Turn the TI Way: Faster and Easier.

Q. What’s the fastest way to improve your swimming speed?

A. Better turns and pushoffs. 

You push off to start every length – and turn at the end of most. If you improve both, then every length you swim will improve. These skills are the way:

Critical Pushoff Skills

Three skills give you a longer, faster pushoff:

        1. Streamline to travel farther and faster underwater. Cover each lap in fewer strokes. 

        2. Balance so your kick propels you forward, instead of fixing body position. Save air and energy.

        3. Move forward, not up, through the surface. Start stroking with easy speed. 

Critical Turn Skills

A separate set of three skills give you a faster, easier turn:

        1. Change directions in a narrow plane. Head, shoulders and legs follow one line in and out.

        2. Tuck tightly. Change directions at maximum speed and  minimum effort. 

        3. Be balanced on foot-strike. More power from your leg and a better line to the surface.

“Turn the TI Way” will teach you those skills in five step-by-step lessons.

Lesson One Forward Pushoff will teach you to:

Form a streamline.

Push off at optimal depth.

Surface in balance.

Convert underwater speed to surface speed.

Lesson 2 Sit-Back Pushoff will teach you to:                                  

Release the wall and sit back.

Bring hands, from different positions, to streamline.

Minimize drag as you rotate to your side.

Take first stroke – and breath — to either side

Lesson 3 Open Turn Skills will teach you to:

Approach the wall with speed and momentum.

Rotate tight and fast

In and out on the same line.

Position legs and feet to max pushoff power.

Lesson 4 Flip Turn Basics will teach you to:

Somersault tight and fast.

Leave wall on-side & on-line

Hold streamline

Break out at a low forward-moving angle

Lesson 5 Flip Turn Faster will teach you to:

Initiate your turn more smoothly.

Get extra air before and after the turn.

Improve pushoff alignment and distance.

Stroke and breathe to either side on breakout

The post Turn the TI Way: Longer Pushoffs, Faster Turns in 5 Lessons appeared first on Total Immersion.

Total Immersion will offer three special 1-day intensive workshops March 7-11 at the Brian Bent Memorial Aquatic Center in Coronado, CA. Each class will include two pool sessions, with video analysis in each session, plus classroom review and discussion.

TI 1.0 Smart Endurance Swimming

This will be offered March 7th.  If your swimming feels uncomfortable, hard and/or slow, it’s not because you lack conditioning. It’s because you move  around in water and move water around instead of moving through water. We call that the Universal Human Swimming Problem (UHSP). This class will cure the UHSP by teaching you the Smart Endurance skill sequence of Balance-Streamline-Propel.

Monday, March 7th – Click Here for Details and to Register

TI 2.0 Freestyle Master Class 

This will be offered March 8th.This workshop will put you on the path from efficient to expert in freestyle by honing Balance and Streamline skills and introducing advanced Propulsion skills. 

Tuesday, March 8th – Click Here for Details and to Register

TI 3.0 Smart Easy Speed 

This will be offered March 11th.  This workshop will teach you to replace guesswork (and heedless hard work) with the only guaranteed way to swim faster – train your neuromuscular system for improved
combinations of Stroke Length and Stroke Rate.

Friday, March 11th – Click Here for Details and to Register

The post Invest One Day: Swim Easier, Better, Faster appeared first on Total Immersion.

The post How to ‘Work Less, Swim Better’ in Triathlon appeared first on Total Immersion.

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

Why Self-Coached?

The post Self-Coached Workshop: Perpetual Motion Freestyle in 10 Lessons appeared first on Total Immersion.

Annie Coyle
Total Immersion™ Teaching Professional
Swimming Philosophy
“I believe everyday in the life of a Coach provides an opportunity to change a life.”
Education
•    Certified Total Immersion™ Instructor
•    BS Exercise Science; Concordia College
•    MA Sports Management, Mankato State University
•    Level I Coach – ASCA
•    USA Swimming Coaches Certification
•    Red Cross Lifeguard Certified
Experience
•    Competitive Swimmer Age Group through College, NCAA Division III
•    Coach for Age Group and High School Swim Teams since 2003
•    Group Lesson Instructor – 2003-2005
•    Aquatics Coordinator, Uptown YWCA
Areas of Expertise
•    Freestyle Stroke refinement through Total Immersion™  

