Any thoughts about NCAP at Georgetown vs Tollefson at Georgetown prep for 10 year old?

[Anonymous]

Toll was terrible for DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Toll was terrible for DC.

Every swimmer has to find the club/group that works best for him or her. Even when you do find one, the clubs often shuffle their coaching staffs every few years, and your kid may move up a group to a coach with whom they don't connect. This is why swimmers switch clubs. Unfortunately, clubs are rather "possessive" of their best swimmers because they bring prestige to the club, and act as informal recruiting tools for the club.

[Anonymous]

A female coach at Toll is horrible. She was teaching kids how to breathe by rolling on their backs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A female coach at Toll is horrible. She was teaching kids how to breathe by rolling on their backs.

Everyone has to start somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Clearly this was a learn-to-swim coach and if the child is particularly small sometimes that’s where you start

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A female coach at Toll is horrible. She was teaching kids how to breathe by rolling on their backs.

like during freestyle? that's how our kids were taught. it's a temporary thing to help newbies get across the pool

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ASA is a great program. They are holding tryouts on June 17 and 24. Go to their website for details and signups.

We've heard the same. There is definitely an informal ranking among swim clubs. Toll isn't at the top. Coaching quality varies significantly by group at Toll.

+1 ASA has some great swimmers. Seems like it's pulling top swimmers from less-competitive programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ASA is a great program. They are holding tryouts on June 17 and 24. Go to their website for details and signups.

We've heard the same. There is definitely an informal ranking among swim clubs. Toll isn't at the top. Coaching quality varies significantly by group at Toll.

+1 ASA has some great swimmers. Seems like it's pulling top swimmers from less-competitive programs.

My DD is an 11-12 swimmer with one of the big clubs and we were at multiple meets with year with ASA and Toll swimmers and I can tell you each has a handful of standout girls in that age group that could compete in the highest level at any of the big clubs. It does make me wonder if they will stay with ASA and Toll as they get older. Probably will be a total coup for those clubs if they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Clearly this was a learn-to-swim coach and if the child is particularly small sometimes that’s where you start

Absolutely! TOLL teaches great technique. We r RMSC, but I know lots of great swimmers who strayed at TOLL. Their technique methods have proven effective for many.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ASA is a great program. They are holding tryouts on June 17 and 24. Go to their website for details and signups.

We've heard the same. There is definitely an informal ranking among swim clubs. Toll isn't at the top. Coaching quality varies significantly by group at Toll.

+1 ASA has some great swimmers. Seems like it's pulling top swimmers from less-competitive programs.

My DD is an 11-12 swimmer with one of the big clubs and we were at multiple meets with year with ASA and Toll swimmers and I can tell you each has a handful of standout girls in that age group that could compete in the highest level at any of the big clubs. It does make me wonder if they will stay with ASA and Toll as they get older. Probably will be a total coup for those clubs if they do.

ASA already has and has had some great HS swimmers. I can only think of one who left ASA for a bigger club more than 5 yes ago or so. They have some excellent girls right now! Most seem to stay. TOLL also has good senior swimmers (but it’s smaller so there are only a few).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A female coach at Toll is horrible. She was teaching kids how to breathe by rolling on their backs.

That’s what got my two kids to finally figure out rotary breathing. I don’t know if it’s common, but it’s effective!

[Anonymous]

Had one child switch to Toll and initially saw improvement in times that correlated with more swim practices. Unfortunately, as they age, coaches want swimmers only to swim (vs other sport) and lay on a pretty heavy guilt trip. Def also favour the fastest swimmers (despite saying otherwise). However - not sure this is necessarily different anywhere else. No direct experience with NCAP-Prep though have generally heard good things about them and practices seemed rigorous (same time as Toll). RMSC is not bad either, but coach quality may be somewhat site dependent (in general, when younger, comes across as lap swimming factory instead of technique, unlike Toll - who seems a bit better at in the younger set teaching technique). Again, no direct NCAP experience (only 2nd hand).

[Anonymous]

The answer is it really depends on who the coach would be. Pretty much every team in the area has some good coaches vs some bad ones. Unfortunately there is no magic club that has great coaches from 8 all the way to 18.

To answer your question, of the choices listed ncap prep has the best 10 year old coach. Very supportive and attentive. Not the case for the coaches there as they get older

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. Is there any swim program that offers dryland and best swimming lessons? Also what are the NCAP locations that offer dryland ? Is there any other recommendations other than NCAP ?

Are you looking for a competitive club for your kid or just stroke and turn lessons?

I’m just looking for the best competitive club ? I’m
New to this . And don’t understand why dryland can’t be done at age of 10

Drylamd is usually for older kids. Do you seriously want the injury risk? If DC wants to work on strength and endurance, do push-ups and play soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The answer is it really depends on who the coach would be. Pretty much every team in the area has some good coaches vs some bad ones. Unfortunately there is no magic club that has great coaches from 8 all the way to 18.

To answer your question, of the choices listed ncap prep has the best 10 year old coach. Very supportive and attentive. Not the case for the coaches there as they get older

This has been our experience as well. The coach for the younger kids makes it fun and does an excellent job. The coach for the middle schoolers + the coach for the high schoolers are both mean and lazy. A one size fits all training approach which often involves swimming continuously for 90 minutes to 3 hours. Yelling at kids, calling them lazy, threatening them constantly. Discouraging them from doing any other activities besides club swimming (they are even anti summer swimming and high school swimming). If you go to Prep have an exit strategy, otherwise your kid will be burnt out and bullied