This post was previously published by Terry Laughlin on Aug. 7, 2015.

At the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Stany Kempompo Ngangola gained a measure of fame for swimming the 100-meter freestyle.

Not for his speed, but simply for surviving.

Stany was among a small group of athletes—mostly from small underdeveloped nations–who are invited to the Olympics in hopes that the exposure will encourage sports development in their homeland. These athletes are exempted from Olympic qualifying times.

Stany was selected for this honor a year in advance and given assistance with preparation by coaches from advanced swimming nations. Unfortunately the training he was given focused mostly on conditioning with little attention to technique.

Swimming in the first heat, Stany relied on youth and strength to get through his first 50-meter length, but hadn’t gone far on the second length before the commentators began to express concern—shared by everyone watching–about whether he could make it safely to the far wall.

Here’s a picture of Stany—looking very athletic—in the air.

And here is Stany in the water, struggling to complete 100 meters.

What’s remarkable about Stany is how utterly unremarkable he is. I estimate that 95 percent of the millions who watched his struggles on TV would fare no better if put in that position themselves. You see, swimming, as an aquatic skill, is an ‘alien’ activity for land-adapted humans. Do you recognize the swimmer below? 

John Lennon… Human Swimmer!

Energy Wasting Machines

That’s why we say that it’s critical to recognize that—as inheritors of millions of years of adapting to life on terra firma—it is simply human nature to be an ‘energy-wasting machine’ in the water.

This was confirmed by a study done by DARPA in 2005 while designing a swim foil for the Navy Seals. They found that dolphins convert 80 percent of energy into forward motion. The humans they studied (lap and fitness swimmers—people who thought they swam ‘okay’) were only 3 percent energy efficient.

This bring us to Swimming Principle #1: Always focus on saving energy before increasing fitness. 

To apply this principle, do the following:

• When developing technique, master Vessel-Shaping skills (Balance, Core Stability, Alignment, and Streamlining, before propulsion skills (pulling and kicking.) Vessel-Shaping skills take little energy to perform and provide significant payback in energy savings. Propulsion skills require much more energy and power to perform.

• Propulsion A: When you focus on your pull and kick, pay attention first to how you use the arms and legs to minimize drag, before focusing on how you apply pressure to the water.

 • Job One for your arms is to lengthen your bodyline, since that reduces wave drag.

 • Job One for your legs is to draft behind your upper body—not to churn the water into a froth.

• Propulsion B: Strive to replace forces generated by your muscles with ‘available’ forces from nature—gravity and buoyancy.

• Swim farther by learning to swim a shorter distance almost effortlessly—rather than pushing to add another length.

• Swim faster by learning to swim at your current speed as easily as possible. Faster times will then come as a matter of course.

• Indeed, for any swimming set, task, or challenge, always start out with the intention to find the easiest possible way to complete it—rather than testing your ability to push through fatigue or discomfort.

Learn energy-saving techniques with our downloadable Ultra-Efficient Freestyle Self-Coaching Toolkit. The drills and skills are illustrated in 15 short videos. Guidance on how to learn and practice each drill effectively is provided in the companion Workbook.

The post Swimming Principle #1: Always Save Energy Before You Spend It appeared first on Total Immersion.

The following guest post by TI Master Coach Gary Fahey was originally published on Mar. 16, 2014. 

A blog post discussing kick strategies landed in my inbox a couple of weeks ago, much of it advocating a six-beat kick (6BK) for all but the most skilled of swimmers.

While I disagree with this premise and the example presented through the .gif in that blog post, I agree with the writer that long distance and open water swimmers should use their legs primarily for stability rather than propulsion. The energy cost of propulsive kicking is simply unsustainable.

Total Immersion advocates for increasing speed through smarter choices rather than greater effort. Among the most fundamental of those choices is to improve core stabilization—which is a critical foundation for a mastering 2-Beat Kick (2BK) skill.

One adjustment, I suggest to my swimmers is to experiment with the depth of the extended arm.  When they do, they learn that a very shallow extension causes the legs to sink.  But so does reaching too deep.

Reaching too deep breaks the body line where arm and torso connect. Picture a see-saw plank with a collapsible hinge: applying pressure at one end would not exert any influence at the other end.  But when you open that hinge to establish a single, structurally sound plank, then adjustments at one end affect what happens at the other.

Sinking legs can be counter balanced by finding the optimal angle or depth at which to ‘spear’ your arm forward. Spearing 12 to 15 inches below the surface tends to shape the body into a balanced, stable and sleek line. Adding a moderate forward stretch (eliminating laxity) will bring tone to the core, strengthening the connection between front and rear.

In the blog post, the coach suggested the swimmer had improperly matched a 2-beat kick to his overall mechanics, which explains the dropped legs. His suggested fix was a 6BK.

This misdiagnoses the problem and offers an energy-wasting solution.

My view: By extending too deep, the swimmer breaks the connection from extended hand in front through legs at the rear. Like the plank with a broken-hinge, balancing forces in front cannot act upon the rear.

If he ‘speared’ a few inches shallower (which would also direct more energy forward) he would increase structural integrity in his aquatic posture and bring his legs into balance.

Once he corrects his balance problem, the 2BK would not only be an appropriate match for his swimming style, he could likely scale back on his current degree of knee bend and further reduce drag. More stability = lower energy cost.

Compare the red lines in the still frame image at top (taken from the other writer’s post) to the  image from TI Coach Shinji Takeuchi’s top-ranked YouTube video.  Shinji extends to a shallower end point, which draws his body into a sleek line. His legs draft cleanly behind him and the energy cost of his 2BK approaches zero.

This illustrates a simple solution to sinking legs—one which results in kicking less, not more.

Besides this misdiagnosis, this blog post also drew a distinction between two styles of 2BK.  TI advocates the Shinji 2-beat kick  which connects the kick downbeat to the spearing arm.

The other writer advocates a style used by very high tempo swimmers like Brooke Bennett in this clip  in which the downbeat of the kick connects to the catch phase of the stroke.

The high tempo 2BK style is an extremely challenging configuration that can be done successfully by high-mileage, experienced swimmers, but is too exhausting and difficult for the vast majority.

The blog writer rejects the efficacy of the TI 2BK, which he calls a “kick-start” that compensates for what he calls “over-gliding.” I think the “kick-start” 2-beat kick is just fine for most purposes, certainly at tempos of 1 stroke per second and up.

