Swim Like This - My Total Immersion Clinic Videos

I liked video but wish the words weren't placed over when you were swimming as it makes it hard to see you swimming much of the time.

I wish they had front underwater shots of you swimming towards the camera as well as both sides underwater and above water.

I can see the changes in your swimming.



Edited by KathyG 2010-01-18 8:14 AM

Very cool thanks for sharing... you did seem smoother in the water by the end..  

Plus that reminds me that our local master swim group does filming in febuary. 

It would be good to see a head on view since it almost looked like your hands were crossing midline, but that might have been an eariler video

I was digging the music.

Nice changes. I've experimented with similar TI-style style simplifications and have had a similar progression to yours.

Question though - did you actually get faster? The videos where you are using the 2-beat kick seem to appear as if you are going slower.  I know there's a likely adaptation period where you have to get slower before getting faster, but was curious based upon your technique changes, as your original stroke was pretty good to begin with.
 

I'll be attending a TI clinic in a few weeks.  Really looking forward to it.  I am curious to find out your answer to the above poster.  Did you speed up at all?

Great improvement in efficiency, you look like you're swimming smooth and relaxed. One of the things that's challenging with TI (I know from experience) is that you develop a "stall", you're doing it a little bit on your right side. It's a little pause before the recovery and hand entry/drive forward. When you start your pull, don't shorten it, but think about an immediate and "quicker" move lifting your arm and getting ready for entry. Try to stay relaxed, drive/reach (feeling LONG) forward a little more initiating from your core, and pick up your arm turnover rate just a little bit.

Looks good, good luck!

Thanks for posting! I was curious about your stroke count per pool length... did it decrease during the course of the clinic, and if so... how much?

I need to review my TI instructional DVD, as I know I'm doing several things wrong.
I saw in your first video you were an "arm plopper" with your overreach. There's a regular at my pool who does that-"smack smack smack" but since he's swimming faster that I am, who am I to say?

Anyway, I can see what I'm doing wrong also. Not waiting for the recovery arm before moving my extended arm back, not being efficient with my kicks, and possibly over rotation.

Thanks for the reminder!

This makes me want to look for a local TI clinic as well.  I've read the TI book and feel like I probably swim similar to your first video.  Which was decent all by itself, but there were some huge improvements by that last video.  Definitely makes me think I can still improve dramatically as well.

Thanks for sharing.

To answer some questions posed above:

My stroke count dropped pre and post by about 3 strokes I think (you can count them)
My overall speed slowed, but that wasn't the point of the clinic, nor of the stroke changes at this early stage. I never once during the clinic tried to swim fast...but in the pre-video I was trying to impress everyone so I swum "fastish". Were I to swim this new stroke with the same effort I think I'd be faster, but that would defeat the purpose of taking this block of time ot work on new form. NO point in learning a new form if you aren't going to take the time to bring that form with you through all your speeds. It makes the most sense to work on "tempo traiing" which is to very slowly and nearly imperceptibly increase your stroke rate...not to try and swim fast all out.

What's more important is that the stroke changes make swimming feel nearly effortless. For someone interested in swimming long distances (Alcatraz, Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes, English Channel...) that's a lot more important, at least right now. Of course I don't want to take 24 hours to swim one way across the channel.

The most astonishing thing that I/my body learned is that not only is there a front to back balance (which Ic ould already do kind of decently) ,but that there is a side to side balance as well, and riding your edge then destabilizing it at just the right time is what allows you to roll over to the other edge. Before I'm not sure what I was doing, but I think I was pushing down a lot with my pulling arm to also assist in rotation, even though in my brain that's not what I was doing.

The angle of entry, position of yoru arm relative to the axis of your body, the reaching point realtive ot the horizontal axis of the water surface are all important for setting up the near effortless rotatoin to the opposite side of your body and minimizing time spent flat, wide or presenting a large surface area in the water.

For that reason the instructor never mentioned the pull until literally the last 25yards of entire clinic. EVen then he didn't talk about the pull, only the set up for the pull. IN fact, I'm not even really sure how I'm going forward because I'm putting no thought or effort into the pull at this time, I'm just getting that arm out of the way, setting it up for recovery and piercing the water in front of me again.

They say that ingraining a new habit takes something like 10,000 repetitions. With there being a dozen or more learning points for each stroke change (hand relaxed, reach forward, head down, neck relaxed, etc,etc,etc) and swimming 22 Strokes per length, that's about 450 lengths or 11,250 yards for each focal point. That's a lot of swimming before I worry about speed.

Also the neuromuscular patterns are ingrained much better in frequent shorter efforts so trying to swim all those yards in a week isn't a guarantee that one thing will stick.

On a more practical matter, then new stroke feels totally different to me...there is a rhythm and a timing that wasn't there prior and a zen like state I enter, even just in 25 yards when everything seems to magically come together.

My training plan for the next month or so will consist of heading to the pool for short sessions of form work something like this:

-skating drill several lengths on one side only, focusing on one focal point at a time. eg: head straight down, neck relaxed, hand relaxed arm speared at 11 (or 1) oclock, recovery elbow in proper place (lower front ribcage, not stacked on the side), etc, etc. that's 100 yard right there if I do one focus per lap. Do the other side, that's 200 yards.

-same as above but doing underswitch drill

-same as above but doing zen switch drill

-same as above but doing full stroke

Then there is breathing to add. Unless I'm focused on the breathing skill, I'll just do sweet spot for air so that I'm only focusing on one thing at a time. It's really important not to beat yourself up if you forget to do one focus if it wasn't the focus you set for that lap.

