Swim Like This - My Total Immersion Clinic Videos (Page 2)

 I just learned to swim about 4 years ago and my coach is a TI follower but I taught myself the 2BK by watching TI videos on youtube and reading Terry's articles.  The one thing that helped me the most was visualization of the 2BK.  The kick of the right leg rotates you to the left and vice versa.  I did the visualization before falling asleep and it was very relaxing to me.  When I tried it in the pool it felt like I finally understood the rhythm of swimming.  It definitely saves your legs for triathlons.

I'll drop my 2 cents on this one. A number of issues pop into my mind. I usually avoid any TI topic because I know there a number of beginner swimmers who really get benefit from it, but since you are looking for an alternate view....

First off, here would be my observations/tips to the Suzanne's stroke.

There are a couple of things that I picked up on. First your overall position is really good with the exception of your head which is riding a tad high in the water. Your left arm is overreaching which is causing you to pull air through the water and therefore reducing the effectiveness of the pull. The pull itself I see that your arms bend too much too early and you are dropping your elbow.

Some of these things are easy fixes and some may take a while. I would agree with TI that your hand needs to enter earlier and extend so as to remove the air, but entry would be above the head (just like you do in the final clip). The other two points I would have different take than TI.

First, as the OP Suzanne said, “We didn't even discuss the pull, but in the advanced workshop they do. …. Basically the catch is the last thing to worry about”

I couldn’t disagree more and this is where my issues with TI begin. As you generate propulsion a lift is naturally generated. So the better your pull the easier it is to keep your legs up. Think of getting pulled behind a boat. When you are stopped your legs sink, when the boat starts moving, your legs naturally rise. There is no need to press your chest in the water. Extreme example but you get the point.

TI tells you that your problem is balance because that is what they have hung their hat on for the last 15 years. They write everyone the same prescription regardless of the problem. Great example, in your first 25 you were ‘balanced front to back’, yet your problem was that you were ‘swimming uphill’. So which one is it? Truth is you don’t have a balance problem, you have a pulling problem. But if you fix your pull then what would they talk about? Not a huge surprise that they don’t discuss the pull, which is 95%++ of your propulsion.

Other things:

“an earlier hand entry and forward/downward piercing (steep and deep) helps bouy the hips more, minimizing frontal surface area. The perceived increase drag from having an arm low in the water is far less than by having hips and legs low in the water.” 

If your balance is correct and your kick is barely adequate then driving your hand straight forward won’t affect your balance. The problem here (again) is the pull. If you begin your pull with you hand parallel to the ground then you will cause the lift you speak of which raises your shoulders and drops your hips. If you correctly change in pitch of your hand and arm this won’t happen. By recommending that you drive you hand deep you are avoiding the problem, and losing a vital piece of your pull.

I agree with TI on the two beat kick. When you do it effectively you dramatically reduce the energy used for kicking to achieve the same results(for the distances we swim). And while true that the kick is initiated from the core, most of your propulsion is from the ankle. I would say though that you need to work the timing of your 2 beat kick as your hips are already rotated as you start your kick. Small adjustment.

As to the Phelps comparison, well all the really good swimmers can look the way TI looks when going easy. Its little more than catch up drill for them. Going fast however, that’s a different thing altogether.

All in all TI is a great thing for the beginner swimmer. They give lots of visual que’s and provide some easy fixes for big issues, even if they avoid the underlying problem. But for an average or competitive swimmer, well, it’s not quite as popular. Even Terry admits that his teaching isn’t to make people faster, rather to get them more relaxed, and no one endorses TI among the higher level swimming community.

Back in the "old-school" day, Suzanne/AdventureBear was my lead-in on the 100-yard butterfly relay for Gateway Heights Swim Club, and I am a product of the same old-school training with the same old-school coach Larry P and I am also about the same height.  I think you're looking pretty good these days!

My coach (TI and USMS trained but has developed his own tri-focused program) is suddenly into video swims, and so I will swap videos with you when I get a chance ... let me know if you sent or posted your origs on your website for me to see!  I am not a TI swimmer (Fiona L., who lives near me, was not too happy with me about that), but I am a FOP swimmer for my AG, so don't dump all the babies with the bathwater.