TI Swimming - Triathlon Week

AudreyJ · 02-24-2005, 07:59 AM

I'm just looking for fellow Total Immersion swimmers. I'm so happy I learned how to swim in the TI style, I think it's helped me infinitely. Anyone else?

fittotri · 02-24-2005, 06:28 PM

I have read the book and have been working on this technique at the Y solo. It is coming along, but not real fast. I figure things out sometimes after lots of practice, for example: "needle like". Definately not any slower than before, but its not coming easy. Always looking for advice, hard to talk to those who don't understand or like the system. Lots of Masters swimmers where I am at, but they seem stuck with different methods. Glad the system is working for you. Open for advice. Later.

AudreyJ · 02-24-2005, 08:07 PM

I had trouble at first too, I wanted to swim and not just do drills. I took a lesson with a private instructor, and that really helped things fall into place. Sometimes there is one little thing that you're doing that only a trained eye can see....but it might make a HUGE difference (like in my case). Hip rotation and anchoring...big time.

ZackJones · 02-25-2005, 03:36 PM

I've read the book twice and didn't quite get it. I bought the Freestyle Made Easy DVD and WOW what a difference it has made. I'm working on my drills and have already seen a significant improvement in my swimming by using it. I can't wait until I master the technique.

charliebrownpv · 05-20-2005, 10:07 PM

I bought the book and watch the dvd...and it takes patience...I am getting down to 15 stroke lengths per 25 over a 1000 meter session but when I get in open water I tend to blow off the hip rotation and just forget my technique and drills..done three open water swims in a tri and do the olympic distance on Sunday in Phoenix...will do without wetsuit..

AudreyJ · 05-21-2005, 09:35 AM

I'm doing my first on Sunday too, Columbia. Good luck!

charliebrownpv · 05-21-2005, 11:59 AM

good luck audrey...i really tapered down more than usual before a race.
did light swimming, running and bike this week..eat well..and slept well.
the temp tomorrow is 108 degrees...we start at 630..
i think i will wear wetsuit even though i am training without...hope to do 1500 in 41 minutes..
and 10k in 57..bike is 25 miles so i would be happy with 50 or 60 minutes..bottom line is i hope to do the whole thing in 3 hours..then i would be satisfied..two weeks ago i did a sprint and got two flats..still finished though.
Good luck Audrey share with me how you do...charlie

AudreyJ · 05-23-2005, 02:52 PM

Wow, so what an experience. I thought I was going to die in the swim. It was an in water start, so we bobbed around in the 68 degree water before starting. when we started, there were SO many people it was crazy. I didn't really even start swimming until a ways into the race. then when i did start swimming...good grief. i was going every which direction, but not towards the dang course. FINALLY, i managed to get into a groove of some sort. the water was so dark that i couldn't even see my hand in front of my face, nor the person kicking me. I managed to get out of the water in just under 30 minutes.

the other parts went ok, bike 41K, 1:10, run 10K 48 minutes.

how was your race??

Audrey

charliebrownpv · 05-23-2005, 06:08 PM

our water temp was 82...no wetsuits...I did the 1500 in 39 minutes...we had about 300 in our age group..did some breast and sweet spot breating..one time I got in a good groove for about 5 minutes and ended up right in the middle of the lake..had to swim back...
Idid the 40k in 62 minutes..had several hills...the run was so hard..........it was 106 degrees at 9 in the morning...I made it 3 miles and had to start walking..I walked 2 miles and finished with a good run...it ruined my time..but oh well....i finished in 3 hours and 20 minutes...wanted to do 3 hours..next time audrey..
by the way, I loaded up on liquid carbs and had to go real bad in the middle of the run..I had the runs...........wasted 4 minutes in the portapotti..
charlieBROWN :bannana:

Quote:

Originally Posted by AudreyJ

Wow, so what an experience. I thought I was going to die in the swim. It was an in water start, so we bobbed around in the 68 degree water before starting. when we started, there were SO many people it was crazy. I didn't really even start swimming until a ways into the race. then when i did start swimming...good grief. i was going every which direction, but not towards the dang course. FINALLY, i managed to get into a groove of some sort. the water was so dark that i couldn't even see my hand in front of my face, nor the person kicking me. I managed to get out of the water in just under 30 minutes.

the other parts went ok, bike 41K, 1:10, run 10K 48 minutes.

how was your race??

