Transferring Skills
By BRIAN VANDE KROL

In theory, all the elements of good technique that are practiced in the drills should lead you to swim a flawless whole stroke. Occasionally, I run across a swimmer who has faithfully practiced the TI drills, and performs them beautifully. Yet he or she doesn't have the same ease and fluidity in whole stroke swimming. If this describes you, here are several ideas that might help you enjoy the same comfort while swimming:

Follow a Progression from ZipperSwitch to Swimming

ZipperSwitch is the favorite drill of many TI swimmers. The relaxed, effortless feeling of propulsion from the rotational weight shift and hip drive is surprisingly easy once you've learned balance, alignment, and timing from the preceding drills. Try making a gradual progression from ZipperSwitch to whole stroke. There are 2 ways to progress:

1. Bring your recovery arm and hand slightly higher on each subsequent length. As always, use a focal point, such as a patient lead hand. Keep the same relaxed, easy feeling as you bring the hand incrementally higher until your hand is barely clear of the water, and you're swimming!
2. Progress within a length. If, for example, it takes 16 ZipperSwitches to complete a length, count 14 switches, and finish with two OverSwitches. Practice that until the OverSwitches feel as good as the ZipperSwitches. Then, count 12 ZipperSwitches and finish with four OverSwitches. Continue that progression until you're swimming the entire length with OverSwitches.
   

Slow Down and Relax!

A common misconception about whole stroke is that it requires a higher stroke rate than ZipperSwitch. If you've drilled ZipperSwitch enough so that you can flow through the drill without pausing your hand at the front pocket, you can (and probably should) swim whole stroke at the same stroke rate. Practice whole stroke at an easy, relaxing pace until the stroke is highly repeatable before trying to increase your stroke rate.

Ease Your Worried Mind

To quote Alan Perez in a recent post on the breathing conference of the TI Discussion Forum: "When a person can honestly concede to a progressive process they'll be more able to relax, focus (less anxiety perhaps) and all will soon fall into place." If you attempt whole stroke with the idea that it's radically different from drilling, it will be!

Practice Advanced Rhythmic Breathing (ARB)

After the drills become easy with sweet spot breathing, it's time to practice ARB. I avoided this for quite a while because I found it so difficult. Then I got the new TI DVD, O2 in H2O, where Terry demonstrates the drill. All of a sudden, it made sense. It was difficult because I wasn't rhythmic! In ARB drilling, the recovering hand never goes to the front pocket, and doesn't pause between stroking and recovering. With rhythm, the skill becomes much easier, and things start falling into place. Combine ARB drilling with the ideas above, and soon you'll be swimming easily and joyfully!

During his first year as a competitive triathlete, Brian struggled with the swim. He wasn’t fast, and he could barely walk after the swim leg of a triathlon. Then he found Total Immersion. After one year of TI swimming, he took over one minute off of his 1500M swim time, and came out of the water running! Now he’s hooked on TI, and shares his passion for swimming with his students. This article appeared originally in Brian's FDS Coaching newsletter at http://fdscoaching.com.