TI swim clinic-worth the money?

I can't comment on the clinics, but I have been using their book and DVD for 2 or 3 weeks and as I'm transitioning from the drills back into real swimming, I've made significant improvement (about 12 seconds per 50 yards). 

I would expect that for most athletes, there would be more value in finding a local swim coach and purchasing a series of lessons as opposed to a one-weekend clinic.

You would likely be able to get a series of lessons over several months for the cost of the clinic.

Shane

I agree with Shane. $495 should get you approximately 15 one-on-one training sessions (at least that's what I paid). I think 15 one-on-ones would be more useful than a single weekend.

I read the book but it was no replacement for the clinic.  Took a two day clinic and it helped me a ton.  Be prepared to put in some serious time with the drills after the clinic.  It takes a lot of practice, but if you are persistant, it really pays off. 

I had no swim background, but TI helped me get through my Ironman swim in 1:12, which I was pretty happy with.  I know this time is rather slow, but I was able to come out of the water fresh with very little energy expendid on the swim! 

I'd go for one on one lessons for the money and search for a really good coach. You can learn, practice, check back and probably have lessons for 3-5 months for same cost. I  have worked with 4 swim coaches over the years and finally found one that is helping me. She has been teaching for years, has National Masters records, and has many ways to explain things and lots of drills until it clicks with her athlete.

I took private TI lessons winter of '05 as it was cheaper than clinic. Overall I don't think TI was the best route for me. I learned a lot of bad habits that I still struggle with. They did not do well at teaching me to breath comfortably.

IMO for the price and time of instruction you get no. Same as others have suggested I would rather get a good local swim coach and get some lessons, you will get individual advice and it will cost you less.

I did both the clinic and one on one lessons with a conventional swim coach (before and after the TI workshop).

Before the TI workshop I could "swim" 25 yards before I had to stand up and catch my breath. I took a dozen lessons but I didn't see any improvement. (My coach wasn't particularly experienced either). I went to a TI workshop and I didn't "swim" again for several months. I did TI drills for every workout, and I did TI drills for the swim portion of my first 2 tris in 2005.

When I got to the point that I was swimming like a TI swimmer I realized I was very, very slow. So I went to a different swim coach for a conventional lesson. I was much more comfortable and balanced in the water after TI. After one lesson I was swimming about 25% faster. As it turns out, my TI swim stroke as I understood it was still really more of a drill.

Open water was a whole different matter. I struggled quite a bit at several races before I did my first half iron where I had a decent swim (33 minutes and change) and I came out of the water totally fresh.

Since then I've not really done much work to get faster. I may focus more on swim speed this off-season. I don't swim like a TI swimmer any more, meaning if you watch me swim I don't know that it would be obvious at this point that I started with TI. But I can't deny that it helped me tremendously starting out.

As for the book vs. DVD vs. workshop, I did all three. The book was a waste of time for me. The DVD was somewhat more helpful because I knew something about how the drills should go before I went to the workshop, and the TI coach dialed me in and made corrections here and there. Would I do TI again? Yes, I would. I'm happy with the result. Is it the only way I could improve? I don't know. But the path I chose worked out so I wouldn't change anything at this point.

Good luck either way. Learning to swim as an adult was very cool for me. Going from DND (d*mn near drowing) at my first few races to being in the top 1/3 of swimmers at my 3 half iron swims was ultimately very rewarding.

Edited by Bill 2009-10-29 7:29 AM

I agree with most of the sentiments above.

I had no idea they had adult swim lessons when I started doing triathlons so I took the TI workshop.  It was good from the perspective that I hadn't had lessons since I was 10.  Got me more comfortable in the water, etc.

But hindsight being 20/20 I think I would have progressed further finding a coach and using that money for one-on-one lessons.  As always with group lessons the weakest swimmers or whatever you are doing group lessons for will get the most attention.  $495 would have gotten me almost 7 lessons with my current swim coach.

Though as I always post when people ask about swim lessons, make sure you find a coach that is comfortable teaching adults.  The majority out there seem to be great with kids and good adult swimmers but hesitant to yell at an adult or correct them.  I went through 4-5 coaches before I found one that would tell me that I sucked and really work with me to fix everything.

Edited by dalessit 2009-10-29 7:38 AM

This user's post has been ignored.

I read the book, studied the DVD's, and took the weekend workshop, all well worth it. I went into the workshop well prepared, having gone through the drills for six weeks. Other in the workshop, who didn't spend that much time before hand, probably didn't get as much out of it. Many people talk about TI as slow swimming, but that's up to the individual. I found it very beneficial to get my balance corrected, my one major issue. The TI program seems to be weak on pull instruction, I had another coach provide more detail on that. All in all, for me it was worth the $495.

I went from no freestyle at all to a 1:25:xx IM swim from 1 TI weekend and well a bit of practice over the next year.  Not fast, but comfortable with plenty in the tank for the bike.  The closest 1 to 1 coach is probably 150 to 300 miles away one way.  Not an option here.   

$495 would pay for a lot of individual swim lessons from a good coach. That's the route I'd take.