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.

This post was originally published by Terry Laughlin on May 20, 2016.

There are two ways to try to swim faster. One way is what I call the “Limbs, Lungs, and Muscles” approach: Move your limbs as fast as you can. Put more muscle into your stroke. Hope that your fitness will outlast failing muscles and that you can “push through pain barriers” as coaches often say. For most, this approach is a path to failure and frustration.

Total Immersion teaches a second way— speed as a problem-solving exercise. The fact that you’re solving the most exacting problems in swimming can also transform this into a Mastery pursuit. The TI way to swim faster is based on three well-proven principles.  Although the success of these principles is widely-documented, I refer to them as the “secrets” of swimming faster because so few people take advantage of them.

1. Start with Stroke Length. The foundation for fast swimming is Stroke Length. For over 60 years, every authoritative study of factors that correlate with speed found that longer strokes matter most. This has proven true in all strokes and all ages—from 10 and under to 80 and up!

How far should you travel? For freestyle, from 55% to 65% or more of your height. We’ve converted that into Strokes Per Length (SPL), recorded on our Green Zone charts of height-indexed efficient stroke counts in any standard distance pool, available as a free download here.

When stroking at the lowest SPL for your height, your hand leaves the water– at the end of the stroke –pretty close to where it entered. In other words, most of your energy is converted into forward motion. When your stroke count is above the highest in your Green Zone, too much of your energy is moving water back.

Once you can swim your Green Zone counts with ease and consistency, strive to patiently increase the distance and/or speed at which you can maintain those counts. If you’ve been swimming at higher counts, try this simple exercise: Compare the speed of your arm moving back with the speed of your body moving forward. Slow your stroke until they match.

2. Train your Nervous–not Aerobic–System.

In 2005, just before I turned 55, I set several goals that were far more ambitious than any I’d contemplated before. I asked Jonty Skinner, Director of Performance Science for USA Swimming’s Olympic program, for training advice. Jonty said: “It’s neural conditioning, not aerobic conditioning, that wins races.”

Jonty meant that swimmers who trained to maintain a long stroke as they swam farther and faster would be much more successful those who simply focused on swimming longer or harder. Rather than train for the capacity to work harder, focus on creating and encoding the highest quality muscle memories—to make it easier to maintain longer strokes at faster rates. Not only will it require less oxygen to swim any pace, but cardiovascular conditioning still “happens.” Only it’s now specific to the stroke length and rate to which your nervous system is highly adapted— rather than to non-specific hard efforts.

3. Master the “Swimming Success Algorithm”

The term algorithm was coined in mathematics over 1000 years ago and has become widely familiar in the last 20 years due to its use in computer science. Its use in modern technology suggests something complicated, but it’s definition is pretty simple: An algorithm is “a process that solves a recurrent problem.”

A recurrent— indeed, nearly universal —problem in swimming is how to swim the fastest of which you are physically capable. The overwhelming majority of swimmers fall far short of their true potential (I was a prime example in high school and college) because they choose ineffective means to solve the problem— stroke faster and swim harder. This is what I did in high school and college. It led to frustration and a feeling that I lacked the “right stuff” to swim fast, whatever that might be.

Stroking faster isn’t so much a choice as a primal instinct, which is why so many do it. Fortunately there is a solution for this problem that is so foolproof– I call it the Algorithm for Swimming Success. It comes from 40 years of data collected by USA Swimming on their very best swimmers.

Since 1976, USA-Swimming has assigned staffers to sit in the stands and record the stroke count and stroke rate of every swimmer, in every heat, of every event at Olympic Trials— the most competitive meet in the US, and sometimes, the world. Every swimmer at this meet is hightly talented and supremely fit, but in each event only two competitors— of 60 to 70 entrants –will come away with the most precious prize of a slot on the Olympic Team.

USA Swimming collected this data to learn if there was some stroking or pacing pattern which maximizes a swimmer’s chances of being among the fortunate few.

After 40 years, the data shows most clearly that a rare and completely counter-intuitive skill is the key to success in swimming.  That skill is the ability to maintain Stroke Length while increasing Stroke Rate.

Why counter-intuitive? Well, what does everyone do naturally when trying to swim faster? Work harder and stroke faster— while ignoring Stroke Length! No wonder this virtually always leads to failure and frustration: They have it exactly backwards!

With this information, you can ensure that your efforts to swim faster will have a vastly greater chance of success. To do this, plan sets which:

1. Reveal your current ability to maintain one stroke count (say 18 SPL), while increasing Tempo.
2. Make a tiny increase in tempo (as little as a hundredth of a second) and count strokes. If your SPL holds, increase tempo and count strokes again.
3. Continue until your SPL increases.

