crazyforlatin Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Improve swimming techniques, endurance, or performance? I'm probably not using the correct term above. Our university pool will be under construction for a couple of months. DD has been swimming there every day as part of our annual membership, which costs us only about $2 per day. Joining another place won't be financially feasible and we won't be able to pay $10 - $30 every day to use other pools. Most places that I've seen require an adult to accompany DD, and at this moment, she ought to have DH near to her in the pool. What exercises can she do during this 2-month hiatus to help improve her skills when she resumes swimming daily? She's 7, so weight training is out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Is she part of a swim club/team, and training daily at age 7? That sounds like a lot. I'd just take a break from the pool and keep fit other ways that your family enjoys, like biking, skating, walking, hiking, running, playing outside, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Can she try gymnastics or a ymca kid fit class for those two months? It would help her strength and she could have fun doing it while waiting for the pool to open again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 (edited) Of course there are. Swimmers call it "dryland training." But 7 year olds don't usually do it and I would not recommend more than a few crunches for the 10 and under set. I would second the gymnastics idea, or ballet, monkey bars, climbing trees, tag, jump rope, hula hoops, soccer, etc. At her level ("ought to have DH near to her in the pool"), anything that improves her general strength or coordination will also improve her swimming. Edited October 19, 2012 by In The Great White North Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 Is she part of a swim club/team, and training daily at age 7? That sounds like a lot. I'd just take a break from the pool and keep fit other ways that your family enjoys, like biking, skating, walking, hiking, running, playing outside, etc. Well, if she were to join a swim team, she would swim 6 days a week, for about 1 hour per day. There are kids that are younger than 7 training/swimming for that many hours during the week. But Dd doesn't know her butterfly stroke to join any swim team. Right now, she only swims about 40 minutes per day, and part of the time is just playing in the pool with DH. Her freestyle is troublesome (e.g. Leg portion), so I doubt a swim team would accept her. Actually, advice on this is welcome too. She's extremely comfortable in the water, so this is a blow to her to stop for 2 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 (edited) The local teams here don't require butterfly to join. Most 7 year olds who swim competitively can't do butterfly. The usual requirement is a length of the pool without drowning. The more stringent teams want a length with rotary breathing. You might look into different teams. http://www.usaswimming.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=1577&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en Edited October 19, 2012 by In The Great White North ETA link to find a team Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I know how difficult it is to loose a favorite physical activity for awhile. Perhaps she can try another sport with dh. For example during her usual swim time could she try a bike ride adventure, or running, or skating, or ... ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 Can she try gymnastics or a ymca kid fit class for those two months? It would help her strength and she could have fun doing it while waiting for the pool to open again. Of course there are. Swimmers call it "dryland training." But 7 year olds don't usually do it and I would not recommend more than a few crunches for the 10 and under set. I would second the gymnastics idea, or ballet, monkey bars, climbing trees, tag, jump rope, hula hoops, soccer, etc. At her level ("ought to have DH near to her in the pool"), anything that improves her general strength or coordination will also improve her swimming. Thank you for the recommendations. I like the hula hoop idea. It's cheaper than attending classes. She does have trouble with some coordination, like writing, but it seems to have crossed over to some other areas. She's good with tree climbing, although my heart skips several beats when she does this. I'll look into dryland training and see if I can modify it for a younger child. Can you recommend something that will help her legs while doing the freestyle? She not only flops but her legs are not as relaxed and straight as I've noticed in other swimmers. Actually on second thought, while I'm typing this, maybe this has something to do with her arms not being strong enough to support the forward motion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 The local teams here don't require butterfly to join. Most 7 year olds who swim competitively can't do butterfly. The usual requirement is a length of the pool without drowning. The more stringent teams want a length with rotary breathing. You might look into different teams. http://www.usaswimming.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=1577&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en Aha, that helps a lot. Thank you for this. I'll look into rotary breathing. We have exactly one month to use the pool, so we're trying to make the most of it. The university has a swim team, so I'm confused how the kids will practice without a pool.:confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 I know how difficult it is to loose a favorite physical activity for awhile. Perhaps she can try another sport with dh. For example during her usual swim time could she try a bike ride adventure, or running, or skating, or ... ? We were thinking of more running time. DH has bad knees but DD loves it. Maybe we should try inline skating.