THE EVOLUTION OF ELITE JUNIOR II
We make it a point to self-evaluate our program on a regular basis and take a hard look at what we are teaching, why we are teaching it, and how we are teaching it. The one area of the program our Aquatics Director, Jack Young, has had his eye on improving is the Elite Junior II Level. The concern was we feel we are pushing the breaststroke and butterfly progressions way too fast. As a result, the long axis strokes (freestyle and backstroke) are not receiving enough attention.
Developmentally, a 5 or 6 year old is not going to progress and master more difficult skills at the same rate as a 7 or 8 year old. With this in mind, we have made the appropriate changes to our teaching and lesson plans to benefit the students.
We will continue to focus on freestyle and backstroke with the emphasis on learning bilateral breathing, proper kicks, pull patterns, and body position. Breaststroke and butterfly will be introduced at a slower rate. We will spend more time mastering the progressions of the stroke before putting it all together. After careful consideration, we have redesigned our lesson plans for the Elite Junior II Level. These lesson plans will vary from the Advanced Level.
READINESS FOR TEAM
We are also adding a skill to the to the Elite Junior II and Advanced levels, which is “Ready For Team”. When a student is proficient in all of the skills and our teachers feel they have the strength and confidence required to be on team, they will receive an invitation to join.
IN CONCLUSION
Whenever we make a change to our curriculum, we find it important to let our families know why these changes are being made. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Jack Young directly and he will be more than happy to talk.
