Kenora Swimming Sharks

News for Swim Parents ~ Practice Is Too Hard!!!!

Published (edited and amended by BF) by the American Swimming Coaches AssociationYes, sometimes some of the things we do in practice are “hard”. We prefer to use the word “challenging”. Part of what we do in practice is to challenge swimmers to extend themselves beyond what they think they are capable of doing. We do this with care and in a systematic and progressive manner. We do not attempt to drive weaker swimmers from the sport. Nor do we attempt to make each swimmer an Olympic Swimmer. We have long term patience for each swimmer’s development (physical development, emotional development and skill development).

How much “challenge” is enough? Conversely how much “challenge” is too much? The answer depends on the age and level of swimmer. In our age group program less than 20% of the available time (on a weekly basis) is set aside for “challenge” sets. We record and track times on these test sets and coach the swimmers to try to attain higher levels of performance each week. The remaining hours of practice are devoted to developing and perfecting swimming skills. For some swimmers with the desire and ability, challenge sets will eventually make up 40% to 60% of available workout time. It may take some swimmers two or three or even four years in our competitive program  to get to that point in their development.

All facts and figures do not matter to a swimmer who says “It’s too hard!” This is where helpful support from parents can be of great assistance. Parents can remind swimmers that some exercises are designed to push swimmers into zones of uncomfortableness

• Harder They Fall film

or a good reason. A swimmers body will not adapt without some workout overload or stress. It is a basic principle of training applicable to all ages. It is also a basic principle of life that sometimes things get uncomfortable and we must work a little harder to bring about a change for the positive. 

At the age group developmental level our primary goals are to teach swimming skills, to learn good practice habits (punctuality, the importance of regular attendance, attention to detail, listening skills, to work hard on a regular or consistent basis), to set the aerobic conditioning base for senior level swimming, to introduce competition opportunities, to expose swimmers to life skills, and to have FUN!!!!!

“Fun” is an interesting word. One day at the conclusion of a CG2 swim practice I asked 11 very exhausted swimmers aged 9 – 12, “How many of you had fun today?” I asked this after they had completed their first ever 3850 meter practice in a 90 minute practice session. Of course I was expecting to hear a lot of complaining and that none would say they had had fun. What I was hoping to do was to create a teaching moment where we could talk about the difference between “fun” and “satisfaction” and/or “achievement”. To my surprise every swimmer wearily raised their hands and said that they had had fun. When I asked them to explain why, they all said that they felt that way because they felt proud that they had achieved something (swimming 3850 meters) that they had never done before. Now, today most of those same swimmers are regularly swimming 5000 to 7000 meters in each practice in CG1, and have the skills and the physical fitness to compete on a national and hopefully soon international basis. I believe that all those swimmers are still swimming and still loving our great sport because the challenge is the “FUN” and the fun is in the “CHALLENGE”.