Hey everyone, wasn't sure were to put this questions so I decided to place it here. I also wanted to get some opinions from knowlageable swimmers like yourselves so I hope you don't mind me asking this.
Here's the story..
My daughter is 9 years old and has been competing for about 8 months but taking swimming lessons since the age of 3. She's extremely descent for her age (about 35 seconds 50 free, 43 seconds 50 fly, 45 seconds 50 back and 43 seconds 50 ***) just to give you an idea. I decided to pull her off the current team as I feel he was not improving enough as her coach did very little technique training and put her in private lessons with someone I think can really help her learn the little things to make her faster.
Anyways, here is the other thing.
During her swim meets I noticed another 9 year old girl who is swimming with times such as 32 seconds 50 free, 32 seconds 50 fly, 38 seconds 50 *** ect and could not believe it. Keep in mind this girl JUST turned 9!
My question is this,
How is it that a 9 year old child can swim times as fast as many of the top 11, 12 or 13 year olds? Is this a freak of nature? Is it just good coaching? Physical strength? or what.
I did not think it was possible for kids this age to swim so fast. Is there any hope for my daughter to "catch up" to kids like this?
I would like to know everyones opinion on youth marvels like this. I believe this kids has gotten as fast as she will get but that's my own personal opinion. She is sort of short and perhaps as she matures other kids will eventually get taller and stronger and catch up to her times?
If you were in my shoes what would YOU do with your daughter to help her attain these kinds of times?
Thanks
I can understand about the whole "parent" thing and I agree completely. Know that many times I've offered my daughter a chance to "take a break" from swimming and do something else yet she insists that she wants to continue swimming. I do attend most of her meets but just sit on the bleachers as I see too many parents standing near the edge of the pools screaming and yelling at there kids which I refuse to do.
I like one poster here have the attitude that if she WANTS MY HELP I will be there to give it to her but by asking for it she must understand that my word is law and not to question me otherwise do not ask for it.
I am not worried at all that my daughter still has a love for swimming. I think it's so entrenched into her by now that it would take something extremely dramatic to make her want to quit. Someone here said do other things and that she has done and still continues to do. She is a very good basketball player and has done some of that but does not like it as much as swimming. She also does girlscouts and spends time with friends.
My only concern as one fellow mentioned is what to do to get the kid to the next level.
Private or public.
I disagree with many who say put your kid on a team and stay away and let the coach do his job. I am not ready to trust someone so easily without first seeing how they do their job. With my daughters swim team the coach was very lazy and as I said after 8 months of swimming for him never really improved her time or improved her technique any better than it already was. I worked with my daughter for 2 1/2 months and HELLO she drops 33 total seconds.
I don't believe in interfering with the coach but I would be doing my daughter a diservice by allowing her to stay on a team with a coach that cares more about his monthly fee and less about actual training. It's not fair to my daughter and it's not fair to me. I won't mention the fact that her team never really seemed like a "team" considering none of the kids ever associated with each other. Hardly anyone ever made an effort to befriend anyone there which was sad. Swim teams are not always good and as a parent you'd better know what you are placing your kid in because in the long run it could do more harm than good. I could care less if you call yourself a level 5 coach nationally ranked at the highest level. I think people put too much emphesis on titles than they do personality, understanding and commitment. Needless to say she is enjoying this new swim club and SHOULD get better in a technical sense working with a good instructor one on one.
I've personally seen 9 year old marvels at meets who get the rolling of the eyes from their parents when the kid doesn't beat their time and I've seen how they are overworked to. I am doing my best to ovoid that situation. Fact is to be an excellent swimmer you need to swim but there has to be a happy medium.
My thing is I don't want to wait until she is older before getting her good training as it is much easier to train a young swimmer than it is to train an older one who has developed bad swimming habits. Too many times I have seen parents shove their kids onto swim teams and the kid has hardly spent any quality time in lessons and it shows. I'm sorry but I believe being technically sound is far more important if you want to succeed as a swimmer than it is the social atmosphere or just "being physically mature". If you don't know what you are doing in the water I don't care if you have a body like michael phelps or HOW many friends you make at the pool it won't improve your swimming ability.
I can understand about the whole "parent" thing and I agree completely. Know that many times I've offered my daughter a chance to "take a break" from swimming and do something else yet she insists that she wants to continue swimming. I do attend most of her meets but just sit on the bleachers as I see too many parents standing near the edge of the pools screaming and yelling at there kids which I refuse to do.
I like one poster here have the attitude that if she WANTS MY HELP I will be there to give it to her but by asking for it she must understand that my word is law and not to question me otherwise do not ask for it.
I am not worried at all that my daughter still has a love for swimming. I think it's so entrenched into her by now that it would take something extremely dramatic to make her want to quit. Someone here said do other things and that she has done and still continues to do. She is a very good basketball player and has done some of that but does not like it as much as swimming. She also does girlscouts and spends time with friends.
My only concern as one fellow mentioned is what to do to get the kid to the next level.
Private or public.
I disagree with many who say put your kid on a team and stay away and let the coach do his job. I am not ready to trust someone so easily without first seeing how they do their job. With my daughters swim team the coach was very lazy and as I said after 8 months of swimming for him never really improved her time or improved her technique any better than it already was. I worked with my daughter for 2 1/2 months and HELLO she drops 33 total seconds.
I don't believe in interfering with the coach but I would be doing my daughter a diservice by allowing her to stay on a team with a coach that cares more about his monthly fee and less about actual training. It's not fair to my daughter and it's not fair to me. I won't mention the fact that her team never really seemed like a "team" considering none of the kids ever associated with each other. Hardly anyone ever made an effort to befriend anyone there which was sad. Swim teams are not always good and as a parent you'd better know what you are placing your kid in because in the long run it could do more harm than good. I could care less if you call yourself a level 5 coach nationally ranked at the highest level. I think people put too much emphesis on titles than they do personality, understanding and commitment. Needless to say she is enjoying this new swim club and SHOULD get better in a technical sense working with a good instructor one on one.
I've personally seen 9 year old marvels at meets who get the rolling of the eyes from their parents when the kid doesn't beat their time and I've seen how they are overworked to. I am doing my best to ovoid that situation. Fact is to be an excellent swimmer you need to swim but there has to be a happy medium.
My thing is I don't want to wait until she is older before getting her good training as it is much easier to train a young swimmer than it is to train an older one who has developed bad swimming habits. Too many times I have seen parents shove their kids onto swim teams and the kid has hardly spent any quality time in lessons and it shows. I'm sorry but I believe being technically sound is far more important if you want to succeed as a swimmer than it is the social atmosphere or just "being physically mature". If you don't know what you are doing in the water I don't care if you have a body like michael phelps or HOW many friends you make at the pool it won't improve your swimming ability.