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Can you recommend something that will help her legs while doing the freestyle? She not only flops but her legs are not as relaxed and straight as I've noticed in other swimmers. Actually on second thought, while I'm typing this, maybe this has something to do with her arms not being strong enough to support the forward motion? She should be able to do the flutter kick without her arms at all. If she holds her breath, puts her head down and squeezes her ears between her arms, can she do this? When she needs to breathe, she can roll over onto her back (instead of picking up her head.) Holding her head up or using a kickboard puts her body in the wrong position, and makes her sink. Sometimes, it is hard for little kids to think about kicking properly, when they are worried about breathing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 The university has a swim team, so I'm confused how the kids will practice without a pool.:confused: I suspect they will rent pool time somewhere else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 We were thinking of more running time. DH has bad knees but DD loves it. Maybe we should try inline skating.... My dh has/had bad knees. With the help of a chiropractor and running, and watching his weight he weighs 35 pounds less and considers it just fine to take a boy out for a 3KM run. Before that he didn't like running for more than a minute and said his knees bothered him walking up stairs. So if he has bad knees perhaps he can figure out how to make it better, because otherwise it will only get worse with age. That is if he, and your whole family is in a good place to do so - ie. have the time, money, energy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimtaxi234 Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I used to be a swim coach and in my experience, most 7-year-olds don't have a legal breast stroke or butterfly. :001_smile: If your daughter has a passion for swimming, go to a local swim club during their practice time and watch their young swimmers. You won't find Olympic quality swimming, but hopefully you will see lots of smiles and happy children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondeviolin Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I used to be a swim coach and in my experience, most 7-year-olds don't have a legal breast stroke or butterfly. :001_smile: If your daughter has a passion for swimming, go to a local swim club during their practice time and watch their young swimmers. You won't find Olympic quality swimming, but hopefully you will see lots of smiles and happy children. :iagree: My son is working into our swim team (they have to build an under-7 team, first). He can do rotary breathing during freestyle. His breaststroke is pretty good. He can do butterfly if you don't ask for him to add in arms. Then it starts looking silly. :lol: Swim team is where they perfect a lot of this. Does your university offer lessons? She can practice flutter kick on her bed. She could even add in rotary breathing practice. BUT, it's not going to be the same as swimming. Monkey bars are great for arm strength. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 She should be able to do the flutter kick without her arms at all. If she holds her breath, puts her head down and squeezes her ears between her arms, can she do this? When she needs to breathe, she can roll over onto her back (instead of picking up her head.) Holding her head up or using a kickboard puts her body in the wrong position, and makes her sink. Sometimes, it is hard for little kids to think about kicking properly, when they are worried about breathing. Oh good, that's something we can work on this month. I think I saw adults doing this during a lesson. Thank you so much for this suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Any exercise that build cardio or muscle tone would work while the pool is closed. We did push ups at that age even for non-competitive swimming. I had use a pull buoy for arm muscles training or basically to get the hand strokes correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 :iagree: My son is working into our swim team (they have to build an under-7 team, first). He can do rotary breathing during freestyle. His breaststroke is pretty good. He can do butterfly if you don't ask for him to add in arms. Then it starts looking silly. :lol: Swim team is where they perfect a lot of this. Does your university offer lessons? She can practice flutter kick on her bed. She could even add in rotary breathing practice. BUT, it's not going to be the same as swimming. Monkey bars are great for arm strength. The university does offer lessons and at a really great fee, but not during those 2 months. We haven't taken any because DH really wants to teach her himself. We did take lessons for months at another place, but daily practice really improved her swimming, and now, it's kind of getting stagnant. We'll do monkey bars, for sure. She's tall for her age, not petite at all, but slender. She's always had a little trouble with monkey bars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 Any exercise that build cardio or muscle tone would work while the pool is closed. We did push ups at that age even for non-competitive swimming. I had use a pull buoy for arm muscles training or basically to get the hand strokes correct. Now this is really hard to use. We've been trying that and DD can't do even half a lap. I did mention to her last night that now is a good time to use it some more before the pool closes. She wants to curl up her legs to keep the buoy from sliding away. Maybe she has weak b@tt muscles? :confused: On a side note, the water polo guys/gals are amazing. Treading for 2 hours.... They share a pool with the lap swimmers, so I watch them twice a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Now this is really hard to use. We've been trying that and DD can't do even half a lap. I did mention to her last night that now is a good time to use it some more before the pool closes. She wants to curl up her legs to keep the buoy from sliding away. Maybe she has weak b@tt muscles? :confused: I wouldn't use the pull buoy until she has more control of her stroke and more strength in her arms. Body position and balance in the water are more important at this stage, and a pull buoy will artificially disrupt that. I'll look into rotary breathing. The rotary breathing would be better to focus on before the pool closes. Keeping her head down and turning it to breathe, instead of picking her head up to breathe, will really help her body position and balance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 I wouldn't use the pull buoy until she has more control of her stroke and more strength in her arms. Body position and balance in the water are more important at this stage, and a pull buoy will artificially disrupt that. The rotary breathing would be better to focus on before the pool closes. Keeping her head down and turning it to breathe, instead of picking her head up to breathe, will really help her body position and balance. Thank you so much for these tips. I'm really grateful for your experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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