Anonymous wrote:The stroke and turn clinic is not a program that is generally going to have coaches in the water with the kids. The clinic pre-supposes that the kids signed up for it are comfortable/proficient enough in the water to not need a coach in the water with them. You might want to look into FINS and the groups that are for the younger kids that don’t know the strokes. There is such a wide range of ages and abilities at MSTC that I wouldn’t put a 7 year old that doesn’t know the strokes in it.

OP here. My kid knew breast and back stroke going in (although back was not perfect). Here is the description from MSTC website:

Swimmers are separated into subgroups by age and current ability, the older more advanced subgroups will see some limited interval training. Swimmers must be able to swim 25 yards or 25 meters without stopping

Why would I ever assume she wasn’t a good fit? She did a whole season of preteam with no issue. The website implies there is some differentiated instruction. I wish they’d be crystal clear they don’t get in the water . JFD says that in their website (I checked them out thanks to another poster). I also wish I knew the “teacher” was a sophomore in high school who cant articulate good instruction from the deck either. She’s set up for failure

The stroke and turn clinic is not a program that is generally going to have coaches in the water with the kids. The clinic pre-supposes that the kids signed up for it are comfortable/proficient enough in the water to not need a coach in the water with them. You might want to look into FINS and the groups that are for the younger kids that don’t know the strokes. There is such a wide range of ages and abilities at MSTC that I wouldn’t put a 7 year old that doesn’t know the strokes in it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For these stroke and turn clinics, do the instructors get in the water with the children to model and give feedback? We are signed up with MSTC strike and turn and it’s been a terrible experience. The 15 year old instructor has told my 6 year old DD he doesn’t want to get his hair wet (exact quote) and will only give verbal directions. He’s never in the water up close to her to show her strokes. I’m wondering if this is normal or not. We probably won’t sign up with MSTC again next year but would like to know of better options out there

This may be a strange coincidence but my DC had a young swim instructor tell him the same thing! ‘I don’t like to get my hair wet.’ Yet we are at a different swim school.

Seriously? I mean that’s ridiculous

Anonymous wrote:At that age, the better programs will absolutely have a coach in the water demonstrating and making hands on corrections! I’m in VA, but I’d call and ask directly if they do that.

Thanks - her preteam coaches over the summer were 100% in the water with her and that’s how she progressed so much. Now she’s stagnant and I’m not really sure why we even paid for this tbh. I have emailed the director of MSTC, Kent, and he’s not super helpful either. Can’t say I’d recommended them for a child her age and it’s good to hear some validation

At that age, the better programs will absolutely have a coach in the water demonstrating and making hands on corrections! I’m in VA, but I’d call and ask directly if they do that.

My kids improved a lot when they did the clinic at JFD.

Anonymous wrote:For these stroke and turn clinics, do the instructors get in the water with the children to model and give feedback? We are signed up with MSTC strike and turn and it’s been a terrible experience. The 15 year old instructor has told my 6 year old DD he doesn’t want to get his hair wet (exact quote) and will only give verbal directions. He’s never in the water up close to her to show her strokes. I’m wondering if this is normal or not. We probably won’t sign up with MSTC again next year but would like to know of better options out there

This may be a strange coincidence but my DC had a young swim instructor tell him the same thing! ‘I don’t like to get my hair wet.’ Yet we are at a different swim school.

Most stroke and turns do not get in the water. They view that as lessons. I don't agree with that, but it is pretty prevalent.

Tollefson at Prep or St Albans is great

OP again: If anyone else is willing to share their MSTC stroke and turn experiences, I’d be interested to know if we just happened to get a bad teacher or if this is always the way they’re run.

For these stroke and turn clinics, do the instructors get in the water with the children to model and give feedback? We are signed up with MSTC strike and turn and it’s been a terrible experience. The 15 year old instructor has told my 6 year old DD he doesn’t want to get his hair wet (exact quote) and will only give verbal directions. He’s never in the water up close to her to show her strokes. I’m wondering if this is normal or not. We probably won’t sign up with MSTC again next year but would like to know of better options out there

Rising Stars program through ASA at Stone Ridge

Sea Devils Sunday clinic at Holton Arms. They've already started for the year (runs through April) but worth checking out to see if there's still room. https://seadevils.org/swim-programs/clinic-programs

FINS swimming at Gtown Prep

My 7 yo DS is on the swim and dive teams at our swim club in the summers. Took private lessons with his coaches. But I feel like he still can't really do any strokes. What classes/clinics are near Bethesda where he learn his strokes?