It seems to me that burnout is something that happens when parents are not paying attention to their kids and ignore their cues and requests. A kid who loves swim practice on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday doesn’t wake up on Thursday with burnout. Rather, the kid has been dragging their feet for a few months, has not been enjoying meets, has asked the parents if they can skip a few practices and they were pushed to continue. And those cues and signs can be completely unrelated to results. I have seen cases where the parents are proudly posting results on Facebook, telling friends and family how much their kid loves to swim, and identifying their kid as “Larlo the swimmer”. Meanwhile, the kid is telling their friends that they hate it and want to quit. An easy solution is to have a true off season, not just a few weeks of break after long or short course.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Ok but 5 days a week still likely means that kid is only swimming. No time for other sports, already specializing at ages 9-10.

Doing something for 45 minutes of your day means there is no time to do anything else???

I don't really understand this 45 minutes of your day comment- we are talking about club swimming. I'm not aware of any club swim practice that is 45 minutes- minimum is one hour, frequently if it is 1.5 hours. I have one kid who swims 1.5 hours 3x a week. That means that about 40 minutes after they get home from school, they need to be getting in a swim suit and departing for the pool. They get home from swimming about 6:30pm, fairly tired, need to eat dinner, do homework etc. My other kid swims 1 hour 2x a week. That kid definitely has more time, but that 1 hour represents time in the water- the actual time to get to and from swimming is still more like 2 hours- when you include driving and changing time (and definitely some dawdling in the showers with friend's time).

8&U club practices are often 45 mins

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many parents on here saying you shouldn’t swim more than 2x per week in elementary school have their kid go to summer league practice 5x a week? I’d be willing to bet all of them!!!!

Respectfully, that’s apples to oranges. The club practices for high potential swimmers are intense. The debate at hand is how many days of that is appropriate for an age group swimmer without risking burnout, injury, or prematurely peaking. While Im sure it varies by team and division, the average summer league practice is the yardage and intensity equivalent of a club practice warm up and cool down for the elite age group practices for club. I love summer swim for a lot of reasons, but I’d argue it’s not relevant to this conversation.

The number of days DOES NOT matter!!!!!!!!

Club practices for 7-9 year old should not be intense!!!!!!!

If your 7-9 year old is doing more than learning to turn, kick, drill, and swim perfectly, with a few 25s-50s race here and there, then they are 1000% more likely to burn out even if they are going 1 or 2 days a week than another 7-9 year old who is doing 4 days a week but only focusing on learning to turn, kick, drill, and swim perfectly

Burnout isn’t just about overtraining. It’s also about getting bored doing the same thing over and over. A little kid doing drills 4 days a week is more likely to get bored with swimming at a younger age than someone who starts swimming more frequently later. You can love something and still get bored if it’s literally 8-10 years or more.

The key question is - does your kid want to go, or are you pushing him/her go? If the former, then burnout is less of an issue. If the latter, burnout will happen sooner or later.

Still a bad idea to send a young kid to practice 4 days a week. They might love it in that moment, but fast forward a few years they might be sick of it because they have already done so much of it. I truly loved swimming but I was sick to death of it by the time my college career ended. I think I would’ve hit that point sooner if I had been started more frequent practice/a more intense group too early like some kids I knew. Their burnout hit at the worst time. They quit in their teen years so no chance at a scholarship and got in trouble with all their newfound free time because they hadn’t cultivated other interests.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many parents on here saying you shouldn’t swim more than 2x per week in elementary school have their kid go to summer league practice 5x a week? I’d be willing to bet all of them!!!!

Respectfully, that’s apples to oranges. The club practices for high potential swimmers are intense. The debate at hand is how many days of that is appropriate for an age group swimmer without risking burnout, injury, or prematurely peaking. While Im sure it varies by team and division, the average summer league practice is the yardage and intensity equivalent of a club practice warm up and cool down for the elite age group practices for club. I love summer swim for a lot of reasons, but I’d argue it’s not relevant to this conversation.

