Backwards Thinking

I think about this at times, and I have thought about blogging on it before, as I see it normally in the summer and early fall, but I never got around to blogging it. I don't know why it came to mind now, but I thought it was a good time to post a blog about this way of thinking that always seems to pop up.

Parents sign their kids up for our team, and I hear the comment, "I thought they were going to swimming more laps," or "I think my child needs more of a workout." This is common, as some parents put their kids into our program for reasons of fitness in the beginning because they don't realize the value of what can be learned through attending swim meets. Our younger groups do dryland and they do get a short good workout there, and the fact that they aren't great swimmers, it doesn't take mush for them to get their heart rates up and get a good workout in the water. This is the time though that we develop the fundamentals and construct the makings of strokes. The next group would be to develop good stroke technique through demonstration, explanation, and various drills. No where in that focus is work them out for fitness, even though through warm-up and a small set that they do does provide a decent workout for kids.

Then, when the kids get a little older and begin to get fast, it is amazing how swimmers and parents alike begin to worry so much about stroke technique. Even the kids who are really fast, at times obsess over there strokes and don't consider concentrating on the speed and consistency that they have at practices.

Parents who had once asked for their kids to swim more laps are now asking for their kids to do more stroke work. This is the backwards thinking of how to approach swimming. Strokes are developed at younger ages as they are less likely to have bad habits and can create proper technique. Endurance means nothing at this time, and most 10 and under swimmers don't swim longer events anyway. (Note: I do encourage sprinting and speed though, as learning how to move limbs at a fast rate can be harder when they get older). A 10 and under can swim a 500 freestyle not because they have great endurance, but because their strokes are good enough that it isn't hard to swim 20 laps of freestyle (We make swimming easy, that's the point in teaching 10 and under swimmers).