There are legitimate pros and cons to selecting any kicking pattern, and not room here to discuss them all.  My primary goal is to show improvement-minded swimmers that they can opt for efficiency rather than effort.

If you want a more effective kick, you can achieve it through balance and stability—a choice that conserves energy rather than wastes it. Most swimmers already do far too much of the latter.

Editorial Note– For a step-by-step breakdown of the mechanics of the 2-beat kick, see this related post:

DEMO: Master the 2-Beat Kick– Connect Your Legs to the Power of Core Rotation for Maximal Speed and Efficiency

Gary Fahey has been a Total Immersion Certified Coach since 1998.  He teaches swimming full time through his Fort Lauderdale-based company, Stroke Doctor Swimming. In 25 years coaching competitive swimmers, he has qualified athletes up to the US Olympic Trials level. Contact Gary at gary@strokedocswim.com

The post Which Kick Is Best for YOU… 2-Beat or 6-Beat? appeared first on Total Immersion.

Last week’s post described the proven principles of swimming faster, using a specific algorithm for speed– if you’re wondering what this looks like in practice, this entry from Terry Laughlin’s 2015 training log models that algorithm in a practice set. Enjoy… and Happy Laps!

This article is an adaptation of an archived TI forum post from Terry Laughlin’s training log on Nov. 5, 2015.

On Tuesday (Nov 3.) I read “The New Yorker” magazine article, WHAT WE THINK ABOUT WHEN WE RUN. In part, it was of “Poverty Creek Journal,” a collection of 51 brief reflections on a year’s worth of runs. The article also included a summary of a study published earlier this year in the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Sports psychologists gave clip-on microphones to 10 distance runners and asked them to narrate their thought process during a run.

What did these runners think about?
How hard it was to move at their desired speed: “Come on, keep the stride going, bro.”
How soon they could stop: “Come on, you have enough energy for a mile and a half.”
And, quite often, about how miserable they felt while running.

The researchers summarized: “Pain and discomfort were never far from their thoughts.”

It made me wonder why people carry on with such a masochistic exercise. If they knew how it feels to practice Kaizen Swimming, would they give up running? Or would they run differently–the way it’s taught in ChiRunning?

In any case, the contrast between the runners in this study and the practice I’d done just one day earlier could not be more stark.

Before I describe my practice, I’ll review several principles of TI Fast Forward training methodology:
1.) Always focus on improving your swimming.
2.) Create a feedback loop– either subjective (Focal Points) or objective (Strokes Per Length/SPL, Tempo, Time). If the latter, use two metrics. Tempo+SPL or Tempo+Time or SPL+Time.
3.) To swim faster, design problem-solving exercises that strengthen your ability to hold Stroke Length, while increasing Stroke Rate. We call this the “Algorithm of Swimming Success.”

 Mon 2 Nov Approx. 3500 meters at Hampton Lido, London

Sean Haywood (he was among 27 members of a TI-UK training group who went to Ironman Mallorca the previous month) invited me to swim with him at the Hampton Lido, an outdoor 36-meter pool. We swam from 6:45 to 8:00 AM. Having never swum in a 36m pool, I went in with no idea what my SPL or pace might be. But that’s never a problem. I can “create meaning” in any pool, just by counting strokes during my tune-up, which I swam in the “medium speed” lane.

Swimming with a feather-light catch and barely-there kick, I took 24 strokes the first length, then added one stroke on each of the next three laps–reaching 27 SPL on the 4th. (I later did a calculation and found that the “Green Zone” for my 6-foot height in a 36-meter pool should be between 24 and about 28 strokes.) Then the tune-up effect began to take hold, and I shaved a stroke, bringing me to 26 SPL. I swam continuously for another 10 to 12 minutes, holding 26SPL pretty steadily (except when I overtook another swimmer and sped up to pass).

Feeling ready for a challenge, I moved into the “fast” lane and turned on my Tempo Trainer. It was set to 1.17 sec/stroke. I figured that was as good a place as any to start. I swam 4 lengths (144m) continuously and averaged 27 SPL. Armed with that information, I decided to swim a Tempo Pyramid, slowing tempo by .02 each 100 until my SPL returned to 26–or 104 strokes for the 4-lap swim. I reached that at 1.23– taking 25 strokes on the 1st length, 26 strokes on the 2nd and 3rd, and 27 strokes on the 4th.

Next, I would test how long I could hold this stroke count, while increasing tempo by .01 sec after each 144m rep. With a brief exception, I held this stroke count for 11 reps–to a tempo of 1.13 sec/stroke.

I missed my intended count on only one length, taking 27 instead of 26 strokes on the 2nd lap at 1.15 tempo. Because I was a bit too slow on flip turn and pushoff, I had to rush a bit to synchronize the hand entry of my first stroke to the 4th beep. I knew in that instant that the cost of the momentary lapse would be an extra stroke. This happens commonly because while each stroke must be only .01 faster, each turn must be .05 faster (.01 x 5 beeps from final stroke on one length and first stroke on the next).

I made my approach to the wall a little stronger and somersault a little faster on the next two turns and regained my target stroke count on the final two lengths, then held it for one more rep, at 1.14. At 1.13 I exceeded my target count again and knew I’d reached my limit. I then dropped down to 3-length (98m) reps and held my 26 SPL average (25-26-27 strokes) until I reached 1.09.

At 1.08 my SPL rose again, so I cut another length from my repeats, carrying on with 2-length (72m) repeats, holding 26 SPL to 1.06. Then I cut another length and finished my practice by holding 26 strokes from 1.05 to 1.02 sec/stroke. My final length was 27 strokes at 1.01.

If a researcher had given me a waterproof mic and asked me to record my thoughts between repeats, I’d have said that I was having the time of my life. I spent over an hour focusing on every single stroke–the definition of mindfulness–and consequently remaining completely absorbed.

As I solved the challenge of holding SPL as Tempo increased, I swam almost exactly one second faster on each rep (104 strokes x .01 sec). But the experience of swimming faster was enormously pleasurable. As I progressed through the set, my movement through the water felt better and better–more integrated, more fluent. And the overall effect produced a highly satisfying Flow State. Does it get any better than that?

Take Your Swimming to the Next Level!

Learn the Habits of Mastery and develop expert-level skills with Total Immersion’s 2.0 Freestyle Mastery Complete Self-Coaching Course. Do you love learning, practicing, and swimming the TI Way? Are you excited about attaining personal mastery in the most efficient and exacting skills available in freestyle? Have you mastered the TI Foundations in prior videos or the Effortless Endurance (formerly Ultra Efficient Freestyle) Self-Coaching Course? If yes, the 2.0 Freestyle Mastery Course is for you.

