Parents! You might be hearing your young athletes talking about how much harder practice is getting. I thought it might be a good idea to try to provide some background information on this subject, so you might be able to better discuss what is going on at practice with your athlete. We do not always have time to discuss it with the kids, so you can actually help us out and at the same time play a valuable role in the whole process.

Briefly, each season is "jammed packed" with new swimmers who may or may not have had any experience with a year round swimming program. So, the first couple of weeks of each new season is spent on discussing stroke drills. You might ask what are stroke drills? Drills are a quick and easy way to break down each stroke into various parts, so the young swimmer does not have to think about putting the whole stroke together, especially when they may have difficulty in performing the stroke as it is. Stroke drills have been around for as long as I can remember and they appear to be quite simple. I have found them to be the cornerstone of any great swim program, so I have implemented them into every swim program that I have been associated with --from beginning learn to swim, to accomplished age-groupers, to older master swimmers to the elite level. Everyone, no matter how skilled you might be, can learn quicker and easier with the use of stroke drills. After the drills are developed, it is always a good "rule of thumb" to continue to use the drills whenever you take a break from swimming and anytime that your stroke just does not feel quite right.

After the first several weeks, we then begin to get the swimmers to start using the skills developed in practice with multiple and repetitive swimming sets to establish correct muscle memory. So, practices become a little more swimming oriented with less time spent on stroke drills, but the drills are still always part of every practice and never far away from the core of our practice. However, each week the coaches are trying to get the swimmer to use those skills in a more efficient and faster capacity. I have always looked at coaching swimming as a true "art form."

I value those athletes who are not afraid to push themselves in practice and who many times are able to excel to greater achievements because they have to work harder. Part of their success is learning the stroke drills correctly, implementing them into his/her daily swim routine and to push a little more each week, each month and each practice. Depending on what group each swimmer is in will determine how much they are encouraged to train a little harder.

So, I hope that I have been able to provide some feedback to you, so that you can communicate with your athlete when they complain about how hard the practice was, how fast they had to swim in practice today, how many yards they swam, etc. It is all in the overall plan for your athlete and that is where our expertise is most apparent by trying to coordinate that plan.

If you ever have any questions concerning your athlete’s practice, please do not hesitate to talk to the coach as soon as practice is completed.

Hope this sheds some light on "why swim practice is getting harder."

Sincerely,