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Extra-curricular activities

Find advice on the best extra curricular activities in secondary schools and primary schools here.

Poolside chat- continues here 😁

1000 replies

Glittertwins · 02/10/2024 19:37

Did I get this done right??

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Hellocatshome · 03/02/2025 19:28

Glittertwins · 03/02/2025 18:53

Trying to get anything out of mine is impossible unless he wants to say it, it's difficult. Can't shut the other one up! See how it goes in the car going to or from the pool, could he volunteer info this way?

Yes the talking in the car trick is the only way I ever get any information.

Eccle80 · 03/02/2025 23:04

I’m really sorry he’s having such a hard time, it sounds like it’s quite a toxic environment at his club. I’d go with B and try the smaller club and take the pressure off, but maybe that’s influenced by it being what I’m used to. I hope you can get him to talk to you about things and what he wants to do.

Glittertwins · 04/02/2025 04:36

Just out of interest, has he moved squads recently? I see this behaviour when there is a squad move and it's almost like a dominance thing.

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Teateaandmoretea · 04/02/2025 07:48

I don’t think it’s unusual for the parents of bullies to be welfare officers we’ve had this too. What’s the management structure above the coaches? Have you formally reported it/ complained? In reality you can’t make a complaint to the welfare officer about their own child - there should be someone else you can go to.

When it happened at ours it did get dealt with.

Teateaandmoretea · 04/02/2025 08:05

The other thing you can do and if you formally complain to the club make sure that you are clear this is the next step is to put a welfare complaint into swim England.

Coaches really do get suspended over safeguarding.

I’m not sure what the county welfare officer does tbh.

What is really needed is a welfare officer who is a teacher and masters swimmer and not directly involved with the kids. Having parents doing it is a recipe for disaster.

Hellocatshome · 04/02/2025 08:29

Glittertwins · 04/02/2025 04:36

Just out of interest, has he moved squads recently? I see this behaviour when there is a squad move and it's almost like a dominance thing.

No they haven't recently moved, they moved a few years ago and was friendly with a larger group. It unfortunately appears to be because of his developing friendship with his now only friend who was already their target

Glittertwins · 04/02/2025 08:51

Not nice to see happen ☹️

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SkankingWombat · 06/02/2025 12:09

Definitely move clubs, it is too many hours to spend putting up with that crap and the club isn't interested in improving things. You must have a rough idea about the cultures of other clubs in the area as a starting point? Eg in our area, Club A is more of a friendly Rec club, with generally poor results but a super-flexible approach to attendance which works for multi-sport DCs. Club B takes themselves very seriously, not friendly with any other clubs, do well results-wise, but in reality they poach their top swimmers from other clubs (rather than training them from entry level) and use those DCs' success to poach the next lot. Club C has a nurturing and experienced coaching team, lots of pool time and great results, but the committee are a self-interested nightmare and often work in opposition to the coaching team etc etc...
I'd put together a shortlist with DS then approach for trials/go and watch their training sessions incognito, then move.
I wouldn't dismiss the progress he could make at a small club either. We are at a small club yet have national-level swimmers (one of whom won medals last Summer) and punch well above our weight at Counties and Regionals too. We tailor our training to accommodate our low pool hours, and it is only the older LD swimmers (who really do need many many hours) that we dual-club to get them what they need. Improved mental health will only have a positive effect on his performance too.

Maybe his friend could be convinced to move with him? He can't be brilliantly happy either.

Once you're safely away, consider putting in a complaint to SE.

Kyotoglow · 06/02/2025 22:10

Hi, can I tentatively join, and at the same time ask a question.

Fins - what to buy? My daughter is 10, swimming at around Surrey county times, and in a squad that does kick drills every.session much to my daughter's disgust!

She's outgrown her Aquasphere micro fins - and is a size 3.5.

I'm looking for something that gives the best bang for her buck - and helps her keep up!

Any/all recommendations welcome!

SkankingWombat · 06/02/2025 23:16

There was some chat up thread about fins, which might be worth a scroll back to.
If she's been happy with her Aquasphere fins, could she not have the next size up?

Madcats · 06/02/2025 23:17

Peripheral swim mom here DD(17). Welcome!

Age 10, it doesn't really matter. We bought Maru at that age. The sizes have differently coloured fins.

Cantering on a bit, DD was more of a freestyler so she favoured FINIS (I'm not sure how easy they are to get hold of here). They were short and stumpy so you had to work a bit harder to keep up with your lane.

Kyotoglow · 07/02/2025 06:50

I was hoping to find some 'magic' fins that helped her keep up. Perhaps slightly larger/stiffer ones - but then conscious her muscles might not cope with the additional load. They use them for all strokes (not br, obvs). Just really looking for something that might make her faster/hate kick less I guess!

Hellocatshome · 07/02/2025 07:40

Kyotoglow · 07/02/2025 06:50

I was hoping to find some 'magic' fins that helped her keep up. Perhaps slightly larger/stiffer ones - but then conscious her muscles might not cope with the additional load. They use them for all strokes (not br, obvs). Just really looking for something that might make her faster/hate kick less I guess!

The kids in our club all seem to use the Maru fins until they are around 11ish then move on the Arena Powerfins I suppose it depends on her size and development really. You don't want to go for bigger fins if they are going to put too much pressure on her legs. Bigger fins push more water so make you faster but they require more strength to use so I'm not sure they make anyone hate kick less.