The post Terry’s Practice Log: A Detailed Sample Set of Strategic Speedwork appeared first on Total Immersion.

“Before Terry Laughlin, it was just a matter of getting in the water and getting it done. When I was in BUD/S training, my instructors taught us the way they learned it from their instructors. Now, that’s all changed; technique is everything. If they can master these techniques in the water, we can dramatically get their swim times down. The staff here at BUD/S can be a very skeptical bunch. We tend to resist anything from the outside. But when our personal swim times came down using Laughlin’s methods, well, we knew this was good information. We try to do as much teaching as possible here in Indoc—help them improve their technique. For some of them, this training will make the difference between making it to graduation or washing out. We’ve been able to cut swim drops by twenty-five percent– this stuff really works.” — Navy SEAL Instructor Tim King in Dick Couch’s “The Warrior Elite: The Forging of SEAL Class 228″

It’s a little-known fact about Total Immersion–  it’s not even listed in founder Terry Laughlin’s bio — that our methodology was adopted as part of official Navy SEAL swim curriculum after Terry trained their instructors in the late 90’s and re-designed the way the combat stroke was taught, in order to be more efficient. And it’s also true that even 30 years after T.I.’s founding, there are still many detractors in the competitive swim world who remain skeptical of our methods and prefer to stick with “traditional” training methods (i.e. just kick harder, pull harder), claiming that “T.I. doesn’t work for fast swimming.” Or T.I. is “only for beginners.” Or “better suited for triathletes.” Certainly, no one can argue that the U.S. military isn’t also deeply bound by tradition and the most rigorous training in the world– even more so than the world of competitive swimming– and yet, the Navy has recognized the value of changing their swim training with a method that is effective and proven. To reiterate Instructor King’s point: This stuff really works. The SEALs wouldn’t use it if it didn’t. The U.S. Navy completely changed the way they taught combat sidestroke based on our sound principles of efficient technique– and T.I. ‘s influence is embedded in the updated stroke training that the SEALs have taught for the last 20 years. Navy SEALs need to swim fast and efficiently under grueling conditions not to win a race, but because it’s their job. Speed matters to them– not to make a PR, or win a medal, or even break a world record. Speed is a matter of life and death. 

During the same era that Terry was training SEAL instructors to teach swimming differently, he was also coaching sprinters at West Point, who achieved extraordinary success at the Patriot Leagues. Terry’s group of sprinters included Joe Novak (Army West Point 1995-99) , the only three-time winner of the Patriot League Swimmer of the Meet award, who captured the honor in consecutive seasons from 1997-99. Novak also helped Army West Point capture the Patriot League title in his first three seasons from 1996-98, and was named to the first-team All-League squad three times. Novak earned a spot on the Patriot League All-Decade Team. He won the 50 free, 100 free and 100 fly in each of his seasons as Swimmer of the Meet. Joe has attributed much of his success in swimming to training with Terry using T.I. methods.

                                                            Terry coaching in 2016

So there’s ample evidence that:

1) T.I. technique is effective for long distances, when efficiency and speed matter tremendously.

2) T.I. technique also produces fast times for highly competitive and accomplished swimmers– yes, even sprinters.

Another interesting fact: if you click on Wikipedia’s entry for combat sidestroke, you’ll clearly see the foundational technique principles of T.I. highlighted– Balance, Length, Rotation. 

At this point, some of you may be wondering… “Well, I’m not a SEAL, nor am I aspiring to that– why the heck should I care about the combat sidestroke??” And it’s a reasonable question, given that most T.I. swimmers are primarily interested in improving their freestyle. But here’s why it matters:

1) The combat sidestroke is a hybrid of sidestroke, freestyle, and breaststroke and demonstrates that the principles of biomechanical and hydrodynamic speed and efficiency are universal to swimming any stroke well. Technique matters, whether it’s freestyle or the combat stroke. 

2) The combat sidestroke offers an excellent adaptive stroke option for swimmers who are limited in mobility or range of movement, either from age, injury, or disability. Freestyle is notoriously the most technically challenging stroke to master, particularly because of bilateral breathing and complex, asynchronous timing of the arms (and the 2-beat kick, for non-sprinters). Some might argue this point– however, fly and breast have a front-facing breath and stable head position, as well as a stroke where both arms move synchronously with the same timing. (Breaststroke is the first stroke many beginners learn, simply because it’s easier to breathe.) The combat sidestroke incorporates an easier style of breathing and stroking, making it an ideal option for swimmers who are looking for an adaptive swim stroke. [See DEMO of the stroke at the bottom of this post.]

Wikipedia’s entry for “combat sidestroke” reads:

Combat sidestroke or CSS is a variation of the side stroke that was developed by and taught to the United States Navy SEALs.

The combat sidestroke is a relaxing and very efficient swim stroke that is an updated version of the traditional sidestroke. The CSS is a mix of sidestroke, front crawl, and breaststroke. The combat side stroke allows the swimmer to swim more efficiently and reduce the body’s profile in the water in order to be less likely to be seen during combat operations if surface swimming is required. The concept of CSS has been that it can be used with or without wearing swim fins (flippers), the only difference being that when wearing swim fins the swimmer’s legs will always be kicking in the regular flutter kick motion without the scissor kick. This stroke is one of the strokes that can be used for prospective SEAL candidates in the SEAL physical screening test (PST), which includes a 500-yard swim in 12 minutes 30 seconds to determine if the candidate is suitable to go to the Basic Underwater Demolitions/SEAL school.

The entry even mentions a term Terry used in the early years of T.I. (and in his popular first book in ’96) to describe poor balance: “swimming uphill.” While Wikipedia has no citation for the influence of T.I. methodology on the combat stroke, we fortunately have a documented account of Terry’s primary role in revolutionizing SEAL swim training in the book, “The Warrior Elite: The Forging of SEAL Class 228″, by NY Times bestselling author and former Navy SEAL Platoon Commander Dick Couch. It is this book which features commentary from SEAL Instructor Tim King on the effectiveness of T.I. methods. The book’s description reads:

“‘The Warrior Elite’ takes you into the toughest, longest, and most relentless military training in the world. What does it take to become a Navy SEAL? What makes talented, intelligent young men volunteer for physical punishment, cold water, and days without sleep? In ‘The Warrior Elite,’ former Navy SEAL Dick Couch documents the process that transforms young men into warriors. SEAL training is the distillation of the human spirit, a tradition-bound ordeal that seeks to find men with character, courage, and the burning desire to win at all costs, men who would rather die than quit.”