When your SPL increases, you’ve discovered your current level of Conscious Incompetence at this combination of SPL and Tempo. Work at this level until you can easily and consistently swim this Tempo+SPL combo. Then raise tempo again until you find the tempo at which it’s a struggle to maintain your SPL.

Learn to swim with greater ease and speed in your “Green Zone” with our downloadable Ultra-Efficient Freestyle Complete Self-Coaching Toolkit.

Want to master the Swimming Success Algorithm? A Tempo Trainer is the essential tool. 

The post The Algorithm of Speed: 3 Proven Principles for Swimming Faster 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 was post was originally published by Terry Laughlin on Jan. 25th, 2013.

Earlier this week a large number of TI coaches around the world received the same email from someone who identified himself as a contractor with an on-line outsourcing agency called oDesk. His message was as follows:

I am conducting research for a USA Swimming coach, who asked me to inquire the following from Total Immersion coaches:

1. Persons that you have coached using Total Immersion technique that are past or current world record holder or NCAA Division I Champions

2. Major accomplishments of each of those athletes listed in question #1 (example:  “Former World Recorder Holder in the 200 meter backstroke”).

I was among those receiving this message but chose not to respond. However, a few TI coaches did take the time to answer, including Peter Hendricks of Melbourne, Australia, who eloquently expressed how our value system differs from that reflected in the query:

I’m struck by how your query infers that the only meaningful measure of success in swimming is winning a World Championship, or whether it can be measured by your time for 100, 200 or 400 Metres.

Rather than focus on teaching the .01% of the population that might win a World Championship, TI coaches strive to teach a proven method that works to countless other people for whom simply swimming with ease and enjoyment would be a great gift. TI is also about swimming every stroke with clear purpose . . . whether for health, enjoyment, or competition.

My reward is knowing I’ve taught hundreds of students, most of them adults, to swim the distance of their choosing in a relaxed and efficient manner. I relish the fact that hundreds of people now enjoy swimming more than anything else. And that hundreds of my students, for whom the swim leg was formerly a “show stopper,” have since realised their dream to participate in triathlons.

I learnt how to swim, with TI, at the age of 42. At the time a single 50-metre lap would leave me exhausted. Now I swim 5, 10 and 20 Km Open Water Marathons against World Champions. While I don’t beat them, I know that I love every stroke I take. How many NCAA champions can say that?

It was because I was so thrilled by this transformation that I became a TI Coach and am now helping others join me in these marathons. Accomplishments like these mean more to me than the prospect of coaching a single person to elite status.

And here’s a pic of Peter with six of his swimmers, taken after all seven completed the 11.2km (7 miles) Bloody Big Swim Marathon in Melbourne.

Just as I was about to publish this post, I received this email from Sun Sachs of Beacon, NY, a perfect complement to what Peter Hendricks wrote about why TI coaches feel our work has inestimable value:

Today it’s been 30 days since I came to your Total Immersion Swim Studio in New Paltz to take a workshop with Alice Laughlin. Since then, by practicing your drills and whole stroke with your focal points, I’ve improved my stroke count for 25 yards by almost half.  At your recommendation, I’ve also been using the tempo trainer, beginning with a tempo of 1.7 (sec/stroke) and gradually working my way to 1.4.  

What used to be a stressful and unpleasant experience– and one in which I swam for 18 years with no improvement– has turned into an adventure. Not just the improvement, but even more that I enjoy swimming so much now that after each session, I count the hours until I can “play” in the water again.  

I also notice how little sense it makes to swim the traditional way. All around me I see others grinding out laps, stroking awkwardly and craning their neck for every breath. I wonder at their willingness to waste energy on something that looks, and– I know from experience– feels unpleasant. But then I understand why. At the pool where I swim, this poster is hung prominently on the wall for inspiration, along with others that assert “Oxygen is overrated” and “Swim Now Die Later.” 

While these messages are intended to inspire, they completely miss the point. Why do so many people still think this way? Meanwhile, I enjoy every stroke and anticipate more of those magical moments when everything comes together and I understand what it means to be in harmony with the water.

TI has literally changed my life and I can’t wait to put it into practice this summer in triathlons and who knows what else.  What a gift.

Transform Your Entire Stroke!

Learn guaranteed skill-builders with our downloadable Total Immersion Effortless Endurance Self Coaching Course! The drills and skills are illustrated in 15 short videos. Guidance on how to learn and practice each drill effectively, illustrated by clear pictures, are contained in the companion Workbook.

The post How Do You Define “Success” in T.I. Swimming? appeared first on Total Immersion.

This post was originally published by Terry Laughlin on December 14, 2012.

In a post on the TI Discussion Forum forum [from the 2012 archive], Steve asked:

“My practices are limited to 100-meter repeats because I get too winded to swim farther. Though I can swim as much as 2000 meters in a pool session, I still need to stop and rest every 100 meters. How can I swim farther without becoming winded?”

