Anonymous
12/03/2025 19:15
Subject: Late developer boy can't keep up
Your son should follow in the footsteps of Frank Thomas. Total T. Used by many a swimmer in age group swimming. It adds a healthy flow of testosterone and muscle to be a stud by 15. His peak. At least you could say, “He was good when?”
Anonymous
11/29/2025 19:20
Subject: Late developer boy can't keep up
Anonymous wrote:My DS was a late developer. He’s 6’1” now and played a different sport. There was a period where he struggled against the boys who were early developers. He wasn’t the only late developer in his friend group so there was about of support.
What I found is that the late developers adapt. They became more technical to keep up and dont rely upon their size/physicality. Once the late developers caught up, they exceeded the early developers who didn’t have as strong of technical skills. It’s a painful period, but could work to their advantage if they focus on the technical skills in the near term.
This is exactly what my son’s coach told me: it will all even out and he will be better off at the end having competed against bigger and stronger for years. He’s now 14 and still not fully pubescent but it’s happening, albeit slowly
Anonymous
11/07/2025 12:15
Subject: Late developer boy can't keep up
Anonymous wrote:DS 13.5 is really struggling mentally with swimming. He is late to puberty and still looks and sounds like a young boy, while all the swimmers in his practice group are growing tall, strong, and hairy, and blowing him away in the pool. He loves swimming more than anything and is still very good, but he is becoming more and more discouraged that he cannot keep up physically with the earlier developers. To put it in perspective, DS is in the fastest group for his age, so many of the boys are there because their development has given them the physical strength to get the necessary cuts. I try to remind DS that even though he is a boy among men, he is STILL hanging in there and not far behind, still getting A+ times and NCSA AG cuts, and that when he finally starts developing he will see the same massive improvements the others are getting with development. It has just been a slog the past few years, inching along with tiny marginal improvements when other boys have really gone through the huge leaps that testosterone brings in the swimming/sports world. How can I encourage him to hang in there, especially when coaches seem to value the early developers above all and he feels like he is working hard every day for very little improvement?
I have the same kid, except mine isn’t discouraged and is pretty happy that he is going to go into puberty later than the rest of his peers in terms of swimming. He won a lot when he was younger and now he is putting his head down and working hard because he knew this was coming. He is also 13.5 and his ped said he is just starting puberty.
I don’t understand the part of your post where you say he is struggling and making minimal gains, but he also has selective cuts - which is it? If it is both, I will guess that he is a kid who won everything at a younger age and is now being surpassed and is struggling to reconcile that with his image of himself as a fast swimmer. If so, you have to get to the root of the issue, which is why he swims. The value of swimming and any sport isn’t winning, it’s learning to work hard when you aren’t winning.
Anonymous
11/01/2025 01:06
Subject: Late developer boy can't keep up
I will share my advice as a former D1 swimmer who had to work through multiple slumps.
1) Focus on events other than the best strokes/events for a while. It’s so hard to get time drops on events where you’re already pretty fast, but easier to do it in the events you are not as good at. Use that progress as a motivator. Keep working hard and the time drops in the best/favorite events will come eventually even if not in the timeframe you want. Swimming is amazing for teaching delayed gratification.
2) Work on becoming more athletic overall. As PP said explosiveness training is a game changer. It doesn’t have to be with weights. Jump squats, tuck jumps, fast feet/high knees, burpees, split jumps, clap pushups… basically anything plyometrics. Agility ladder, plastic hurdles, box jumps. Starts and turns will get faster. Those fast twitch muscles are very trainable.
A kid who truly loves swimming will work through it. A kid who doesn’t might give it up and that’s ok. Let them own their journey.
1) Focus on events other than the best strokes/events for a while. It’s so hard to get time drops on events where you’re already pretty fast, but easier to do it in the events you are not as good at. Use that progress as a motivator. Keep working hard and the time drops in the best/favorite events will come eventually even if not in the timeframe you want. Swimming is amazing for teaching delayed gratification.