The article below is a brief excerpt from Chapter 1 of “The Warrior Elite,” which details Terry’s influence on SEAL swim training. Enjoy… and Happy Laps!

The teaching begins in the pool. “You have to be good in the water,” Instructor Tim King tells Class 228. Like Reno, King is a short, powerful man. And like many enlisted SEALs, he has a college degree; Tim King’s is in criminal justice. “This is what separates us from all other special operations forces. For them, water is an obstacle; for us, it’s sanctuary.” I noted many changes at BUD/S [Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training] since Class 45 graduated, but the most dramatic are in the swimming curriculum. In the past, it was simply a matter of showing the trainees a basic stroke and making them swim laps; kick, stroke, and glide. Now it’s all about technique. The instructors begin with teaching buoyancy control and body position in the water. The basic stroke is a modified sidestroke that the trainees will later adapt to the use of fins. Much of what is taught is taken from the work of Terry Laughlin and his “Total Immersion” training technique. Laughlin is a noted civilian instructor who developed innovative long-distance swimming techniques for competitive and recreational swimmers. A few in Class 228 were competition swimmers before coming to BUD/S, but most are not. All will learn the Laughlin method. According to Laughlin, it’s all about swimming more like a fish and less like a human. The instructors say it’s like swimming downhill. It has to do with making one’s body physically longer in the water and reducing drag.

The post Swim Like a SEAL: How T.I. Revolutionized Navy SEAL Swim Training appeared first on Total Immersion.

This post was originally published by Terry Laughlin on Mar. 23, 2011.

This practice is one of a series of sets inspired by the classes we gave at the Multisport World Expo at MIT on March 19. It segues from Tempo Trainer sets designed to help you expand your range of available stroke counts – and discover those best for both endurance and speed — to Stroke Calibration sets designed to hone your internal awareness.

Note: For all Tempo Trainer (TT) sets, allow 3 beeps for pushoff; synch 1st hand entry to 4th beep. Allow one extra beep for turns. Synch 1st hand entry after turn to 5th beep.

Tune-up Swim 50 + [6×25] + 50

• Swim 50. Count total strokes.
• Swim 6 x 25. Odd 25s with index-finger-only extended. Even 25s with “normal” hands.
• Compare SPL (Strokes Per Length) one finger to normal hand. Can you reduce the difference between them?
• Swim 50 as before. Count total strokes. Did count change?

“Discover” Personal Efficiency Range Swim 10 x 25

• Reset TT [Tempo Trainer] each 25: 1.3 – 1.4 – 1.5 – 1.6 – 1.55 – 1.50 – 1.45 – 1.40 – 1.35 – 1.30 sec/stroke
• Use this set to improve efficiency (reduce SPL). As tempo slows, you’ll notice extra time in the stroke. Use the extra tenth of a second time to extend a bit further and be more patient about beginning the stroke. When tempo reaches 1.6 sec/stroke, note how many strokes you saved.
• As tempo increases again, maintain the sense of length and leisure you gained as tempo slowed. Be stingy about giving back the strokes you saved. On final 25, note difference in SPL from lowest count and from start of set. For every stroke saved from beginning of set, your time for 25 is 1.3 second faster.

Sustain SPL for Distance Choose a comfortable tempo (from range above)
Swim [4 X 25 + 3 x 50 + 2 X 75 + 1 X 100]

• Strive to maintain SPL by relaxing as repeat distance increases
• Rest 10 beeps between all swims.
• An outstanding result would be to add no more than 1 stroke to your SPL on the 25s.
• Your most valuable outcome is realization that the most important change to make as distance increases is to deepen focus, not increase exertion. In fact, you need to find a way to relax more. The first 50 of your 100 must be easier than when you only swam 50 yds, in order to maintain SPL/Tempo combination for the full 100.

Faster Tempo
Swim 1 to 2 x 25 each @ 1.20, 1.10, 1.00, 0.90 sec/stroke

• What part of stroke feels hurried? Strive to keep catch leisurely as tempo increases.
• Can you stay smooth, relaxed and quiet as tempo increases?
• One benefit of this exercise is to find the tempo at which your nervous system isn’t adapted. (e.g. If you add one stroke each at 1.2, 1.1 and 1.0, but three strokes at .9, that tells you that tempo is outside your current range.)

Shift Focus
Choose comfortable tempo. Swim 2 to 4 sets of [3×25]. Synch beep to:

• Hand Spear for 25
• Hip Nudge for 25
• Toe-Flick for 25
• Repeat.

How does moving synchronization point from front to rear of body change your awareness of the stroke?

Swim Without Tempo Trainer
The following sets test your internal sense for seamlessly adjusting length and rate to accomplish the tasks described.

Stroke Calibration Swim 2 or more rounds of x [6X25].

• Choose starting SPL from the range of counts you had between 1.2 and 1.5 tempo. Call this “N.” Each round of [6×25] is: “N”, + 1, + 2, + 1, “N”, – 1
• On your first round, you’ll probably have some difficulty estimating length and rate accurately enough to strike the wall in rhythm and at your intended count.
• Your goal for succeeding rounds is to:
  (1) Calibrate better;
  (2) Swim with more awareness;
  (3) Feel slightly faster at each SPL.

Speed Variation Swim 2 or more rounds of [2×25]

• In each round, #1 is Cruise; #2 is Fast.
• Choose any SPL from range in Stroke Calibration set. Your task is to:

1) Swim all 25s at this count.
2) In subsequent rounds increase speed difference without changing SPL.
3) Can you swim both easier/slower AND stronger/faster at same SPL?

AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE IN THE T.I. STORE:

The Tempo Trainer Pro from Finis “cracks the code” on speed.

The Tempo Trainer lets you choose your speed with mathematical precision. First it gives you the physical ability to choose and improve your speed or pace– and that leads to the psychological sense that you do control that, which is priceless to confidence and motivation.

The post PRACTICE SETS: What’s Your Best Stroke Count? Find Your Ideal Stroke Count Range With This Practice appeared first on Total Immersion.

The following article is excerpted from Terry Laughlin’s book “Extraordinary Swimming for Every Body: A Guide To Swimming Better Than You Ever Imagined.”

