. I may have no reason to be frightened, but please remember that one of the MAJOR priorities when a swimmer is young (IMHO) is having fun. Speaking as one who has coached for 20 years, I don't know many kids who like their parents to constantly critique their strokes. That's what coaches are for. Your son has plenty of time to develop and refine all of his strokes--there's no rush to get it all right this summer! Again, not meaning to offend here. Just want to voice my concerns :)