9 Year Old Marvel What? But How?

We answered your questions - find a good team, take your kid to practice, support them and butt out, let the swimming happen. I know of at least 4 or 5 regular posters on this forum with talented 9-10 year old daughters and none of them are doing what you are doing. A few have already responded. Some even are Olympians and current Masters record holders. I don't see a need to wallpaper my daughter's room in her ribbons. She knows her achievements. I'm not sure why putting her ribbons in a box for safe keeping is cruel but I'll ask her if she feels like less of a swimmer because of it. Try this for a week - don't go to your daughter's practices and see if it makes her any better or worse. I promise you this - the other swimmers and parents might be a bit relieved, but I could be supid about the whole thing. They are in a box just not under the bed lol I have given you post after post explaining how I am at her practices and at her meets and you simply refuse to believe any of it and for that I cannot do anything. I go to her practices because I love to watch my daughter swim. If you want to ignore your kid go ahead but i do not. Want to know what kind of parents act like fools at meets? I've been to my daughters and most of the are moms. Just a fact. I suggest you re-read some of my posts and really look hard at what I was telling you. If you do you will know that I am not disrupting, over-reacting or anything to that extent about her swimming.

The 2000lb gorilla in the room: We all know swim parents who are over-zealous terds. What defines this kind of parent: 1) Interferes with the coach 2) Moves swimmer from team to team 3) Compares child to of others incessantly 4) Poor speller 5) Is completely unaware of true nature and insists that they are just a good parent. I think we can safely say that our friend DAC qualifies most strongly on the 4th point, but the rest we don't really know. The best we can do is say is good luck. PS: I am a poor speller and a good parent. UH-OH!

What you are saying could be true if I could trust that the coach of her team was fit to be coaching. As I said before, dropping my daughter off to practice and "trusting" this man to do a good job coaching my daughter would be fine and dandy except for the fact that she's shown no visible signs of improvement under him. Depending on your level of training (in any sport) would also help to determine how much you trust someone to teach your child technique and to train them. IMO. Finding the level of coaching that you are talking about is many times hard at these ages. Not to say they aren't quality coaches (everyone has something to share, and everyone can always learn more). But be aware that as she grows older and levels herself, she will find different levels in coaching. Also, different people give different quality in different areas. Let me explain: A Flyer would benefit learning from Phelps as he won the gold in fly (yes, others too, I know) at the olympics. But if I wanted to learn backstroke techniques, I would to Aaron Perisol. So, RAC, take advantage of any clinics and camps that you possibly can. You daughter will learn SO MUCH MORE getting info from different people. Lisa, watching isn't bad in and of itself, but it becomes very difficult for a parent to refrain from discussing the practice session with the child. And I suppose there's nothing wrong with THAT, either, but then the kid has to do things like explain why the coach did this or that, why so and so was the lane leader for this set, and so on. Or has to hear constructive advice on his stroke, or in some other way re-live the practice session. A person WATCHING a practice is not likely to understand it the same way as the people who are SWIMMING it... and I'm just telling you, after a while these conversations can get to be a real drag for the kid. The kid may be grateful to the parent for the opportunity to swim, but when the parent is always there, it can't help but change the dynamics, even in the best of relationships. Plus, if your parent is watching, it makes it impossible to goof off at all, ever, and even the very best swimmers love to have a little fun now and then. It's part of what keeps them coming back year after year after year. Thank You!!!! As my kids are 1 and 2 I will keep this to heart as I wish I could coach them everyday. What? You don't think they'll be swimmers? Blasphemy! :bump: I don't get what you mean by "only going so far." You only go as far as you want to go and there's nothing wrong with that. I totally understand what RAC is saying. I had a friend in summer league who would show up once (if that) a week, and own every sprint record. It obviously pissed people off because they worked SO HARD and he didn't. They just could only go so far. Sad that he didn't work, cause he would have been SO GOOD. Funny thing even though my daughter enjoys swimming she has been accused by her previous coach (in a fun way) of being too casual with her emotions. She rarely shows emotion, very quiet and is all business on the starting block. She never likes to talk about swimming much and when the coach hands out awards (and she has over 40 ribbons, and an 8 and under championship trophy, certificates ect ect) she takes them with a grain of salt. I mean, she is proud of them but it seems like she expects them or something. I told her that the last you want to do is get so cocky that you expect these kinds of results everytime because I won't happen. She does have a very competitive spirit and hates to lose. I remember during a relay once we had a sucky relay team and were on the verge of being last and my daughter was the last one off the blocks. The one girl ahead of her had an entire half or more pool length lead and my daughter swam as fast as I ever seen her swim a freestyle and during the last length back passed this girl so we didn't finish last. You know, out of all the awards and 1st place ribbons I think that moment was the one moment in time where I was most proud of her. It showed real guts and what she was made of and what potential she had. Finishing second to last isn't great but how you finish second to last was important. Your daughter sounds humble. Sounds like she works hard and is very proud of her accomplishments. Yet, she doesn't like the spotlight. Most girls her age don't. But being proud and humble is a good thing. sounds like one great daughter. Congratulations.

