CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY.  DVDs WILL SHIP JULY 1st!!

 

Why Self-Coached?

1. The obvious reason is convenience and personalization.   Take charge of your improvement.  Learn when and where you want. Customize your lessons to your needs, challenges and abilities. When you teach yourself, you’re in control and you understand most fully.  But there’s a less recognized, more far-reaching benefit . . .

2. By teaching yourself, you not only build a better stroke, you even build a better brain. Neuroscientists have identified lifelong learning–particularly that which requires intense focus and is done independently—as the best way to improve and maintain mental acuity as we age. Striving to improve your swimming has every key ingredient for this kind of brain stimulus. 

 

Is it really a Workshop?

Prior TI DVDs have helped thousands transform struggles into skills, because they provide a rich visual guide to the key positions and movements of low-drag, high-fluency swimming. The Self-Coached Workshop goes a step further by teaching you how to learn, not just how to swim. Lessons I’ve learned from being my own best TI coach, and that we’ve learned from teaching thousands of improvement-minded swimmers since 1989 are reflected in dozens of fine points and tips on how to avoid the most common mis-steps and increase your sense of clear direction.

 

What’s Perpetual Motion Freestyle?

Think of it as Swimming for Grownups. Traditional freestyle techniques–fast, short, power -oriented strokes– create short-term speed but make you tired faster and increase injury risk.  PMF is designed to help you Work Less; Swim Better. Swim farther with more ease and enjoyment and transition with ease from the pool to open water.  There is no more efficient–or satisfying–way to swim freestyle!

 

What if I already have earlier TI DVDs?

The Self-Coached Workshop is meant to complement, not replace, the Easy Freestyle DVD. While that program gives most of its attention to the stroke, and its components, the Self-Coached Workshop focuses intently on you, and your learning experience.  When teaching yourself a movement skill, visual aids provide the “mental blueprint” to which you’ll compare your own attempts. Easy Freestyle gives you a high-quality, high-definition blueprint with side-by-side comparison of correct and incorrect techniques and computer-graphic enhancements to clarify every critical position and movement path. The Self-Coached Workshop is designed to help you plan your practice sessions and make informed adjustments–as a professional coach would–as you proceed from the first drill to whole stroke.  And if you only have the Freestyle Made Easy (or any earlier) DVD, this is the perfect time to update..
 
 

Why 10 Lessons?

It’s likely you’ll use the Self-Coached Workshop as the foundation to plan dozens, if not hundreds, of lessons. But the main distinction between a 10-Lesson Series and a Weekend Workshop is that you can learn important new skills in the course of a weekend – while in 10 lessons, you have the opportunity to develop new habits! Here’s an overview:

 

Lesson 1: Relax Into “Weightlessness” 

Human swimmers instinctively fight gravity to avoid sinking. This causes “survival stroking.” Lesson 1 teaches you to cooperate with gravity by relaxing into weightlessness. This increases comfort, saves energy, and frees your arms and legs for more effective movement.

 

Lesson 2: A More “Slippery” You 

Fish swim 10 times faster than humans with far less energy cost because of naturally-streamlined bodies. Lesson 2 teaches you to reshape and reposition arms, legs and torso to minimize drag, helping you travel farther, faster and easier with each stroke.

 

Lesson 3: Breathe Easy

Breathing with ease is essential to swimming your best. Mastering this early in your improvement process will make it easier to learn the lessons and skills that follow. Lesson 3 teaches you to rotate smoothly to air, while maintaining the “slippery” bodyline created in Lesson 2. 

 

Lesson 4:  Active Streamlining 

Dolphins swim fast and gracefully, with barely a ripple.  Human swimmers can emulate dolphins via Active Streamlining and whole-body propulsion. Lesson 4 teaches you to pierce the water with your extending arm then slip a streamlined body through that “hole.”

 

Lesson 5:  Rhythmic Movement and Breathing 

Drills in Lessons 1 to 4 included pauses to tweak “mini-skills” for improved comfort and efficiency.  As the parts improve so does the whole. Lesson 5 combines foundation skills with flowing, rhythmic movement to more closely simulate whole stroke swimming.

 

Lesson 6  Propel Effortlessly with Weight Shifts

The most efficient source of power in human movement is the weight shift, combining “free” energy from gravity and your core body. Lesson 6 improves propulsion by teaching you to connect arm and leg action to the effortless power of rhythmic weight shifts.

 

Lesson 7: Channel Energy Forward 

The key contribution of freestyle recovery is to channel and concentrate energy along the direction of travel. Lesson 7 teaches a compact, relaxed recovery that helps channels energy and puts your hand into the best position to move you forward.

 

Lesson 8 Integrate New Skills

Lessons 4 and 5 focused on active streamlining and rhythmic weight shifts. Lessons 6 and 7 linked weight shifts to propulsion.  Lesson 8 blends new skills into a harmonious whole by sequencing movements from all four lessons.

 

Lesson 9 Single Arm Practice

Single Arm drills help you get more out of each stroke by connecting armstrokes to hip action and holding more water as you breathe.

 

Lesson 10 Tune your 2-Beat Kick

The 2-Beat Kick helps you swim long distances at your best pace, without fatigue. It requires virtually no energy but adds whole-body power to your stroke. Lesson 10 calms, streamlines and coordinates your kick for maximum effect.