Melissa Froehle
Total Immersion™ Teaching Professional
Swimming Philosophy
“I use Total Immersion to help swimmers accomplish their goals, whether it is fitness improvement, a faster swim in the triathlon, improving times at Masters meets, or even learning butterfly!”
Education
•    Certified Total Immersion™ Instructor
Experience
•    Competitive Swimmer Age Group through Present
•    YWCA Masters Participant and Coach
•    Open Water Competitor: Waikiki Rough Water Swim 2.4-mile ocean swim; Minnetonka Challenge 5-mile lake swim.
Areas of Expertise
•    Freestyle Stroke refinement through Total Immersion™  

Jordan Jelmeland
Total Immersion™ Teaching Professional
Swimming Philosophy
“I have swam across lakes and oceans, and know the beauty and speed in a well-crafted stroke. My instruction will shape swimmers into the strongest and most graceful swimmer they can be.”
Education
•    Certified Total Immersion™ Instructor
•    USA Swimming Coaches Certification
•    Level I Coach – ASCA
•    Red Cross Water Safety Instructor
•    Red Cross Lifeguard Certified
Experience
•    Competitive Swimmer Age Group through High School
•    YWCA Masters and Otters Coach and Previous Participant since 2003
•    Successful Relay Crossing of the English Channel for YWCA Swim for Change
•    Group and Private Lesson Instructor
•    Aquatics Facility Management, Anoka
Areas of Expertise
•    Freestyle Stroke refinement through Total Immersion™  

Whitney Jelmeland
Total Immersion™ Teaching Professional
Swimming Philosophy
“I work hard to make sure people understand and learn the strokes and skills at hand, in addition to finding the fun and potential in every lesson.”
Education
•    Certified Total Immersion™ Instructor
•    Red Cross Water Safety Instructor
•    Red Cross Lifeguard Certified and Instructor
Experience
•    Competitive High School Swimmer
•    Group and Private Lesson Instructor since 1997
•    Aquatic Facility Management, Anoka; Midtown YWCA
Areas of Expertise
•    Freestyle Stroke refinement through Total Immersion™  

Kathleen Parker
Total Immersion™ Teaching Professional
Swimming Philosophy
“I think of myself as a distance swimmer. It took three years to realize my best route to success was through technical improvement rather than pure speed development. I want others to see this same improvement in six weeks.”
Education
•    Certified Total Immersion™ Instructor
•    Red Cross Water Safety Instructor
•    Red Cross Lifeguard Certified
Experience
•    Competitive Swimmer Age Group through High School
•    YWCA Masters and Otters Coach and previous participant
•    Group Lesson Instructor since 2006
•    Head Red Cross Lifeguard, Midtown YWCA
Areas of Expertise
•    Freestyle Stroke refinement through Total Immersion™  

Samantha Sedlak
Total Immersion™ Teaching Professional
Swimming Philosophy
“I’ve been swimming since birth, from lessons to club teams through my college career. I have extensive experience working with developing swimmers, as well as great respect for the Total Immersion methods. I look forward to discovering, with you, your potential as a swimmer.”
Education
•    Certified Total Immersion™ Instructor
•    USA Swimming Coaches Certification
•    Red Cross Water Safety Instructor
•    Red Cross Lifeguard Certified
Experience
•    Competitive Swimmer Age Group through College, NCAA Division III
•    Group and Private Lesson Instructor since 2007
•    Headguard, Midtown YWCA
Areas of Expertise
•    Freestyle Stroke refinement through Total Immersion™  

Rebecca Shlafer
Total Immersion™ Teaching Professional
Swimming Philosophy
“I have been a swim Coach nearly half my life. Swimming is my first sport, but my continuing development in running and cycling give me an excellent understanding of the learner’s perspective in approaching swimming from any level.”
Education
•    Certified Total Immersion™ Instructor
•    USA Swimming Coaches Certification
•    Level I Coach – ASCA
Experience
•    Competitive Swimmer Age Group through High School
•    Youth Swim Coach since 1998
•    YWCA Masters Coach and Participant since 2007
Areas of Expertise
•    Freestyle Stroke refinement through Total Immersion™  