The number of days DOES NOT matter!!!!!!!!

Club practices for 7-9 year old should not be intense!!!!!!!

If your 7-9 year old is doing more than learning to turn, kick, drill, and swim perfectly, with a few 25s-50s race here and there, then they are 1000% more likely to burn out even if they are going 1 or 2 days a week than another 7-9 year old who is doing 4 days a week but only focusing on learning to turn, kick, drill, and swim perfectly

Burnout isn’t just about overtraining. It’s also about getting bored doing the same thing over and over. A little kid doing drills 4 days a week is more likely to get bored with swimming at a younger age than someone who starts swimming more frequently later. You can love something and still get bored if it’s literally 8-10 years or more.

The key question is - does your kid want to go, or are you pushing him/her go? If the former, then burnout is less of an issue. If the latter, burnout will happen sooner or later.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many parents on here saying you shouldn’t swim more than 2x per week in elementary school have their kid go to summer league practice 5x a week? I’d be willing to bet all of them!!!!

Respectfully, that’s apples to oranges. The club practices for high potential swimmers are intense. The debate at hand is how many days of that is appropriate for an age group swimmer without risking burnout, injury, or prematurely peaking. While Im sure it varies by team and division, the average summer league practice is the yardage and intensity equivalent of a club practice warm up and cool down for the elite age group practices for club. I love summer swim for a lot of reasons, but I’d argue it’s not relevant to this conversation.

The number of days DOES NOT matter!!!!!!!!

Club practices for 7-9 year old should not be intense!!!!!!!

If your 7-9 year old is doing more than learning to turn, kick, drill, and swim perfectly, with a few 25s-50s race here and there, then they are 1000% more likely to burn out even if they are going 1 or 2 days a week than another 7-9 year old who is doing 4 days a week but only focusing on learning to turn, kick, drill, and swim perfectly

Burnout isn’t just about overtraining. It’s also about getting bored doing the same thing over and over. A little kid doing drills 4 days a week is more likely to get bored with swimming at a younger age than someone who starts swimming more frequently later. You can love something and still get bored if it’s literally 8-10 years or more.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many parents on here saying you shouldn’t swim more than 2x per week in elementary school have their kid go to summer league practice 5x a week? I’d be willing to bet all of them!!!!

Respectfully, that’s apples to oranges. The club practices for high potential swimmers are intense. The debate at hand is how many days of that is appropriate for an age group swimmer without risking burnout, injury, or prematurely peaking. While Im sure it varies by team and division, the average summer league practice is the yardage and intensity equivalent of a club practice warm up and cool down for the elite age group practices for club. I love summer swim for a lot of reasons, but I’d argue it’s not relevant to this conversation.

The number of days DOES NOT matter!!!!!!!!

Club practices for 7-9 year old should not be intense!!!!!!!

If your 7-9 year old is doing more than learning to turn, kick, drill, and swim perfectly, with a few 25s-50s race here and there, then they are 1000% more likely to burn out even if they are going 1 or 2 days a week than another 7-9 year old who is doing 4 days a week but only focusing on learning to turn, kick, drill, and swim perfectly

Great job with your exclamation points! This isn’t about 7-9 year olds (or wasn’t, anyway). This thread is all over the map. If you go back a bit, posters were saying that you cannot be a competitive swimmer past 10 if you’re only in the water 3 days/week. Club practices for strong swimmers after age 10 are going to be intense if they’re selected for those practice groups, regardless of number of days. That’s a fixed variable in the argument I was referencing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many parents on here saying you shouldn’t swim more than 2x per week in elementary school have their kid go to summer league practice 5x a week? I’d be willing to bet all of them!!!!

Respectfully, that’s apples to oranges. The club practices for high potential swimmers are intense. The debate at hand is how many days of that is appropriate for an age group swimmer without risking burnout, injury, or prematurely peaking. While Im sure it varies by team and division, the average summer league practice is the yardage and intensity equivalent of a club practice warm up and cool down for the elite age group practices for club. I love summer swim for a lot of reasons, but I’d argue it’s not relevant to this conversation.