SkankingWombat · 07/02/2025 10:06

Kyotoglow · 07/02/2025 06:50

I was hoping to find some 'magic' fins that helped her keep up. Perhaps slightly larger/stiffer ones - but then conscious her muscles might not cope with the additional load. They use them for all strokes (not br, obvs). Just really looking for something that might make her faster/hate kick less I guess!

There is no magic, sadly. Only hard work 😬
Some DCs are better at kick than others either due to their muscle tone or technique. Girls tend to be better at it than boys at that age, but there are always outliers. If she normally keeps up with her lane but drops massively behind during a kick set, make sure she is taking any coaching points directed at her on board and working to achieve them (so many DCs nod, then push off and do exactly the same as before 😏). If she isn't getting picked up on technique it might be a lack of effort, but let her coach know she's struggling with kick and can they take a look at it to see if it can be tweaked for greater efficiency.

If she isn't a strong kicker, bigger heavier fins will have the opposite effect of what you are after as she won't have the strength to get them moving quickly enough. They will also affect her body position if she doesn't yet have the core strength to hold up the extra weight, adding profile resistance and slowing her down even further.

Most of our club's younger swimmers have Maru, although these seem to snap fairly often. My youngest uses Finis Zoomers (yes, you can get them in the UK Madcats), and I've heard good things about the Arena junior fins with the heel strap (the adult ones will be too much for her from your description). I also really like Kiefer, if you can find some second hand as I don't think they are sold any more - nice supple shoe part with a stiff hard fin, and pretty light weight.
Our biggest issue has been finding a brand to fit their long but skinny feet, so we've prioritised that and once we've found a 'winner', we just stuck with it!

Kyotoglow · 07/02/2025 10:36

Thanks for all the helpful advice. She's one of the fittest, but drops a lane for kick - she seems to kick 'out' of the water, which to me looks like she kicks a little more from the knee than the hip than others. Our club is quite old fashioned, prioritising volume over technique, which is a hugely irritating and a whole different topic in itself. Motivation is also probably an issue, when she knows it's her weak point and just wants to survive (and yes we've had the 'try harder, get to the end quicker, get more rest' chat). Will take a look at all the recommendations.

Glittertwins · 07/02/2025 10:52

Kyotoglow · 07/02/2025 06:50

I was hoping to find some 'magic' fins that helped her keep up. Perhaps slightly larger/stiffer ones - but then conscious her muscles might not cope with the additional load. They use them for all strokes (not br, obvs). Just really looking for something that might make her faster/hate kick less I guess!

She won't be allowed longer fins, we would request that they are sent back and not to be used. She needs to have the short Maru ones or the less heavy arena ones. Look at the others in the squad for brands.

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itsgettingweird · 07/02/2025 16:34

Kyot Completely second what skanking said. My ds has a terrible kick because he has a disability (para swimmer) and he cannot use fins with heel due to enriched ankle movement and the arena ankle strap ones were too heavy for someone with weaker legs and core. And my ds is a strapping 20yo now!!!!

He uses the DMC fins. I wouldn't recommend spending that amount on a young swimmer if you can get arena junior or maru but just to let you know the silicone fins are lighter and it is a feasible option.

Sadly they DO NOT help my ds go anywhere faster 🫣😂

Agree that I'd speak to the coach and ask if there's any exercises that will help. When we were working on ds kick (for us it was co ordination) he laid on a gym ball and practiced dry land.

But also some people are just not as good at kick and it's a working process like everything else and practice will help over time.

Welcome by the way!

Glittertwins · 07/02/2025 16:59

Every kick set we do sees the same ones urgently needing the loo! I love kick sets as does my DC but not everyone does. But it's a very useful part of training.

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Kyotoglow · 07/02/2025 17:27

This is all v helpful, thanks. She's definitely not a kick-set loo goer, thankfully. But I can see her shoulders drop when kick is announced so am just looking at all the options!

Teateaandmoretea · 07/02/2025 18:35

Glittertwins · 07/02/2025 16:59

Every kick set we do sees the same ones urgently needing the loo! I love kick sets as does my DC but not everyone does. But it's a very useful part of training.

That’s dd2 😂😂😂

Teateaandmoretea · 07/02/2025 18:37

Kyotoglow · 07/02/2025 17:27

This is all v helpful, thanks. She's definitely not a kick-set loo goer, thankfully. But I can see her shoulders drop when kick is announced so am just looking at all the options!

Ultimately some of them are naturally stronger in the arms and some the legs.

No one in her squad can touch dd2 on pull, dd1 has always been a stronger kicker.

itsgettingweird · 07/02/2025 19:53

This just about sums up ds kick.

Last week at counties racing 100m free. (LC)

Race breakdown and debrief afterwards.

(Paraphrased)

Coach - you didn't kick at all the third 25m.

Ds - no my legs were starting to tighten so I thought I'd save them for a last big push at the end.

Coach - it's was your quickest split of 25m 😂😂😂

As tea said some people can just pull really well - others kick.

Teateaandmoretea · 07/02/2025 20:12

it's was your quickest split of 25m

🤣🤣🧐

DH said dd2 barely kicked at all in the counties 200 🤦🏻‍♀️

SkankingWombat · 08/02/2025 14:11

itsgettingweird one man in my Masters lane has a freestyle stroke count that is significantly lower doing pull than full stroke - it sounds like he and your DS have been swapping notes 😂 For various medical reasons he can't maintain a good body position, so his lower body sinks and adds more drag than his legs are able to balance in propulsion. Adding a pull buoy lifts his legs up and he is magically much quicker!

itsgettingweird · 08/02/2025 19:17

Sounds just like my ds 🫣😂

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