Of all the changes, the two beat kick was the hardest to implement becuase it felt so odd. But I knew that it was the kick I'd been looking for, I'd just never put together physically how it works or what it feels like. Once I tried focusing on the kick, everything above my waist fell apart and I felt like I was at square one again. So I asked the instructor ot watch and he just reminded me to only focus on one point at a time. After about 6-8 lengths of focusing on Kick only, it really started to feel like it was working. So then I cycled through all the other focal points again.

In the very last video, my focal point was reaching long from wrist to toes and that's it. That's the only thing I was thinking about (I figured it would look the best on camera!)

Thanks for watching the videos and the comments.

Kathy, I can put up the videos without the text as well. I'll PM you the links.

I also would like to have front shots because that would really demonstrate the rotational balance that goes on. (as well as showing any crossing over). WIth my old stroke there were several things I thought I was doing correctly in my head, and on the video I was not doing at all. Really frustrating to think that all my swimming was so ineffective at buildign new habits.

I decided to take the clinic because I'd hit a limit of improvement at around 1:40ish/100, and I was working as hard as I possibly could. I knew that there must be something I was missing but the little tips I'd get from better swimmers never went anywhere other than giving me sore triceps. I knew there was something bigger in my stroke that was wrong. So I'm really glad I made the time and money investment because this will pay off over time.

I'll keep you guys apprised of any progress I make!

Agreed. I was very wrong in thinking I didn't have much room for improvement. The first morning of the clinic I didn't get much out of (probalby more than I realize), but the 2nd-4th sessions in the pool were fantastic.

Home brew techno by a friend of mine, Heinrich Theissen, a Danish physician. He's got a music website somewhere, i'll see if I can track it down.

Probably in the first video, and usually when I reach for the wall (have to correct that habit).

Thanks for the offer gail! If you send me your regular email, I'll send you the original files zipped. There are 3 files that aren't too big, hopefully gmail will let me send them, or I can upload them to my amazon server or website so you can have the full resolution ones.

For anyone who dug the music, here is the full website. It's in Danish, but "Singler" apparently means "Singles", so everything below that is his. Not sure if the stuff in the top bar is his or not.

http://www.bandbase.dk/boozedoc/

I'm not a fan of the two beat kick although it helped raise your hips a lot. Your legs become a bit too splayed out, though. I like TI to a point, it's a way to learn good body position, it's also a way to learn how to swim VERY slowly. The problem is that for 1500M, faster turnover and more kicking isn't a bad idea at all.

Wow! I could tell a striking difference even between the first and second sessions. You're much more relaxed which means more balanced. I'm a TI swimmer, Terry Laughlin is seriously my hero, but have much more room to grow. I so need to join a clinic.

Thanks so much for sharing! Great progress!

For everyone who wants me to be fast, I'll keep you updated periodically. No point in trying to go fast if my new form breaks down. I just got home from the clinic last night at 11:30pm, so don't expect it to happen too quickly. That'd be like getting a new powertap and asking someone 2 days later if they were faster yet, lol.

It will take time to make the new form second nature so that I can concentrate on adding a more powerful (and balanced) pull. TI and speed are not mutually exclusive, but I can see why people would get that impression. Adding speed is a matter of increasing the power of the pull without losing water. But for most people, if they concentrate on the pull too soon, all the other good stuff will slip away.

Also, the 2 beat kick is there just for body rotation, not for balance front & back. Just remember it's all new, I only learned it yesterday morning, so a little splay can be forgiven, lol.

Happy Laps everyone! My new favorite quote:

I can't fly, but swimming is the next best thing.... The water is my sky. ~Author Unknown

Very cool, Adventurebear! I also did a TI workshop and it was amazing. Totally changed my swimming and made swimming a true joy. I dreaded the swim before, now I LOVE it and like you I secretly dream of doing long distance swims.Before the clinic it took me 45 minutes to swim a mile. Now I can do it in 27 and that is "easy cruising speed," not going all out at all.Plenty of room for improvement.I take about 30 strokes for 50 yards. I have easily passed people swimming with fins and people who were going "all out" but who were swimming inefficiently.That is the most amazing thing that I learned, literally how to swim like a fish. You cruise along with this effortless-looking power, like a shark. It feels awesome after being such a horrible swimmer beforw.People now assume I'm a lifeguard, have been on every swim team since childhood, etc. And they are shocked to find out I only learned to swim like this a couple of years ago.Its a great method. Sure it has its flaws like any method and it may not be for everyone, but it has made me really happy, has made swimming a joy instead of torture, and has allowed me to dream of those long open-water swims.Kelly

Did you say something about a "relaxed hand" somewhere around the 2 minute mark?  Is that a relaxed hand on the pull or during recovery?  I thought you were supposed to flex your wrist for the catch during the pull... Does TI advocate a loose hand in the water???

Yes, because tensing the hand causes tension all the way up the arm and into the shoulder and interferes with proper positioning of the arm during the stroke. We didn't even discuss the pull, but in the advanced workshop they do. I just wrote this article based on some of my AHA moments in the clinic. Ignore the errors showing up at teh top of the page...scroll down a bit to read the article. Basically the catch is the last thing to worry about if your technique isn't already otherwise well developed.

Triathlon Swimming Technique - When to Catch the Water?

Cool! You looked very smooth and relaxed.

I do have to say though...I'm an old school swimmer and I just don't get the whole swimming under water thing. Just seems like more effort to reach out of the water when you are stroking. Not sure if that made sense... but I'm old school... that's all.

Thanks for teh compliments!

Thanks for posting that Suzanne, I noticed a marked difference from Day 1 to the end. You looked smoother and more efficient. Just did a Masters swim tonight and I was shocked to see how much faster my times were using a pool buoy, not just a little but a lot! I don't think I kick at all when I swim.

I do know of a TI coach here in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. After seeing your video I think I'll give him a call

 (closest clinic to us is Seattle)