2) Work on becoming more athletic overall. As PP said explosiveness training is a game changer. It doesn’t have to be with weights. Jump squats, tuck jumps, fast feet/high knees, burpees, split jumps, clap pushups… basically anything plyometrics. Agility ladder, plastic hurdles, box jumps. Starts and turns will get faster. Those fast twitch muscles are very trainable.
A kid who truly loves swimming will work through it. A kid who doesn’t might give it up and that’s ok. Let them own their journey.
Anonymous
10/31/2025 21:58
Subject: Late developer boy can't keep up
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Oh dear. You’re looking to the Mayo Clinic for literature on performance. “Lift light weight slowly” smh. Great way to train yourself to live to be 100 year old, and remain in then slow lane.
Are you arguing for or against weight training for kids?
The use of the Mayo link, not by me, is to point out that weight training for kids is fine.
The only study ever done showing an impact on lifting heavy objects with "stunting growth" was done on forced labor children who were doing manual labor and being under fed.
Saying the Mayo Clinic doesn’t know (or care) anything about training youth athletes, so this article is worthless.
And I’m in favor of kids, even young kids, doing proper training with proper supervision. Most kids that train do so without specific purpose and intent.
DP. I agree that proper supervision and appropriate exercises/weight are necessary for kids who are strength training. Heck, even most adults could use this, but they're too cheap to hire a personal trainer for 6 months and learn how to train properly.
In the OP's case, I was a late developer but started weight training with a friend and his dad. I added some muscle and definition over time, but it was hard to build a solid base. Learning proper form and using appropriate weights can set your son up for success when puberty kicks in - you can't jump start puberty, but you can prepare for it.
Yeah, this isn’t it. It’s not about using proper form in order to not get hurt, it about knowing what to do to achieve your goals. Banging out 3 controlled set of 10 on bench press, rows, etc. simply ain’t it if you’re a swimmer. Athletes in the weight room need to train to explode. Power cleans, for example, are a top exercise in most, if not every college and professional gym. Cleans have nothing to do with adding muscle and definition. They have to do with becoming more explosive, coordinated, and athletic. They’re also what the Mayo Clinic says not to do.
Anonymous
10/31/2025 21:46
Subject: Late developer boy can't keep up
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Oh dear. You’re looking to the Mayo Clinic for literature on performance. “Lift light weight slowly” smh. Great way to train yourself to live to be 100 year old, and remain in then slow lane.
Are you arguing for or against weight training for kids?
The use of the Mayo link, not by me, is to point out that weight training for kids is fine.
The only study ever done showing an impact on lifting heavy objects with "stunting growth" was done on forced labor children who were doing manual labor and being under fed.
Saying the Mayo Clinic doesn’t know (or care) anything about training youth athletes, so this article is worthless.
And I’m in favor of kids, even young kids, doing proper training with proper supervision. Most kids that train do so without specific purpose and intent.
You obviously didn't read the article because it is a direct Q&A about weight lifting safety. Idiot.
I read the article. Considering you don’t know the difference between weight lifting and weightlifting, you’re the idiot.
Anonymous
10/31/2025 10:51
Subject: Late developer boy can't keep up
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Oh dear. You’re looking to the Mayo Clinic for literature on performance. “Lift light weight slowly” smh. Great way to train yourself to live to be 100 year old, and remain in then slow lane.
Are you arguing for or against weight training for kids?
The use of the Mayo link, not by me, is to point out that weight training for kids is fine.
The only study ever done showing an impact on lifting heavy objects with "stunting growth" was done on forced labor children who were doing manual labor and being under fed.
Saying the Mayo Clinic doesn’t know (or care) anything about training youth athletes, so this article is worthless.
And I’m in favor of kids, even young kids, doing proper training with proper supervision. Most kids that train do so without specific purpose and intent.
You obviously didn't read the article because it is a direct Q&A about weight lifting safety. Idiot.