Rachel VanScoy
Total Immersion™ Teaching Professional
Swimming Philosophy
“To truly enjoy swimming, one needs to feel comfortable in the water. To master swimming, guidance is needed. I have experienced nearly two decades of struggle, education, motivation and achievement in the water. I look forward to sharing my knowledge and enthusiasm for swimming with every swimmer I work with.”
Education
•    Certified Total Immersion™ Instructor
•    USA Swimming Coaches Certification
•    Level I Coach – ASCA
•    Red Cross Water Safety Instructor
•    Red Cross Lifeguard Certified and Instructor
Experience
•    ” Competitive Swimmer Age Group through College, NCAA Division III
•    Youth Swim Coach since 2004
•    Group and Private Lesson Instructor
•    Assistant Head Coach for YWCA Otters, Masters and Total Immersion™
Areas of Expertise
•    Freestyle Stroke refinement through Total Immersion™  

Peter Voves
Total Immersion™ Teaching Professional
Swimming Philosophy
“My passion is two-fold: to help my students achieve their goals, and to continually refine my approach to their success. I combine my passion for Coaching with a career in education, a competitive multisport background, and a continuing education in Total Immersion instruction.”
Education
•    Certified Total Immersion™ Instructor
•    USA Swimming Coaches Certification
•    Red Cross Lifeguard Certified
Experience
•    Competitive High School Swimmer and Endurance Runner
•    Youth Swim Coach since 2007
Areas of Expertise
•    Freestyle Stroke refinement through Total Immersion™

The post Minneapolis YWCA Instructors appeared first on Total Immersion.

About:

The Minneapolis YWCa is our area’s exclusive provider of Total Immersion instruction.  Though swimming is an essential life skill, traditional teaching and coaching methods have made it difficult to master because they teach an awkward, exhausting style of swimming. Total Immersion’s foolproof approach to teaching can help any student master a fluent, beautiful and economical style and bring results far faster than conventional methods.
Our facilities offer:

•    Underwater filming and analysis
•    Three Minneapolis sites and ten certified instructors, including Master Coach Dave Cameron
•    Online scheduling and availability seven days a week
•    Supporting books and DVDs available on site

Services:

Private – Total Immersion instruction is available in several packages, depending on the size, needs, and schedule of the individual or group. TI Packages are for 1-2 people (no extra cost to bring the second swimmer), or a small group of 3-4 people. TI packages include the following:
•    6 lessons, 30-minutes each. Bring a fellow athlete! Lessons are priced the same for one or two people to encourage clients to continue analyzing each other in their inter-lesson practice.
•    ” Introduction and development of the entire Total Immersion freestyle drill series, a sequence of exercises that will help you not only swim faster and longer, but understand the mechanics of the stroke better.
•    Video analysis with our above and underwater cameras.
Touch-up Lessons

Returning clients can take another package or opt for the occasional Touch-up session. This hour-long session includes video analysis, drill review, and pacing work as desired by the client but is only available for clients who have taken a TI package already.

Weekend Workshops – In four 90-minute pool sessions, we’ll teach you a series of 12 thoughtfully-choreographed movements, beginning with simple balance positions and progressing seamlessly to whole-stroke swimming. Each step teaches you an essential skill of efficient, effective swimming.

Pool Sessions:
Saturday Morning is devoted to unlearning wasteful “struggling skills.” We’ll master simple Balance exercises that will teach you how to be effortlessly supported by the water and strikingly increase your ease and efficiency.

Saturday Afternoon, having already shown you how to move through the water with far more economy, we’ll teach you slippery body positions and effortless body rotation with the UnderSwitch drill sequence.

Sunday Morning, we’ll teach you to propel yourself with effortless power by linking your armstrokes to a balanced, slippery, rhythmically-rotating core body, using the Zipperswitch drill sequence.

Sunday Afternoon, you’ll graduate from Human To Fishlike as we transition from drills to swimming with coordination, ease and flow, using the Overswitch and Whole-Stroke sequences.

Classroom Sessions On Saturday, we use video of Fishlike and Human swimmers to show how TI techniques put you in a swimming flow state. On Sunday, we explain how to be your own best coach and swim smart for life. We’ll give you guidance on how to build an effective and enjoyable training program that makes the best use of what you learned at the workshop.

Video Analysis: We’ll tape you underwater on Saturday morning and review it during the Saturday afternoon classroom session. This will show you visually why you’re not swimming as well as you’d like or as well as you could and what are your primary opportunities for improvement. We’ll repeat that process Sunday afternoon to give you a clear sense of what you’ve learned and what your immediate priorities for further learning will be.