The number of days DOES NOT matter!!!!!!!!

Club practices for 7-9 year old should not be intense!!!!!!!

If your 7-9 year old is doing more than learning to turn, kick, drill, and swim perfectly, with a few 25s-50s race here and there, then they are 1000% more likely to burn out even if they are going 1 or 2 days a week than another 7-9 year old who is doing 4 days a week but only focusing on learning to turn, kick, drill, and swim perfectly

Anonymous wrote:How many parents on here saying you shouldn’t swim more than 2x per week in elementary school have their kid go to summer league practice 5x a week? I’d be willing to bet all of them!!!!

Respectfully, that’s apples to oranges. The club practices for high potential swimmers are intense. The debate at hand is how many days of that is appropriate for an age group swimmer without risking burnout, injury, or prematurely peaking. While Im sure it varies by team and division, the average summer league practice is the yardage and intensity equivalent of a club practice warm up and cool down for the elite age group practices for club. I love summer swim for a lot of reasons, but I’d argue it’s not relevant to this conversation.

How many parents on here saying you shouldn’t swim more than 2x per week in elementary school have their kid go to summer league practice 5x a week? I’d be willing to bet all of them!!!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Ok but 5 days a week still likely means that kid is only swimming. No time for other sports, already specializing at ages 9-10.

Doing something for 45 minutes of your day means there is no time to do anything else???

DP. Are you really having a 9 or 10 year old do multiple sports on the same day, multiple times a week? Even rec sports are 2-3 times per week (including games) at this age. If one sport is being done 5 days a week, then you're doubling up on sports in the same day at least a couple days per week, on top of school and whatever else. That is an overscheduled kid and a recipe for early burnout. I don't care if you say your kid can handle it because they have endless energy or whatever. It is ill advised.

I've seen parents in our club take their kid to a basketball game in the morning, then 1.5 hours swimming, then to a birthday party, and finally to a dance lesson. All on a Saturday. Talk about burnout.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Ok but 5 days a week still likely means that kid is only swimming. No time for other sports, already specializing at ages 9-10.

Doing something for 45 minutes of your day means there is no time to do anything else???

DP. Are you really having a 9 or 10 year old do multiple sports on the same day, multiple times a week? Even rec sports are 2-3 times per week (including games) at this age. If one sport is being done 5 days a week, then you're doubling up on sports in the same day at least a couple days per week, on top of school and whatever else. That is an overscheduled kid and a recipe for early burnout. I don't care if you say your kid can handle it because they have endless energy or whatever. It is ill advised.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Ok but 5 days a week still likely means that kid is only swimming. No time for other sports, already specializing at ages 9-10.

Doing something for 45 minutes of your day means there is no time to do anything else???

I don't really understand this 45 minutes of your day comment- we are talking about club swimming. I'm not aware of any club swim practice that is 45 minutes- minimum is one hour, frequently if it is 1.5 hours. I have one kid who swims 1.5 hours 3x a week. That means that about 40 minutes after they get home from school, they need to be getting in a swim suit and departing for the pool. They get home from swimming about 6:30pm, fairly tired, need to eat dinner, do homework etc. My other kid swims 1 hour 2x a week. That kid definitely has more time, but that 1 hour represents time in the water- the actual time to get to and from swimming is still more like 2 hours- when you include driving and changing time (and definitely some dawdling in the showers with friend's time).

The 45 minute comments has to do with the fact that all club teams that produce the best 17-18 year old year in and year out offer at a minimum 4 practices a week for their lowest level groups but practices for those group were at most 1 hour with almost all of them being 45 min and some even 30 minutes.

The reason I point this out is in this thread the general consensus is that if you swim more than twice a week before the age of 11 you are 1000% going to “burn out” and that those going twice or less will be better than that kids 999 out of 1000 times yet that just isn’t the case in the entire rest of the country.