Craig Arnold, a TI enthusiast from the UK replied:

“When swimming a longer distance, why don’t you call it a warm up? That way, you give yourself permission to swim more slowly. Swim with a balance focus, concentrating on a weightless head, then marionette arms, with no splashing or bubbles. When I start out that way, before I know it I’ve swum 1000 meters.”

Craig gives good advice, but his phrase “permission to swim more slowly” is especially powerful. Though I began swimming 47 years ago, it took me over 40 years to give myself permission to swim more slowly.

My good friend Amby Burfoot, the 1968 Boston Marathon champion, long-time editor in chief of Runner’s World for 30 years–and a TI swimmer since turning 60–revealed to me that world-class Kenyan marathoner runners typically warm up for a race at a pace of about 9 minutes per mile—barely more than half their racing speed.

Compared to the Kenyans’ ability to run slowly, I was pretty poor at swimming slowly. At that time, my racing pace for the 1650-yard free was about 1:15 per 100 yards. I realized I never swam at anything remotely close to 2:30 per 100. All of my swimming was in a narrow window between 1:15 and 1:30 per 100. Immediately I decided that henceforth, I would start most practices with up to 10 minutes of swimming at the e-a-s-i-e-s-t pace possible.

The effect was instantaneous. I felt and swam much better in everything that followed. As it happens, my “superslow” pace turned out to be only a few seconds slower. I was amazed how little speed I sacrificed when I went much easier.

Striving to achieve a state of profound relaxation at the start of practice resulted in several surprising benefits:

1. I became hypersensitized to the interaction of my body and the water. I felt as if I was aware of the water at the molecular level.

2. My balance and stability were far better tuned — and I could feel the difference at every faster speed.

3. To swim faster after those initial laps of deep ease, I didn’t have to push the throttle. My pace seemed to pick up effortlessly as I continued.

Within a few months I had swum the 1650 in a pace of 1:12 per 100. Giving myself permission to swim slower made a clear difference in enabling me to swim faster.

Teaching regularly in an Endless Pool, I’ve found it’s a rare student who knows how to swim well . . .  slowly. Students who would finish far behind me in a race cannot keep from crashing into the front of the pool when I set the current at moderate speeds. They find it eye-opening when I turn the current way down and swim in place with impeccable form and no interruption in rhythm.

I explain that there’s a wide spectrum of both power and tempo. The vast majority of swimmers constantly push the upper—or physical–end of the spectrum and ignore the lower—or artful—end. It’s at the lower end where you learn most about how to form a partnership with the water.

3 Specific Ways To Swim Slower

1) Observe your hand speed as you begin your stroke. Allow a moment-of-stillness after you reach full extension, then begin stroking at slowest possible speed and lightest possible pressure.

2) Explore how slowly you can bring your arm forward over the surface, without discontinuity in recovery or instability in balance.

3) If you swim with a Tempo Trainer, turn it down gradually. Can you maintain flow at a tempo of 1.80 strokes per second?

I promise you’ll discover these are exacting skills requiring great focus and great body control. And therefore invaluable to swimming any faster speed.

Find more tips like this in the Ultra-Efficient Freestyle Handbook, a richly-illustrated, easy-to-read 140 page guide to understanding freestyle technique in depth. It comes along with 15 downloadable videos and a learning and practice workbook in our Self-Coaching Toolkit.

The post Permission to Swim Slowly: 3 Ways to Artfully Cultivate Smart Speed appeared first on Total Immersion.

Photo credit: Bob Fagan and USIA Video

This post was originally published by Terry Laughlin on Mar. 22, 2011.

Like previous practices posted, this is another example of a technique-focused Mindful Swimming Practice. These are similar to a series of classes led by me and other TI Coaches at the Multisport World Expo [in 2011] for some 160 swimmers at MIT. All showed visible and measurable improvement– in some cases improving stroke efficiency by over 30%, in others improving 1500m pace by as much as 6 minutes – in just over an hour.

All attendees expressed enthusiasm for being exposed to a refreshing alternative to uninspiring workout formulas based only on how hard or long. One set of classes was based on thoughtfully choreographed series of Focal Points (Mindful Swimming), the other on using Tempo Trainer and Stroke Count exercises to discover combinations of Stroke Length and Rate to create faster paces with less effort. 

This practice is devoted entirely to increasing sensitivity and awareness of how your hands enter, extend and find a grip.

Warmup/Tuneup 300 “Add Fingers” 
Do a continuous 300 or 12 x 25 or anything in between. Do 2 rounds of the following series:

25 Fist, 25 1-finger, 25 2-fingers, 25 3-fingers, 2×25 Full hand.

Focus: Round 1, concentrate on improving your sense of holding water as ‘grip’ area increases. Round 2, you may count strokes instead. Or both.