Audrey

AudreyJ · 05-24-2005, 07:58 AM

wowie, you had a hot race. the temp for mine was about 70....just about perfect.
whens the next race? i'm looking for mine.

osugasman · 05-25-2005, 05:19 AM

Congrats on your races!!! I have also been experimenting with the TI this season. I read the book and have been gliding with the best. Got my astroke count down from a terrible 22 to as low as 11. I can "cruise" at 15 strokes per 25 but am so slow. I had a great split yesterday but avg'd about 18-20 per 25. My question to you guys is... How can you glide and utilize hip rotation for the power component but still maintain some speed to your hand turnover? If you are Front Quarter swimming, you have to slow down the turnover, right?
--Brian
P.S. I ran 2 spring marathons so was lazy about swimming until last week. Am kind of late for the Summer season but am gearing up for 2 Int'ls and one half IM this Summer.

duggar1 · 12-01-2005, 04:20 PM

Brian (osugasman), you ask, "How can you glide and utilize hip rotation for the power component but still maintain some speed to your hand turnover? If you are Front Quarter swimming, you have to slow down the turnover, right?"

You don't have to slow down the hand turnover. In the Total Immersion method of efficient swimming you may just have a different positioning of the arms in the stroke cycle than you had before. The hand and arm out in front of you, which is gliding and giving you your long "vessel", starts to pull down and under you as the other hand enters the water. This other hand in turn extends out in front of you, and stops to glide while your first hand continues it's pull, comes out of the water being lead by the elbow, and then as it enters the water the other hand finishes it's glide and starts it's pull. In other words, each hand begins it's pull from the glide point out in front of you and makes a continuous movement until returning back to the glide point, then stays there until the other hand is entering the water.

This has nothing to do with the speed of your turnover and everything to do with when you start your pull. No mater how fast the turnover in your stroke, the other hand remains extended out in front of you until the turnover hand re-enters the water. You are not really gliding in the classic sense. One hand is always in motion, providing almost continuous propulsion. It just feels like you're gliding because you also always have one arm extended out in front of you. This positioning is what creates a longer "vessel" as they call it in TI, and reduces drag. As you stretch out that arm you are rolling or rotating onto your side, which also reduces drag. TI swimming is much less about increasing power as it is about increasing efficiency in your stroke, reducing drag and making yourself slippery and fish-like in the water. It just feels like a more powerful stroke, but actually you just have less resistance in the water.

I ordered the "Freestyle Made Easy" DVD and the book "Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way to Swim Better, Faster, and Easier" a few weeks ago in an effort to improve my technique. The DVD arrived the same day as the last day of training for my Masters swim group for the year. I watched the DVD twice and went off to my last Master's practice session with the idea of incorporating that one particular technique detailed above, namely the timing of the arm stroke, which improves "vessel" length, thus reducing drag in the water.

Without having done any of the drills or even practicing this stroke improvement, I swam faster and moved easier through the water than before. My times were faster than usual by a couple seconds on the 100s and even more on the 200s. I was consistently ahead of one of my teammates who swims in the next fastest lane up from me, and almost always swims the intervals at least a little faster than me. After practice he commented that I seemed to be swimming especially strong today.

Having seen even such a small but obvious improvement after only having watched the DVD I was convinced I was on the right track to taking what I consider my already good swimming form, and making it even better, in a quantifiable way.

Since then I have been in the water for 60 to 70 minutes every other day working on the drills as exactly as possible from what I see in the DVD. I can feel the improvement as I finish up with a "test" swim of 800 to 1,000 yards at the end of the drills. I feel like I'm cutting through the water with far more power and efficiency, but with far less effort than before. The Total Immersion methods are definitely working for me.

I received the book a few days after the DVD and am still reading it. The DVD runs about 40 minutes or so and is immediately applicable. The book is far more detailed and spends the first seven chapters (about 100 pages) educating you on what constitutes good swimming and how you can swim better by just changing the shape of your "vessel". Then in Chapter 8 it gets into the drills demonstrated by the DVD. There are 16 chapters in some 300 pages. The book and DVD are designed to go together, but if all you get is the DVD, it in itself will make a positive difference in your stroke.

Anyway, I'm sold on the Total Immersion method of swimming and highly recommend the book and the DVD.

-Doug