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
This thread is really cracking me up. I once posted some video of my son swimming to see if someone could give us tips on improving his stroke, and boy did I catch hell. The assumption is that any parent who tries to work on their kid's technique is a pushy parent who will burn their child out.
I should mention that to my son's Suzuki piano teacher, who stresses the importance of daily practice AND parental involvement to foster proper technique. We sit in the lessons, take notes, and are given the responsibility of making sure that what was discussed and practiced in the lesson is carried over to practice time at home. This is not a novel concept. Are we being pushy parents if we make sure our child did his homework correctly, or should that be left solely to the teachers?
I agree with RAC that most swim teams really don't delve a great deal into technique, so a child's bad habits are reinforced by the second. There are some children who are natural swimmer, and as Terry Laughlin likes to say, others who can learn to be good swimmers. One person's child may have a higher IQ than another's, but is it wrong for the second parent to nurture his child to achieve similar success, within reason? Don't assume that parents have a whip behind their child when working on swimming. In fact, if done with kindness and in a fun way it can be bonding.
This thread is really cracking me up. I once posted some video of my son swimming to see if someone could give us tips on improving his stroke, and boy did I catch hell. The assumption is that any parent who tries to work on their kid's technique is a pushy parent who will burn their child out.
I should mention that to my son's Suzuki piano teacher, who stresses the importance of daily practice AND parental involvement to foster proper technique. We sit in the lessons, take notes, and are given the responsibility of making sure that what was discussed and practiced in the lesson is carried over to practice time at home. This is not a novel concept. Are we being pushy parents if we make sure our child did his homework correctly, or should that be left solely to the teachers?
I agree with RAC that most swim teams really don't delve a great deal into technique, so a child's bad habits are reinforced by the second. There are some children who are natural swimmer, and as Terry Laughlin likes to say, others who can learn to be good swimmers. One person's child may have a higher IQ than another's, but is it wrong for the second parent to nurture his child to achieve similar success, within reason? Don't assume that parents have a whip behind their child when working on swimming. In fact, if done with kindness and in a fun way it can be bonding.