Unless you have all the air you need, you’ll be too distracted to concentrate on other skills during drill practice or whole stroke swimming. Being mindful of the following will be helpful as you rotate from nose-up to nose-down and back again:

• Don’t Hold Your Breath

Begin exhaling immediately. Exhaling with slow quiet nose bubbles is a good way to regulate your breathing and to avoid inhaling water or choking as you breathe. 

• Relax Into the Water

If you lift your head, it will be harder to get to air. If you keep your head low, it will be easier. And stay relaxed whenever you are rolling up to get air or back down. Moving abruptly in either direction will make your body position less stable.

Rhythmic Breathing

Three tips for fitting a seamless rhythmic breath into your stroke, while maintaining good balance and a patient catch:

• Follow Your Shoulder

As you spear one arm forward, the opposite shoulder moves back. Just follow this shoulder with your chin and the rotational energy of spearing will make it easier to get air.

• Stay Low

Practice this in three ways: (1) Relax into the water as you breathe; (2) Keep the top of your head as close to the surface as possible, while rolling to breathe; (3) Look back slightly over your shoulder as you breathe.

• Stay Tall

Give extra care to keeping the lead hand “patient” as you breathe, stroking only after you inhale. And if you keep your fingers tipped down, your next stroke will be far stronger.

Breathe Two Ways

Alternate-side or bilateral breathing promotes symmetry better than single side breathing. If you breathe only to one side, it’s likely that you’ll veer off the “tracks” in that direction. I try to breathe as often to one side in practice and when racing. Breathing to your unfamiliar side may feel awkward at first, but patient practice will gradually reduce that awkwardness. As well, all the T.I. drills improve symmetry and build a better foundation for efficient bilateral breathing. 

To learn more in-depth detail about the breathing mechanics of efficient swimming, check out our video “O2 in H2O: A Self Help Course on Breathing in Swimming”– available as a digital download or on dvd.
Nothing is more essential to a swimmer than air. Yet few swimmers truly understand how to breathe efficiently… not just to get air, but to integrate breathing seamlessly with the stroke. Breathing is sometimes viewed as a liability or inconvenience, but when you do it right, breathing can actually make your stroke better. This video shows you how, using water bowl exercises, shallow water exercises, skills in drills, and whole stroke breathing skills. Detailed studies with focal points for practice cover these three major strokes: Freestyle, Breaststroke, and Butterfly.

The post Get The Air You Need: A Focal Point Checklist for Breathing appeared first on Total Immersion.

The following post is adapted from a 2006 article written by Terry Laughlin.

Richard Quick, the six-time U.S. Olympic team coach who directed 12 teams to NCAA titles, once said while giving a butterfly stroke clinic: “Don’t hide your breathing mistakes by not breathing; fix them instead.” That’s good advice, not only for butterfly, but for freestyle as well.

About 30 years ago, “hypoxic training” came into vogue. The idea was that by restricting breathing frequency—breathing every five, seven or nine freestyle strokes—swimmers might simulate the effects of high-altitude training at sea level.

Researchers long ago debunked the idea that breath-holding produces any physiological adaptation, but “hypoxic” sets are still popular, in part to help swimmers adjust to the discomfort produced when you reduce breathing frequency.

One reason for making that adjustment is the very real concern that in a sprint race, breathing can slow a swimmer down. If each breath might cost you slightly in stroke efficiency, the less of them you take, the faster you might go.

Holding your breath—perhaps breathing only twice or less—in a 50-yard freestyle undoubtedly helps your speed, particularly because that race is short enough that your muscles mainly consume oxygen already in your bloodstream.

But when racing for, say, 45 seconds to over a minute, you need to get fresh oxygen to your muscles. Because of this, holding your breath could restrict your ability to finish such races strongly. The ideal would be to be able to breathe as often as you want, without sacrificing any speed.

The key to maximizing both air and speed is to breathe as seamlessly as possible. Let’s start with the mechanics of getting air into your lungs:

• Inhale through your mouth; exhale through your mouth 70 percent and nose 30 percent. Are these figures exact? No, just keep enough air pressure coming from your nose to keep the water out, especially as you roll to the surface and then return face-down.

• Never hold your breath—even if you’ll swim three to five strokes between breaths. To avoid an uncomfortable build-up of CO2, begin exhaling as soon as you finish inhaling—just exhale in a more steady, controlled way if you’ll take more strokes before your next breath. You’ll need to manage your release of air with slow bubbles to sustain you comfortably until your next inhale.

• As you roll to air, exhale the final 20 percent of air more forcefully than the first 80 percent. This should make the inhale which follows almost effortless by creating a vacuum in your lungs. It also helps clear the water away from your mouth for the next breath. Also, the force of your exhale should be proportionate to your effort. The next time you swim a descending set, experiment with consciously adding some force to your exhale as you go faster.

Breathe Efficiently

The second key to breathing with high frequency and high efficiency lies in how you roll to the side to take that breath. Poor breathing mechanics can increase drag and reduce the effectiveness of your stroke, during the breath. Here are several ways to remain efficient while breathing:

• Roll your whole body to the air. Rather than breathing with a head turn—which is awkward and can cause muscle tension—think of rolling your body to the air, as if you were going to breathe with your belly button. This will also help encourage core-body rotation, which is the source of your stroking power.

• Stay balanced as you roll to the air. Lifting your head as you breathe will cause your hips and legs to sink, increasing drag and slowing you down. Consciously keep the crown of your head and forehead pressed to the surface as you roll to breathe.

• Stay aligned as you roll to the air. Picture a line that runs from your toes, along your spine and out the top of your head as a laser beam. Keep that laser cutting straight ahead through the water as you breathe—or think of slicing through the water like an arrow through the air, at all times but especially while breathing.

• Stay tall as you roll to the air. Many swimmers lose the front end of their stroke on each breath. During each breath, focus on keeping the opposite hand stretched forward—with fingertips angled down to hold an “armful of water”—for just a moment longer during the breath. This timing will help connect that armstroke to the powerful rotation of your body in the other direction following the breath.

• Drive the top hip down. After breathing, focus on driving that hip (i.e. the right hip after a right side breath and vice versa) down strongly. That will help you get all the power out of the extra rotation that occurs when you roll to breathe. If you do all of the above right, you can make each breath an asset to your stroke, not an interruption.