Narrow Focus Swim 6 to 8 x 25 of any 3 of the following Focal Points. Practice those you choose in the order given.

• Hang Hands Keep hands relaxed (not stiff) with fingers loosely separated (not closed).
• Mail Slot Cut a ‘slot’ in the water with fingertips. Slip forearm through that slot.
• Bubble-Free Watch for bubbles as you extend. Try to eliminate if you see.
• Light and Lazy Hand should feel weightless as it floats ‘lazily’ forward.
• Wide Tracks After Mail Slot entry, extend your relaxed hand so outside of wrist and elbow bones are wide of your shoulder. Avoid the center.
• VW Beetle Visualize the hood of a VW Bug. Slide your hand across the hood and down to the bumper as you extend.
• Patient At full extension, pause hand for a nanosecond before stroking. Begin pressing back as slowly and gently as possible.

Combined Focus Combine your three focal points as follows:
2 rounds of [3 x 50 (50 of each) + 2 x 75 (25 of each)]
Test your ability to transition smoothly from one focus to another and sense a distinct difference in your stroke as you do.

Extended Focus
Choose favorite Focal Point and swim [4 x 25 + 3 x 50 + 2 x 75 + 1 x 100]
Test your ability to sustain both focus and an improved sensation for a gradually increasing distance or duration.

Optional: Do this set a second time with Tempo Trainer set at a tempo of your choosing. Rather than count SPL, do this to test whether the addition of Tempo beeps aid in maintaining focus.

See closeups of Mail Slot, Bubble Free, Light and Lazy, Wide Tracks, Relaxed Hands from :20 to 1:20 of this video:

The post PRACTICE SET: Guaranteed to Develop “Smarter” Hands and Improve Your Grip on the Water 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.

A still from “Cheetahs on the Edge: Groundbreaking Footage of the World’s Fastest Runner”

The key elements of the T.I. approach– balance, streamlining, and propulsion– are based upon the physics of how bodies move through water, a combination of the principles of hydrodynamics and the principles of biomechanics. It’s interesting, then, to see how these key elements of movement science that we emphasize in swimming efficiently can be observed in parallel examples in other areas of life, be it in other sports or in nature. Inspired by the incredible slow-motion footage of cheetahs captured by photographer Greg Wilson in his award-winning video (video embedded below), this December 2012 blog from Terry Laughlin is an insightful analysis of what humans can learn from the world’s fastest runners about cultivating efficient speed– and how there are analogous connections between the natural speed of cheetahs and the consciously-cultivated speed of T.I. swimming. Enjoy this rare footage… and Happy Laps!

Cheetahs on the Edge–Director’s Cut from Gregory Wilson on Vimeo

Technique Tips from the World’s Fastest Runner

Balance and Stability

The cheetah’s head is amazingly stable.
The cheetah’s head-spine line is always moving in the direction of travel

Streamlining 

The cheetah achieves full extension of its bodyline in every stride.
The cheetah uses a compact, relaxed “recovery” (bringing fore paws forward close to the body).

Propulsion

The cheetah runs with its whole body, not its limbs.
The cheetah places its fore paw with striking care — even delicacy. The equivalent in T.I. Swimming is relaxed hands, patient catch, and “gathering moonbeams” (taking care in initiating pressure).

The Lesson

The cheetah sacrifices none of these qualities at its highest speeds and stride rates. In fact it seems to do them most exquisitely when it is moving at maximum speed. It reaches its Maximum Stride Length when it’s also at Maximum Speed — which is, of course, the secret to being the fastest runner on the planet. As we know, human swimmers do exactly the opposite when striving to swim fast. We sacrifice Stroke Length as we increase Stroke Rate– sometimes quite radically. Alain Bernard, while anchoring France’s 4×100 relay in Beijing, being a high profile example; Usain Bolt, in contrast, ran as the cheetah does, achieving his Max Stride Length at max speed. Cheetahs run fast by nature. We must swim fast mindfully.

Additional info about “Cheetahs on the Edge” from director Greg Wilson:

-Winner of the 2013 National Magazine Awards for best Multimedia piece of the year-

Cheetahs are the fastest runners on the planet. Combining the resources of National Geographic Magazine and the Cincinnati Zoo, and drawing on the skills of an incredible crew, we documented these amazing cats in a way that’s never been done before.

Using a Phantom camera filming at 1200 frames per second while zooming beside a sprinting cheetah, the team captured every nuance of the cat’s movement as it reached top speeds of 60+ miles per hour. The extraordinary footage that follows is a compilation of multiple runs by five cheetahs during three days of filming.

For more information about cheetah conservation, visit causeanuproar.com/Director, DP, Producer – Greg Wilson

The post VIDEO: Swimming Lessons From The World’s Fastest Runner appeared first on Total Immersion.