Reply to Can an 11yr old start swim team?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]A lot of groups have a “pre competitive” class or group where they specifically work on stroke development.  It sounds like that is what he would need.  [/quote]

+1. I have two swimmers, one started at age 10, the other at age 7. I would ask around for stroke school, pre-comp, and swim team recommendations for the fall and keep an eye on signup dates. The summer goal should be to learn stroke mechanics, dives and turns to be able to try out for a swim team in the fall. Summer swim team is ideal because he will be able to see if he likes being on a team and he will learn the basics, but I would also supplement with private lessons to focus on technique, starts and turns. If he was 7/8, I would say that lessons are not necessary, but a motivated 11 year old who can absorb one on one instruction well, and then can practice it daily during summer swim practice will make huge improvements in a couple of months.

Ideally, the goal is swim team in the fall rather than stroke school or pre-comp - at age 11 they will benefit from the rigor and frequency of swim team practice. If he isn’t ready, pre-comp or stroke school is the backup. Age 11 is not too late, but it does get harder as the kids get older, both from a swim perspective but also from a social perspective, which is why I would opt to get him into a team rather than pre-comp.  Older swimmers who are less experienced might be swimming with 9/10 year olds. My kids never did pre-comp or stroke school. My 10 year old started with one team and he moved to a better team that was closer to us the next year. [/quote]

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