To learn more in-depth detail about the breathing mechanics of efficient swimming, check out our video “O2 in H2O: A Self Help Course on Breathing in Swimming”– available as a digital download or on dvd.
Nothing is more essential to a swimmer than air. Yet, few swimmers truly understand how to breathe efficiently…not just to get air, but to integrate breathing seamlessly with the stroke. Breathing is sometimes viewed as a liability or inconvenience, but when you do it right, breathing can actually make your stroke better. This video shows you how, using water bowl exercises, shallow water exercises, skills in drills, and whole stroke breathing skills. Detailed studies with focal points for practice cover these three major strokes: Freestyle, Breaststroke, and Butterfly.

The post Freestyle Breathing 101: Master the Mechanics appeared first on Total Immersion.

This week’s post is the final installment in a series of articles we’ve shared this past month on Kaizen Training, all of which have been excerpted from a companion instructional manual that Terry Laughlin created for T.I. workshop attendees, adapted from his 2006 book, “Extraordinary Swimming for Every Body.” Terry’s practical guidance in this manual focuses on how T.I. swimmers can strategically develop a Kaizen (Continuous Improvement) Training approach to their swimming practice in the first several weeks or months– and beyond– following a T.I. workshop (or after learning with T.I. self-teaching tools). In this article, we pick up where we left off in last week’s post on “Effective Swimming,” which described how to develop efficient speed through the practice of stroke counting. Now, we add the element of time to our practice– in these sample “Swimming Golf” practice sets–  to demonstrate how to effectively use the pace clock with our stroke counting to advance your development of smart speed. Enjoy… and Happy Laps! 

 SELECTED EXCERPT FROM:

“KAIZEN SWIMMING: HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TOTAL IMMERSION WORKSHOP” 

PHASE III: EFFECTIVE SWIMMING–  SWIM FOR TIME

Up to now, we’ve ignored the pace clock– something verging on heresy among swimmers and coaches. But we’ve had good reason:  Allowing you to fully develop swimming as an art has readied you to train for it as a sport, with far greater return for your investment of precious time and energy. With stroke count now ingrained as your most important piece of training data, you can then begin using the pace clock to give you another piece of information to cross-reference with your stroke-count numbers. This will give you the complete swimming-improvement picture. This includes “Swimming Golf” and many creative ways of doing time-oriented sets. Here are several examples to get you started:

SWIMMING GOLF

We introduce the pace clock, but use SPL and perceived effort (heart rate) to measure the “cost” of any speed increases. The easiest way to increase speed isn’t more or harder work; it’s by learning to swim any given speed more economically, freeing the energy to go farther or faster. 

Version 1:  On successive 50s, swim the same time but reduce your stroke count. 

Example:

32 total strokes + 50 seconds = a score of 82

31 total strokes + :50 = 81

30 total strokes + :50 = 80

The goal is to repeat the same time on each 50, but to continue subtracting strokes, until you can’t shave any more from your count without sacrificing speed. Solving it will give you valuable “swimming intelligence.”

Version 2:  On successive 50s, maintain stroke count, but descend your time. 

Example:

30 total strokes + :45 = 75

30 total strokes + :44 = 74

30 total strokes + :43 = 73

To improve your score you need to keep exactly the same stroke length, but take each stroke just a bit faster to shave seconds. You’ll be amazed at how quickly a bit more effort can add a lot more strokes. If those strokes don’t translate into enough speed to lower your total score, you know you’ve been wasteful and can take immediate steps to fix the problem. 

VARIATIONS ON SWIM GOLF 

[Editorial Note: If you do not own Fistgloves, swim with closed fists. To learn more about this tool, click HERE.]

• “Play” golf with fistgloves.  How close can you come to our ungloved score? After several rounds with gloves on, do another round without them. Does your score improve over previous ungloved sets after “educating” your hands? If so, lock in the sensations you got.

• How many ways can you score? After you’ve established your “par,” test how many different stroke counts you can swim at a slightly higher score. If your record score is 77, can you swim a constant score of 80 at 30 and 31 and 32 and 33 and 34 strokes? Which feels easiest? 

• Take your Heart Rate or estimate your Perceived Exertion after a good score. A score of 64 with a HR of 120 is much better than a 64 with a HR of 150. 

There you have it– the final practice tool to start on the path toward Kaizen Swimming. Happy Laps!

Advance beyond the basic T.I. skills with this comprehensive guide on pursuing the kaizen path of swimming to the highest levels of swimming mastery: 

Terry Laughlin’s book– Extraordinary Swimming for Every Body– shows you how!

The post Kaizen Training: Cultivate Smart Speed with “Swimming Golf” Sets appeared first on Total Immersion.

Continuing with the series of articles we’ve shared in the last several weeks, this post– “Phase III: Effective Swimming”– is another excerpt from a companion instructional manual that Terry Laughlin created for T.I. workshop attendees, adapted from his 2006 book, “Extraordinary Swimming for Every Body.” Terry’s practical guidance in this manual focuses on how T.I. swimmers can strategically develop a Kaizen Training approach to their swimming practice in the first several weeks or months– and beyond– following a T.I. workshop (or after learning with T.I. self-teaching tools). In this article, Terry breaks down the elements of building smart speed through the practice of stroke counting. Since we know that Stroke Length x Stroke Rate = Velocity (SL x SR= V), stroke counting is an integral practice for learning how to deliberately calibrate one’s swimming speed with awareness and precision. Next week we’ll wrap up the last article in this series, looking at how we can effectively incorporate the pace clock with stroke counting in “Swimming Golf” practice sets. Enjoy… and Happy Laps! 

SELECTED EXCERPT FROM:

“KAIZEN SWIMMING: HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TOTAL IMMERSION WORKSHOP” 

PHASE III: EFFECTIVE SWIMMING– INCREASE MASTERY, DISTANCE, AND SPEED

Your goals in this phase are to be able to increase your awareness, control, and coordination to be able to swim farther and faster with the least additional effort. Your specific training goals are:

(1) Develop the ability to choose any stroke-per-length (SPL) and swim effectively.

(2) Develop the ability to increase your speed, without increasing your SPL and while maintaining a sense of relaxation.

(3) Swim near your “red line” [race pace] with control and gradually raise your red line.

(4) Be able to apply everything you do in practice while racing.

