Doing TI drills at the pool (Page 2)

The TI drills really worked for me. I was practicing getting long and balancing in the pool. I hope to do some more drills soon. I've really started swimming faster and easier. I could barely swim a lap a few months ago. The drills really helped me decrease my drag.

Ah....stupid newbie question...what is TI?

No, not stupid at all. Sometimes we talk in code around here.

TI stands for "Total Immersion."

Here's the link:

http://www.totalimmersion.net/

- Heidi

TI is short for (Total Immersion). It is a methodology used to teach/learn swimming technique. The core principle of the methdology is that the greatest improvements to a student's swimming are achieved via concentration on improved efficiency. The methodolgy teaches the student how to concentrate on swim efficiency via a series of progressive drills. These drills first focus upon developing an increased awareness of ones body position, in order to reduce drag, and then secondly an awareness of proper stroke timing in order to increase propulsion.

It's founder is Terry Laughlin and you can read more about it at:
http://www.totalimmersion.net/

You can often spot people who practice "TI" swimming in a pool by the emphasis they place upon perfecting certain drills as opposed to the more traditional lap swimming volume workouts.


Edited by amowers 2005-12-19 9:26 PM

Thanks for the replies.  I'll check it out eventually!

So I have watched the FME DVD twice, drilled three 45 minute sessions, follow the drill cards and now have questions Terry L did not answer (or I missed them) :

- How many 25m do I do for each drill? I do some only 50m and others maybe 100m.
- How long, on average, do I do the drills (weeks, sessions) before starting freestyle again?

(I signed up for St. A's and the race is about 13 weeks out...getting a little anxious).

Thanks,
Tony



Edited by tribesman 2006-01-20 8:51 PM

Bought the Total Immersion - The Revolutionary Way to Swim Better, Faster and Easier and tried out the Drills. But after a few attempts to float, I felt frustrated as I keep on sinking. I wonder if I would be able to ever float in the water by just lying on my back. Am I not relax enough or am I too heavy to float on the water? Where can I get the DVD and which is the recommended one that I should buy.

Don't bother to keep track of how many laps you do with drills at this point.  Do them until they are easy and natural.  I've found that ~30min at a time is about all you can do before starting to get a bit bored.  I've been doing nothing but TI drills for the last month for 25-40min at a time 2-3 days a week.  I plan to at least finish off January before doing any real swimming.  My TI clinic instructor suggested trying to get 10-20 hours of pur drill work in before picking up swimming again.  With these drills it's all about reprogramming yourtechnique and that means that doing any swimming before your have the technique nailed down will be counter-productive.  It would be like studying the wrong material for a test...sure, you might know the stuff inside and out but you'll still fail the test.  Work on perfecting the drills...by the time you get to multiple zipper-switches you'll be very close to actual swimming.  The next step is to focus on maintaining all the concepts you just learned as you transition to swimming for conditioning.  I'd still suggest spending ~10min at the start of every workout doing some drills so that the switch timing and rotation are fresh in your mind.

Don't spend a lot of time trying to just float...I still can't float without gently kicking to get a little momentum.  When I first tried the back balance drill I would barely move and even drifted backwards sometimes.  I found that the key was to really relax and lay on the water.  If you aren't totally comfortable you'll tend to keep your head lifted which makes your legs drop...not balanced.  Keep working at the back balance but don't stress over it.  If you just can't get it then move on to the sweet spot and fish drills...they are easier for sinkers and form the basis for the more advanced drills.

Here are a few thoughts about this drill ...

When we first did this drill in the workshop we did the exercise in a group of three people. One person gently supported the feet of the floater if needed. The other person cupped their hands behind the floaters head and would tap on the forehead or chin to coach them to alter their head position. That tells me this is a hard drill for some people and so you shoudn't get discouraged.

One of the things to keep in mind when doing these drills is that you are not just learning to do the drill, you are also developing a heightened awareness of the effects of minor body adjustments. For instance, when you do this back floating exercise (perhaps with a gentle kick). You stare up at the ceiling, and you make minor adjustments with your head by moving your chin up or forehead back. While doing those adjustments you try to develop a peaceful mental focus on where the waterline is on your head relative to your facial parts and googles.

One of the important things you learn by doing the drills is the ability to focus on certain aspects of your body position and how to make adjustments to them. Each drill develops several focus skills and when you start to swim you'll notice you now have a whole library of focus points that you can draw upon to fine tune your stroke as you swim.

I think this is what they mean in their books when they talk about mindful swimming. What you are trying to develop is this skill for mindful swimming. Therefore whenever you are about to do a drill pick a mental focus point for the drill before you do it. Each physical drill usually has a few mental focus points that you can choose from.

I don't know if I've explained this well.

Good points to keep in mind. Once you start to relax and "trust" the water you'll be able to get more in tune with how those very slight changes in how you position your head effect your entire body position.  A very minor tweak can bring you suddenly into balance but until you are comfortable enough to let go of a tense body you won't be able to experiment with these subtle changes.  I'm to the point now where I'm complete relaxed on my back and my side so I'm learning exactly where my own personal head position needs to be.  Keep at it and work on relaxing and "trusting" the water to support your body.  It's okay to use fins at first if you need a bit of propulsion...it'll keep your mind off of your legs sinking and help you focus on the task at hand.  Just don't kick too hard and stop using the fins before long.

Thanks. I think I will proceed to the other drills then. After a few failed attempts I was quite demoralised and decided that it is not for me. I guess the other option is to sign up for the workshop and get proper guidance of the TI technique.