News For
SWIM PARENTS
Published by The
American Swimming Coaches Association
5101 NW 21 Ave.,
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Where Should Fast Age Group Swimmers
Train?
”My
ten years old son is the fastest swimmer in his group and he can also beat
several of the senior swimmers… shouldn’t he be training in the
senior swimming group?”
Answered
by: Rick Klatt, ASCA Level 5 Coach
There are three goals I have
for age group swimmers on my team who will eventually make the transition to
senior swimming. They are:
1. They love swimming
and look forward to practice sessions.
2. They have a sound
foundation of correct stroke mechanics.
3. They know how to
generate speed over short distances.
I think an age group coach
needs to be very flexible and very innovative in designing a training program
for age group swimmers that keeps their interest and is considered fun. I
encourage my age group coaches to include lots of dry land games to build
coordination and aerobic fitness. I also encourage the coaches to provide
challenging training sessions that are short and to the point. Every training
session must include fundamental stroke work and some emphasis on fast swimming
over short distances.
There are dangers associated
with having younger swimmers training in the senior group. Although
training with the older group may produce rapid improvements, it could harm
your child’s swimming career in the long run. Training longer and harder
produces stress at his age. He could lose interest in the sport. This
sometimes is hard to do when he is with swimmers that are mentally and
physically more mature. Socially, he may become outcast because of his youth
and the training may be more than his body is accustomed to. It is very easy
for a swimmer to lose interest in the sport when he is not enjoying himself.
His self-image can deteriorate easily if not given the proper amount of
attention.
It is also important to let
a swimmer gradually learn and improve. If he starts swimming in the senior
group at 10 years old, the program can become very stale for him by the time he
reaches high school.
In our program, a swimmer
will normally move into the senior group when he or she is 13 or 14 years old.
I feel I can be more successful at helping the swimmers if:
1. The swimmer has a
positive attitude and has the desire to come practice.
2. The swimmer has a
good technical background on stroke techniques so that short
reminders to him of his already formulated good habits is generally
sufficient.
3. The swimmer knows
how to generate speed over a short distance. At this point we can begin the
training that will be required to maintain that speed for a longer distance.
Age group swimmers should be allowed to develop
slowly and have fun. By training with swimmers his age, he will be able to
interact with friends and develop close bonds with his peers. He can contribute
to the team by being a role model and will create a strong self-image as well
as being a good leader for his group.