TOOLS

20% Drills– focused on stroke timing, patient catch, and trapping water

20% Mindful Swimming– in drill/swim sets and whole-stroke sets

30% Stroke Counting and “Gears”

20% “Swimming Golf” [this type of practice will be shared next week] or Descending Series

10% Distance Development or Speedplay

PRACTICE TIPS

If you’ve been wondering where in Total Immersion “training” happens– those timed sets on the pack clock that other swimmers seem to rely on exclusively– this is it. But with a crucial distinction: the difference between T.I. training and traditional workouts is that T.I. swimmers focus on relaxation, control, and fluency.

You practice Effective Swimming by getting in the habit of:

(a)  Counting your strokes

(b) Comparing your stroke counts at any distance or speed to the best you’ve done at that distance or speed

(c) CHOOSING your stroke count on any repeat or set

Once you reach this point, you’ll be ahead of 99% of all swimmers in the effectiveness of your training.

The motto: “Never Practice Struggle” will help you answer virtually any question that might arise as you progress from learning new skills, to developing those skills into habits, to building fitness in such a way that it reinforces those skills. Never forget that you can reduce energy waste far easier and faster than you can create energy stores. And that it takes only half as long to learn a skill correctly from the start than to correct a bad habit. So Effective Swimming will produce far more “functional fitness” in far less time than traditional workouts.

Here are the basics for getting started:

STROKE COUNTING: FIND YOUR STROKES PER LENGTH (SPL)

If you’re not doing a drill or mindful swimming, count your strokes– every stroke, every lap. This will give you real-time info on your level of efficiency. How much does your count increase when you swim 50s at 40 seconds, rather than 45 seconds? Or when you swim 100-yard repeats, rather than 50s? With than information, you can then begin setting efficiency goals for every length of practice. Those goals are not strictly about taking fewer strokes. They can also include:

1. Reducing the increase that occurs when you swim faster.

2. Reducing the increase that occurs when you swim farther.

One caveat is that you’ll probably find it challenging to keep track of your stroke count and concentrate on a Focal Point at the same time when you initially begin monitoring SPL and doing SPL exercises. As you start out, separate the two activities and use them to provide information that helps each. However, over time, stroke counting will become almost automatic and you’ll use only a little brainpower to keep track of SPL. Then you’ll be able to concentrate on a Focal Point and track your count at the same time. 

HOLD YOUR SPL FARTHER

Once you have awareness of your stroke count range, you can begin to use that knowledge by doing sets that increase your ability to maintain a longer stroke for a greater distance, and develop your aerobic capacity at the same time. You do this with moderate distance repeats (50 to 300 yds/m) in sets of 1000 to 1500 yds/m in an orderly distance-building, efficiency-maintaining progression. Start with shorter repeats at a moderately challenging stroke count, then increase the repeat distance while maintaining the stroke count. When you’ve progressed from 50-yd repeats to 200-300-yd repeats at that stroke count, you can drop your count by one stroke and start the process over again with 50-yd repeats. Your speed on these repeats is less important than a sense of smooth, consistent stroking over longer distances. To train a bit faster, just reduce the repeat distance at the same stroke count for a set– or session– or two. 

CHOOSE YOUR SPL

If you rode your bicycle on a hilly course with only a single gear, your legs would be toast in no time. If you drove your car in only one gear, you’d burn out your engine in a hurry… and limit your speed dramatically. And yet, virtually every swimmer has only one “gear” for swimming– mainly because they swim most of the time with just one stroke count and rate. The next stage of Effective Training is similar to a piano student playing notes, chords, and scales until she becomes deft in striking the right keys every time.

Your next set of exercises is designed to teach you to “play” SPL as easily as a pianist playing scales, and then help you use your developing “gears” to learn how to build speed almost effortlessly. Having established your range of stroke counts (in a 25-yd/m pool, most swimmers should have a range of about four stroke counts; mine ranges from 12-15 SPL), your next goal is to: (1) learn to swim smoothly and effectively at every count in that range; (2) be able to “calibrate” your stroke so you can push off a wall and swim at any count you choose in your range, and (3) increase your speed with far less effort by smoothly increasing your stroke count (and consequently, your rate) to move more freely. 

Here are a few simple exercises you can do to begin that process:

SPL EXERCISE #1

Swim 25+50+75+100. Rest for 3 to 5 yoga breaths after each swim.

Take note of our stroke count on the 25, then without trying to strictly limit your count, just swim at a consistent pace or effort and see what happens to your SPL average on the the other swims. If you took 15 strokes for the 25, how far above 30-45-60 strokes are you on the 50-75-100? Don’t judge yourself; just take note and file the information for future reference.

SPL EXERCISE #2

Swim 100+75+50+25. Rest for 3 to 5 breaths after each swim.

Start with an easy 100. Count your strokes and divide by 4. This number becomes your “N” (benchmark SPL) for the rest of the set. For example, if you took 72 strokes for a 100, your N is 18 SPL (72 divided by 4 lengths). Again, simply note how far below 54-36-18 strokes you are for 75-50-25.

SPL EXERCISE #3

Swim 25+50+75+100.

Repeat Exercise #1, but this time with a specific focal point– e.g. releasing the weight of the head, or slipping through a smaller hole, or swimming more quietly. Just take note of your stroke count; don’t attempt to hit any particular count. This is purely an experiment to see if technique “tweaks” affect your SL, teaching you that you can affect– and ultimately choose your SL.

SPL EXERCISE #4 

Swim 2 rounds of: 25+50+75+100.

1st Round: Swim with Fistgloves.[If you do not own a pair, swim with fists closed.] Just swim at your previous effort, not trying to hit any particular count. How many strokes above your ungloved SPL are?

2nd Round: Remove Fistgloves. [Again, if you do not own a pair, now swim with open hands.] Without trying for a particular count, compare your stroke counts to your previous SPL, to discover how Fistgloves (or closed fists) affect your efficiency.

Next week: The final excerpt in this series of articles on Kaizen Training– Using the pace clock with “Swimming Golf”

Advance beyond the basic T.I. skills with this comprehensive guide on pursuing the kaizen path of swimming to the highest levels of swimming mastery: 

Terry Laughlin’s book– Extraordinary Swimming for Every Body– shows you how!

The post Kaizen Training: Stroke Counting Tips & Practice Sets to Increase Mastery, Distance, and Speed appeared first on Total Immersion.

