ASA has riding stars. Pretty sure Sea Devils has stroke clinics too

Anonymous wrote:I agree with Toll or FINS. At the younger age, its mostly about how much they swim. They can have some real success next summer if they were engaged 2X per week at Toll and / or FINS IMO.

Toll and FINS are both great, but also very different programs.

Toll: expensive, known for excellent stroke instruction by experienced coaches
FINS: less expensive (but not cheap), great for providing summer swimmers once or twice a week year round swimming, but not as technique-focused

My kids have done well with FINS, but it's not Toll. It's all about what you're looking for.

I agree with Toll or FINS. At the younger age, its mostly about how much they swim. They can have some real success next summer if they were engaged 2X per week at Toll and / or FINS IMO.

NCap Stroke is overcrowded fyi - it’s just a moneymaker for the company

And another legitimate question would be how badly DC wants to be this kind of swimmer. At age 8 kids can have pretty strong opinions about who they are and what they like. It is possible that DC is resistant on some level, too. (I know I was very resistant at this age to a time-consuming activity that my parents had committed to keeping me in!)

I'd also be wondering about the productivity of the coaching relationship that OP's DC is in. It may be that the coach doesn't communicate the changes needed in a way that DC can understand and implement, or that DC is the kind of learner who has trouble taking corrections on board right away, or even that DC forgets what is being changed when they go off to club practice and just sinks back into the same habits.

Is the coach giving DC one or two clear 'deliverables' to work on each week in club swim and then show off again at the start of the next lesson? Can DC summarize in conversation what the coach is aiming at and how DC tries to accomplish those things? Does the coach feel that DC is continuing to make the same mistakes over and over again? Does DC's lane coach at club swim know what DC is working on in stroke lessons and reinforce?

If DC is a receptive student with good verbal and muscle memory and is still not making progress, I would really try to find a different (private) coach. Getting legal in a given swim stroke shouldn't become a vast, intimidating barrier.

Anonymous wrote:Similar situation here

Toll I've heard is great but timing poor for us.
How does NCAP or FINS compare?

Assuming you’re in Maryland, NCAP North, NCAP Prep and NCAP Holton Arms do not have developmental programs. FINS would be the most comparable to Toll. My kid did FINS and the county stroke and turn program (it was the Covid 2020-2021 season so we cobbled it together) before joining a year round club and that worked out well.

Similar situation here

Toll I've heard is great but timing poor for us.
How does NCAP or FINS compare?

Stroke school for sure. Tollefson runs the best one for little kids

How often is he swimming? A lot of the counties have higher level swim classes. Start there and he needs to swim a few times a week all year.

Anonymous wrote:Sign him up for a stoke focused program, if you’re in MoCo, Tollefson runs one that is pretty good.

A weekend Tollefson stroke clinic isa good idea.

Sign him up for a stoke focused program, if you’re in MoCo, Tollefson runs one that is pretty good.

Find another club. An 8 year old club swimmer should be legal in all strokes.

I have a 8 year old whose strokes are pretty bad, although legal in 2-3 strokes (depends on the judge, he may get DQed for butterfly). He swims very slowly which I think is due to his inappropriate form. He has a private coach who teaches him once every week but little progress is made. He also joined a swim club which doesn’t seem to correct his strokes. Getting more private lessons is extremely difficult as it’s so hard to find another coach who doesn’t have a waitlist. Is there anything I could do to improve his strokes? I tried to let him watch YouTube but he doesn’t seem to understand how to improve.