The Inconsistent 10 and under swimmer

As I finished a private lesson last night with one of the younger swimmers, I was chatting with the parents. I realized that we probably need to do a better job of doing some parent education. I may have to stop waiting for the board to tell me when this great time will be and just organize one myself.

I mentioned to the parents about what happens at times with 10 and unders when it comes to performance. Young kids are testing things out, similar to the way they typically test things out in the real world when they are very young. They learn things by messing up, and then learning from their mistake. You know, like eating grass or dirt, and then you watch as they spit it out and they realize that dirt and grass may not be made to eat. In swimming, the 10 and under is the time for this same kind of growth. It needs to be guided by a coach, as they need to learn from the mistakes that they make.

During this time you are going to see some of the biggest improvements and some of the biggest adds you will see in a swimmers career from meet to meet. I know any coach has watched their fast 10 and under dive in the water pop up and swim, and they ask themselves, "What is that? I have never seen that before." Many times this is in a bad way. Parents of these young kids are going to get frustrated. You'll hear all the time, "How did they add so much? I thought they were getting so much better after seeing the last meet." Hopefully you hear them say this when the child isn't around, as this would be completely against the supportive aspect of the parent that is needed for long term success in the sport.

It is the time of inconsistency. It frustrates parents and coaches alike. It can also happen with swimmers who are new to the sport and are older, and some 11 and 12 year olds who a maturing slower than their peers. Remember that the physical and mental maturation of a child kind span up to 5 years (according to studies, I think its more like 4 years). That means a 11 year old who matured really fast could have the physical and mental development of a 16 year old, there is little chance of any peer is going to be able to compete with this swimmer until they are 14 or 15 years old and they mature and the early bloomer doesn't mature as much.

When I told this to the parents they smiled, and said that that was exactly what was going on with their swimmer, and they really were wondering why. This made them feel better. Also looking at the progress of this swimmer, you can tell from year to year there was good progress, and that probably came from not getting to upset or frustrated over those few bad swims along the way.

If there are parents of 10 and unders reading this, prepare yourself, it is a bumpy ride, but when you look at the season progression there should be progress. Things to watch out for though: Swimmers getting upset about a single performance, Swimmers over thinking their technique, Parents adding their own critiques and thoughts on stroke and progression to the swimmer, and Swimmers feeling like they are letting their parents or coaches down.