Reply To: USRPT for 12&unders
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This is my first time here in this forum… Extremely helpful and interesting. I coach the 12&U swimmers in our club. I have been implementing USRPT for approximately 5 weeks now. I am seeing incredible results, not only in times, but also in race-pace technique and motivation/excitement.
My swimmers only train between 4-6 hours per week. The Head Coach (also my husband) has a strong belief that young swimmers need time to rest and grow. Forcing them to swim excessive amounts leads only to injury and burnout. That being said, it is amazing how much more we are accomplishing in our limited time with this new system.
Coming from a background of competitive gymnastics, USRPT makes so much sense. As a gymnast, we practiced our full routines over and over again. We needed to feel confident going into a meet that we had perfected through repetition every detail. Let me tell you, it can be a whole lot more painful to mess up on balance beam, than to miss a time in the pool. I think of this Race pace work as practicing a routine over and over, so that when it comes to competition day, they know exactly what they need to do.
The biggest challenge has been with those swimmers who would rather just give up and “fail” a set, rather than work hard to achieve better results. The kids that are willing to put 100% effort into reaching their goals are thriving. Motivating the others can be a little more work.
I have tons more to add … but I will leave it there for now.