Hello Terry,

I have read your original "Total Immersion" book and subsequently registered for one of your Weekend Workshops in Florida. When the workshop self-coaching manual and DVD arrived I was excited to begin preparing, but have discovered that I am a poor kicker and a "sinker" par excellence. While the DVD shows how to compensate with the assistance of a “TI Buddy,” I have not been able to recruit a buddy, partly because it is difficult to get pool time here that is quiet enough to practice – ironically I live near Bath, England, famous for its complex of Roman baths and swimming pools dating from around AD 200!

When I practice Sweet Spot, my legs tend to sink and in spite of much effort to have flexible ankles and much practice with vertical kicking, my kicking still seems to result in me remaining stationary or even reversing direction! Is there a way to correct this tendency on my own?
Regards,
Alison


Alison,
If you're a sinker and poor kicker, then you'll experience more encouragement by focusing on Fish and Skating than on the nose-up balance drills. Don't worry about being unable to do this with a buddy. Once at the workshop, you'll get the hands-on help you need. Until then you can creatively duplicate the towing effect you would get from buddy practice by focusing mainly on comfort and relaxation. Please try the following:

1. Start by pushing off the wall or bottom into a streamlined prone gliding position. Just see how far you can go without kicking. Look straight down – so your head is in line – and shape yourself to minimize drag. Do this quite a few times – 10 or more – mainly to imprint a feeling of relaxed, effortless travel – travel that produces a sense of lightness and support. Once you have experienced a sense of supported gliding, even for short distances, then add a gentle, quiet kick – mainly “toe-flicking” – to this exercise. Push off, glide a bit, and when you feel yourself beginning to lose momentum, begin kicking lightly and quietly. Your goal is to see how economically you can maintain the momentum from your pushoff. Then use this feeling as your guide to the sensation you're seeking in Fish and Skating.

2. Practice Fish and Skating from a similar pushoff, from wall or bottom. In each of those positions, glide briefly without kicking – just to experience the sense of lightness and support you had while prone, then begin kicking lightly with a compact toe-flicking action. When you lose your momentum, just stand up, catch your breath, then push off again. Repeat each drill – Fish first, then Skating – for 10 minutes or more until the feeling you had in the prone gliding position begins to appear consistently.

3. Extend your Skating practice by adding a breath to the repeat. Push off, glide in Skating with a light, quiet kick. Rotate to your back to breathe, keeping your arm extended and aligned – the DVD shows how. Rotate back down to your original position and resume kicking. Then stand up and reflect on how you did. Repeat that single-breath sequence until your Skating after the breath feels as good as that you did before it. Only when it does, should you add a second breath to the sequence – Pushoff, Skate with a light kick, 1st breath, resume Skating with a light kick, 2nd breath, resume Skating again. Repeat a two-breath Skating sequence until Skating after the second breath feels as relaxed as it did earlier in the sequence. Add distance patiently in this manner. Happy laps!