One of the single most common questions that T.I. swimmers ask after first learning the T.I. drill process and technique-focused approach is: “How do I apply what I’ve learned in the drills to my whole stroke practice?” To help guide our students with integrating T.I. skills in the transition to whole stroke practice, we have long provided a companion instructional manual to our workshop attendees. Below is an excerpt from a workshop manual that Terry Laughlin adapted from his 2006 book “Extraordinary Swimming for Every Body,” providing practical suggestions to guide T.I. swimmers through the first several weeks or months following a T.I. workshop. This post highlights a detailed list of freestyle focal points that aims to answer the question of how to transition the skills of T.I. drills to whole stroke swimming– an indispensable aid for both new T.I. swimmers and long-term kaizen learners! Enjoy… and Happy Laps!  

 SELECTED EXCERPT FROM:

“KAIZEN SWIMMING: HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TOTAL IMMERSION WORKSHOP” 

DEVELOP YOUR STROKE

This phase of practice can last a lifetime for those most committed to Kaizen Swimming, but it should certainly last between one and several years. Your minimum goal is to swim whole stroke with the same degree of balance, ease, and control that you enjoy in the drills. You do that by:

(1) Learning to swim balanced and tall

(2) Learning to breathe rhythmically without interrupting your flow and while keeping a hand extended and anchored

(3) Learning to start each stroke with a “patient hand”– taking time to trap the water with hand/forearm before stroking

(4) Develop “gears” by establishing an SPL (strokes per length) range of three to four 25 yd/m stroke counts (e.g. 14-17 strokes per length, calibrated precisely according to your chosen pace) at which you can swim efficiently… and be able to swim 400-1500 meters without exceeding your SPL range… and to swim sets of shorter repeats (repeats of 25-200 yd/m in sets that last 10-20 min.) in the lower half of your SPL range

PRACTICE TIPS

Following a period of intensive drill practice, you have two priorities: (1) Apply what you’ve learned in drills to whole-stroke and (2) Begin imprinting an economical stroke into muscle memory. The two key ingredients are Drill/Swim Set and Mindful Swimming. Earlier in this practice guide Coach Brian Van de Krol gave great guidance on Drill/Swim sets. [Those particular drill/swim sets will be shared in a separate blog post in the coming weeks.] Basically, take what feels good in the drill and make it feel the same while swimming whole stroke. At first, it might take you 75 yds of a drill to get a clear idea of the sensation you’re trying to replicate, and you might be able to “hold that feeling” for only 25 yds of swimming. With time, that mix should become 50 yds drill and 50 whole stroke, then 25 drill and 75 whole stroke. Prioritize clarity by having a specific focus at all times and keeping that focus from drill to whole stroke. For example, if you practice Skating with a focus on establishing “wide tracks,” then focus on following those wide tracks in whole stroke.

When you increase your whole-stroke practice, it’s best to simplify your task and heighten your focus with Mindful Swimming. Pages 115-127 of “Extraordinary Swimming for Every Body” [available for purchase– follow this link to the T.I .Store] provide a detailed context for all Freestyle Focal Points. Here is a consolidated list to begin your freestyle practice. 

FOR BALANCE

• Completely release the weight of your head to the water
• Imagine a laser beam coming from your head-spine line– keep it pointed forward
• Feel that the back of your neck is lengthened
• Hang your extended hand– keep fingers below wrist and wrist below elbow

FOR LATERAL STABILITY

• Keep extended lead hand outside of shoulder
• Follow “Wide Tracks” with recovery and extension
• Rotate only enough for shoulder to clear the water

FOR LONG, SLEEK BODYLINES

• Spear hand forward to a target located in Skating and reinforced in Switch drills
• Line up your body to follow your spearing hand down the track
• Keep legs inside the “shadow” or slipstream of your body
• Always have a hand forward of your head

FOR RECOVERY AND ENTRY

• Ear Hops– Hop fingers over an imaginary bar coming from your ear, then into the water
• Marionette Arms– Hang hand/forearm from your shoulder like a marionette or rag doll
• Mail Slot– On entry, slip hand and forearm through a visualized mail slot forward of your shoulder
• Soft Hand– Entering hand should be relaxed enough that fingers separate loosely

HOLD YOUR PLACE

• Enter fingers opposite the elbow of extended hand
• Pause hand– fingers down– for a brief moment before stroke
• Trap the water behind hand/forearm before stroking
• Hold– don’t pull– as best you can

PROPEL EFFORTLESSLY WITH YOUR CORE

• Spear your entering hand past your grip
• Spear your hand through the target established in Skating and Switch drills
• Drive down the high hip as you spear
• Count strokes with hip drives instead of hand entries
• Drive opposite foot as you spear your hand
• Finish each stroke to the front

BREATHING

• Bubble out immediately and continuously after inhale
• Blow out the final 20% more forcefully as you roll to air
• Use the spearing hand to take you to air
• Follow shoulder back with your chin and look past your shoulder
• Keep the top of your head down, aligned with spine
• Get taller as you roll to breathe; stay taller as you return face-down

KICKING

• Legs should be as passive as possible (if you came to workshop with “busy” legs)
• Keep kick as small and “neat” as possible
• Try to close feet briefly as you spear
•  Kick from “gut” and top of legs– don’t feel it in your thighs
• Synchronize left foot drive with right hand spear and vice-versa

AND FINALLY

• Do everything as quietly as possible– drilling, swimming, increasing speed or cadence
• Never Practice Struggle

If you’re counting, that makes 38 different focal points– but it’s not an exhaustive list. I’ve used every one of these, some for hundreds of thousands of strokes, others for tens of thousands. All have contributed something meaningful to my efficiency. I never take a stroke– in training or racing– without thinking about one of them. Each focal point works on a particular part of the stroke. And each lap you consciously focus on, for example, slipping your arm into a mail slot, faintly imprints a new groove in your nervous system. After 5 or 10 minutes thinking only about that, it will feel a bit more natural and improve the chances that you’ll continue doing it when you’re thinking about something else. 

Through practice, you’ll narrow the list to a few particular favorites. Once you do, you might note those on an index card and laminate, or put it in a Ziploc baggie and take it to the pool with you. Put it at the end of your lane, and then do several 25s of each “cue” on the card. Take enough time between reps to catch your breath and think about how you feel. As they become easier, progress to 4 x 50 of each cue. Then, 4 x 75. The level of focus required to do these and groove them into your nervous system makes the time fly, so enjoy this exercise in Mindful Swimming, while you build efficiency and fitness.

The post PRACTICE CUES: Kaizen Focal Point Checklist For Transition From Drills to Whole Stroke Swimming appeared first on Total Immersion.