This thread troubles me because I think it speaks to many of the problems with youth sports today. I see parents at meets berating their kids or obsessing about the times of other kids. All a kid can do is swim their races and do the best they can. What another kid is doing is irrelevant and destructive. No matter how hard your kid trains there will 100% of the time be faster kids. Having said that, your child appears to be a decent swimmer but is in a program that is skimpy on the yards. I don't think you need the mammoth yards at that age but more than a few times a week of 1200 does seem appropriate. My opinion is that you chose a good program, trust the coaches and back off. I pay $190 a month X 2 and I don't consider it imperative for me to second guess the professional coaches. If you don't like the program, find another one. Don't sit on deck and watch, let them be kids and have fun at practice. Hard work can be fun. Best of luck.

1) Interferes with the coach 2) Moves swimmer from team to team 3) Compares child to of others incessantly 4) Poor speller 5) Is completely unaware of true nature and insists that they are just a good parent. #1 I've never done that directly or otherwise #2. She's only been on one team so far. #3. Everyone does that in their minds and if they say they don't they are not telling the truth. 4.Can't help that, sorry. 5. My daughter is a straight A student and in 4 years never had lower than an A. Was one the best swimmers on her team including the 10, 11 and 12 year olds. If that makes me a bad parent then I want to be the worst one out there. Perhaps YOUR kid will be serving MY kid a burger through the drive-up window one day.

5. My daughter is a straight A student and in 4 years never had lower than an A. Was one the best swimmers on her team including the 10, 11 and 12 year olds. If that makes me a bad parent then I want to be the worst one out there. Perhaps YOUR kid will be serving MY kid a burger through the drive-up window one day. Oh man...

Does Ion have a nine year old daughter and a new screen name? :afraid:

Depending on your level of training (in any sport) would also help to determine how much you trust someone to teach your child technique and to train them. IMO. Finding the level of coaching that you are talking about is many times hard at these ages. Not to say they aren't quality coaches (everyone has something to share, and everyone can always learn more). But be aware that as she grows older and levels herself, she will find different levels in coaching. Also, different people give different quality in different areas. Let me explain: A Flyer would benefit learning from Phelps as he won the gold in fly (yes, others too, I know) at the olympics. But if I wanted to learn backstroke techniques, I would to Aaron Perisol. So, RAC, take advantage of any clinics and camps that you possibly can. You daughter will learn SO MUCH MORE getting info from different people. Thank You!!!! As my kids are 1 and 2 I will keep this to heart as I wish I could coach them everyday. What? You don't think they'll be swimmers? Blasphemy! :bump: I totally understand what RAC is saying. I had a friend in summer league who would show up once (if that) a week, and own every sprint record. It obviously pissed people off because they worked SO HARD and he didn't. They just could only go so far. Sad that he didn't work, cause he would have been SO GOOD. Your daughter sounds humble. Sounds like she works hard and is very proud of her accomplishments. Yet, she doesn't like the spotlight. Most girls her age don't. But being proud and humble is a good thing. sounds like one great daughter. Congratulations. Thnx. Yur right, she is very humble sometimes too much so. Anyways, she has practice right after school tonight and I'll remember some of the good advice here. You won't see me hovering, screaming, questioning, rolling my eyes, sighing, mocking, banging, waving my arms or any of that. I will do what I have always done, sit and watch and not say anything when practice is over.:applaud:

Youhave absolutely no idea what you are assuming. Simply throwing stones from what you read on a message board and not paying attention to anything that I have been posting. Amazing. No, I've paid too much attention. I'm really sorry if I have you "pegged" incorrectly, it's just that the things you said sounded incredibly like the swimming parents I remember knowing so well when I was a kid. Please understand, I've seen so much of it! I really can't know if you are like that. If you are not, I'm very sorry. Even if you are that sort of parent, I know that you're only doing it because it is your way of being a good parent. So, no more "stones". I sincerely wish you luck, and I hope that your child enjoys a terrific swimming career, one that will serve her well for her whole life. Kids learn so many things from swimming!

Oh man... I'm just being sarcastic. :banana: I really love this bananna.