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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If he doesn’t like 3 times a week as a 9 year old, he will really hate 4 times a week as an 11 year old. I would find out now if this is something he loves. Even though it seems logical that a 10/11 year old would find it easier to adjust to swim practice than a 9 year old, it is actually the opposite. By 10/11, many kids have been swimming for 2-3 years. I had one kid join at age 7 and one kid join at age 10, and[b] it was harder for my 10 year old to catch up to his age group.[/b]

My 7 year old played academy soccer twice a week and swam twice a week and loved both. When he turned 9, he moved from academy to a club team that practiced 2-3 times a week, and he swam 2-3 times a week. He wanted to swim more, but couldn’t because of soccer. He is now turning 13, and is giving up club soccer so he can focus on swim, but I’m glad he did both for 4 years, even though it was clear that he loved swim more than soccer. It kept him from being burned out and focused at swim practice. He will still play soccer at a lower level, but didn’t want to continue soccer practice 3 times a week.

That’s not to say that starting at age 10/11 won’t work - my older kid played basketball with club swim until 12 and is now 15. It took him longer, but he is now achieving the AAA times he has been dreaming about since he was 10. But it was harder for him than it was for my younger one. [/quote]

This is what my DH is arguing.  [/quote]

PP. In retrospect, it was a good experience for my then 10 year old and now that he has some success, I can see that he learned patience, grit, and how to set goals without comparing himself to faster swimmers while he was catching up. I guess I should say, not getting obsessed with comparing himself to faster swimmers, because a certain amount of comparison is unavoidable.

I do think finding out whether your kid loves the grind and discipline of club swim earlier rather than later is important, even if just from a planning perspective. Kids have to love both the social and solitary aspects of practice. The solitary piece take a while to get used to, but if they are just into the social part, they will be unhappy. [/quote]

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