You sound like you want to do lessons vs. club. Generally club at that age is 2-4 times a week.

OP here. This was very helpful! Thank you.

Anonymous wrote:My kid loves summer swim but doesn’t love club. She’s done it for 2 years now and doesn’t want to do it anymore. We’re going to do a stroke and turn clinic once a week just to keep it up so she’s doing something…. She also does other activities as well. She’s 11

Makes sense. I think for many kids, summer swim is a lot more fun than club.

My kid loves summer swim but doesn’t love club. She’s done it for 2 years now and doesn’t want to do it anymore. We’re going to do a stroke and turn clinic once a week just to keep it up so she’s doing something…. She also does other activities as well. She’s 11

I don’t think you need to do more than 1-2 days at age 6.

Two is better than one, but one will still help a lot. My then 8 year old did once a week during long stretches of the year due to schedule constraints and still progressed well.

For once a week, I would choose a weekly swim lesson over club. For any age, not just for a six year old. There isn’t as much instruction at club practices and the instruction is designed for regular attendees. It’s possible that your kid could miss every session on starts for months, for example. Or manage to only show up on kick set days. My swimmer went 2-3 times a week to club practice as a 7 year old and that was frequently enough to “hit” all the topics.

I’m guessing the not worth it sentiment is a financial thing more than anything else. At age 6, once a week is totally fine but you’ll have to assess whether the price of a club program is worth it for 1 day a week practice vs. doing one day a week at the county programs or something like Fins.

When my older DC was 7, after their first summer of swim team, they did once per week with a club team and once per week with our summer team’s winter program. They had a great summer season at 8. Their strokes were very good for their age. Now considering doing the same for my 6 year old who started summer swim earlier due to being a younger sibling.

OP what strokes is your child legal in? Mine is pretty good for their age at free/back but hasn’t really tried the other two strokes yet. I am wondering if club swim where coaches aren’t in the water is the right fit? The team/ group they would join only requires legal back and free. When my oldest was 6 they were still doing swim school where an instructor was in the water. I don’t know how much that helped with learning fly and breast or whether they would have learned them anyway as they got bigger and more coordinated.

Anonymous wrote:Anything less than 6 days a week isn’t worth it at 6 years old. We let DD skip on Sundays.

Troll.

Absolutely appropriate. Our team insisted that young kids have other interests and would not allow more than 2 days a week until older.

Find a reasonable club like that: if they only offer 3+ days for that age group, run.

There is good reason for this approach, btw. Swimmers do not develop into their best swim physique until after puberty (and age 21-26 is peak for swimming). The most difficult age to keep kids swimming is from roughly 7th to 10th grade. Most kids quit before they have a chance to reach their potential. So a good club will do what it can keep a kid in the pool, but to prevent burn out before high school.

Anything less than 6 days a week isn’t worth it at 6 years old. We let DD skip on Sundays.

I'd say it's totally worth it for a 6yo new swimmer. Less so for an older, more experienced swimmer who is trying to squeeze another tenth of a second off their time - they need more consistency to make progress. But for the first couple of years, any regular swimming throughout the year will help keep her engaged and making some progress. 1 or 2x a week seems like a good balance with other activities.

Anonymous wrote:My six-year-old DD loved summer swim and wants to do club. I am looking at signing her up for either 2 or 1 days a week. She was also do winter swim for our summer team. I would like to do 2 days a week but she also does other things - soccer, an afterschool club or two, Girl Scouts.

Another parent from our summer team offhandedly mentioned that doing club one day a week isn't worth it. Is that truly the case at her age?

Parent of three club swimmers who all started about the same age (6)- I'm not sure I agree that it's not worth it to do club swimming x1 per week because she will still progress, just much slower. Two would probably be ideal but if she has lots of other activities I'd say let her keep doing a variety! She's six.

My six-year-old DD loved summer swim and wants to do club. I am looking at signing her up for either 2 or 1 days a week. She was also do winter swim for our summer team. I would like to do 2 days a week but she also does other things - soccer, an afterschool club or two, Girl Scouts.

Another parent from our summer team offhandedly mentioned that doing club one day a week isn't worth it. Is that truly the case at her age?