Anonymous wrote:Makes sense. I was thinking swimming for a couple reasons.

1. Avoid burnout
2. Make it fun. If he is training with a team he might find it more fun.
3. I assume (beat me up here if wrong) less impact to joints etc to prevent risk of injury.

I didn’t consider upper body strength but perhaps a plus. Might give him a better proportion.

Our local pool doesn’t have a swim team. Just a small pool by our HOA. Would I have to join a club or something?

Swimming is great, for all the reasons you stated, as a supplement to running. It's just not a substituted.

If your local pool doesn't have a swim team then yes, you would have to join another club, and also it's swim team (separate expense).

Makes sense. I was thinking swimming for a couple reasons.

1. Avoid burnout
2. Make it fun. If he is training with a team he might find it more fun.
3. I assume (beat me up here if wrong) less impact to joints etc to prevent risk of injury.

I didn’t consider upper body strength but perhaps a plus. Might give him a better proportion.

Our local pool doesn’t have a swim team. Just a small pool by our HOA. Would I have to join a club or something?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:swimming has improved my kids stamina and speed.

Interesting. Do you have them do fast swim laps or do regular laps?

I will have my DD do more swimming this summer.

Just heard some parents that encourage swimming in the summer to increase cardiovascular endurance. Having never had my DS do swimming, outside of PeeWee swim to learn, where do you start? How many times a week? Or just go to the rec center and have him swim laps. Not sure where to even start looking...rec center has once a week classes..is that enough?

Curious. Why swimming instead of running to increase cardiovascular endurance?

Because it is the only sport that requires you to hold your breath and then do a sprint at full speed?

Cross training has its place but, ...

If you want to get better at swimming, swim.

If you want to get better at running, run.

For a youth (10-15 yo) player in the off season, 3-5 x per week, working up to 2-4 miles at a time, followed by 5-10 sprints of 30-60 yds. Have your kid do that all summer and you'll see a different player by the fall.

Swim team on top of that will build some upper body strength and can be a lot of fun. Bike rides are fun too, and great exercise.

But again, there are no gimmicks or shortcuts. The only way to get better at running, is by running. That's why cross country and track athletes spend most of their training time - you guessed it - running.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:swimming has improved my kids stamina and speed.

Interesting. Do you have them do fast swim laps or do regular laps?

I will have my DD do more swimming this summer.

Just heard some parents that encourage swimming in the summer to increase cardiovascular endurance. Having never had my DS do swimming, outside of PeeWee swim to learn, where do you start? How many times a week? Or just go to the rec center and have him swim laps. Not sure where to even start looking...rec center has once a week classes..is that enough?

Curious. Why swimming instead of running to increase cardiovascular endurance?

Because it is the only sport that requires you to hold your breath and then do a sprint at full speed?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:swimming has improved my kids stamina and speed.

Interesting. Do you have them do fast swim laps or do regular laps?

I will have my DD do more swimming this summer.

Just heard some parents that encourage swimming in the summer to increase cardiovascular endurance. Having never had my DS do swimming, outside of PeeWee swim to learn, where do you start? How many times a week? Or just go to the rec center and have him swim laps. Not sure where to even start looking...rec center has once a week classes..is that enough?

Curious. Why swimming instead of running to increase cardiovascular endurance?

Anonymous wrote:How do you get on a swim team? Do you have to tryout? He is not a great swimmer. Just plays at the pool etc

Do you belong to a pool with a swim team? Summer swim teams seem to take everybody (and some kids will only swim at the B meets).

For winter swim- at a minimum you have to be able to swim all four strokes legally.

How do you get on a swim team? Do you have to tryout? He is not a great swimmer. Just plays at the pool etc