zed707 - 2010-02-05 6:01 PM
KathyG - 2010-02-05 4:47 PM I don't think so.
I took private TI lessons one winter and spent about the same amount. Now my swim coach for last two winters has been having me work on correcting stuff I learned at TI. I glide to much and not enough focus on arm position in recovery and the catch.
For $395 find the best swim coach that works with adult triathletes in your area and take private lessons for next couple months.
I have a friend who learned TI and then got some coaching. The coach said and proved with my buddy exactly what you're saying--too much emphasis on glide in TI. When you're gliding, you're slowing down.
And then it was as Yoda said "You must unlearn what you have learned."
I'm no TI zealot
(only bought a DVD & visited the website
) and I use instructional stuff from multiple coaching methods. But I disagree with the notion that concepts in TI must be unlearned. Balance, body position, streamlining, core rotation, etc. are fairly universal to a solid stroke. From what I've seen, "too much glide" is not a characteristic of TI swimming per se. And there are other non-TI swim coaches that use concept of glide in one way or another. The TI "glide" is mostly in the drills, and
(as with some other styles
) there is a slight glide in long endurance swims. TI calls their stroke
(esp for speed
) "perpetual motion freestyle". For example, ch8 of "Easy Freestyle" DVD, Secrets of Speed, goes into improving stroke tempo & there is no visible glide in that demonstration stroke. The swim motion is continuous. OTOH I tend to agree that basic TI ain't the best for teaching some things like catch & pull.
It is not unusual for good coaches in any sport or technique to disagree, or for an athlete to perform better after changing coaches. I improved my basic tri swim far more from using TI DVD than from lessons at a very well-respected local swim club
(multiple state team championships, several NCAA D1 swim champs
), but others don't find TI useful. Currently I'm using other
(non-TI
) coaching videos to work on catch, pull & more active streamlining. So what. Different teaching methods seem to work for different athletes at different times in their lives.
Back to OP- I would not spend $395
(+ misc expenses
) for a TI workshop. As others have said- you would likely get more from a series of private lessons spread over a few months from a good personal coach.