The YWCA of Minneapolis is the ONLY place in Minnesota to find TI workshops!

Cost and Registration – Save $50 on a your Weekend Workshop when you mention the YWCA!  To get this discount register by phone at 1-800-609-SWIM (7946) or online at www.totalimmersion.net. Use promotion code YWWEB (or YWCOUP if you saw our ad in Competitor Magazine!); discount only applies to workshops held at a YWCA of Minneapolis facility.  Tuition for a weekend workshop is $495. Registration is done through the Total Immersion website. First find the workshop you want on the Schedule at www.totalimmersion.net. Click on the workshop you want.

TI Triathlon Training – Triathlon swimming requires attention to efficiency and technique often not available in conventional swim lessons or swim practices. Instructors also need to be familiar and experienced with the many differences between pool and open water swimming, and should know the importance of saving energy in the swim for the later tri legs.
Our TI instructors not only have been working consistently with triathletes throughout the year, they also participate in multi-sport events themselves and have taught hundreds of students in swim clinics around Minnesota and the country.
Whether you’re new to swimming or it’s time to start making that a stronger leg of your race, we can help bring you to the next level.
In addition to our private and small group instruction, triathletes may also want to utilize some of the other services offered by our instructors at the YWCA and in partnership with Minnesota Tri Club Among these are:

•    Masters swim practice- Most of our Masters swim classes are taught by Total Immersion professionals.
•    Tri Masters swim practice- Our Tuesday/Thursday Midtown practices are tri-specific and are focused on developing form, endurance, and speed for multisport athletes.
•    Annual FREE open water swim clinic, taught by our Master Instructor, Dave Cameron

Meet Our Instructors – Click Here

Contact Us:
Phone: Please call our Elite Coaching Office at 612-215-4224
E-mail: please e-mail davidccameron@hotmail.com
Webstie: www.ywcampls.org/ti

The post Minneapolis, MN YWCA appeared first on Total Immersion.

By Naji Ali

For all my life I’ve lived near the ocean and loved watching others swim. I longed to be able to learn how to do it with grace, beauty and efficiency. Sadly, I never got the chance to learn to swim when I was younger mainly because I lived in Southern California and often when I expressed interest in it, my white — as well as black — friends would say “Blacks don’t swim. Go learn to play basketball.” I bought into this attitude, but still wanted to prove them wrong.

Very recently I decided that I was not only going to learn to swim, but would do it with efficiency and enjoyment. As luck would have it, one teacher I worked with briefly (who mainly worked with folks who were afraid of water) told me about TI. I did some research, found the site and liked what I saw.

Although the tuition for a workshop was a bit high for my budget, I felt it was important and signed up anyway. Boy, am I glad I did! Coaches Fiona Laughlin, Kim Dinell, Dave Cameron and Noel Olson really opened my eyes. I’ll admit that I was frustrated with the drills at first, but I told myself going in that if I felt that the method and coaches were sincere, then I’d keep at it. For four days a week, two hours a day, I practiced the drills: first fish, the on to skating, sweet spot, under-switch, zen switch, and finally whole stroke. I didn’t move on to another drill until the one prior was mastered. I constantly emailed Kim Dinell about problems frustrations, and questions.  She would always write back promptly with solutions and/or new drills to try.

As things began to progress, I decided to try swimming whole stroke with side breathing (a continuous problem that I had been working on).  As I woke up to get ready to go to my neighborhood pool, I felt a twinge of panic: would I remember my drills, head down, rotate from the core, wide tracks, spear the water rather than slap it, and the complicated two-beat kick?  I was concerned that my old friends were right, maybe blacks couldn’t swim. I knew it was a silly notion: I had seen the triumphs of folks like Cullen Jones and others, the famous coach Jim Ellis (the man the movie “PRIDE” was based on) and The Nile Swim Club in PA, but when it came to me, I wasn’t so sure.

So I went to the pool, took several deep breaths and told myself, “remember what you’ve practiced, don’t expect to be Michael Phelps, just be Naji and that’s fine.” I dropped my head down, pushed off from the wall and glided out, and then something wonderful happened: I was going along gracefully, no panic, no stopping. If I made a mistake with arm or head position, I could sense it and correct it immediately. Wow! For the first time I was at the other end of the pool looking back at my progress and smiling. All that I had been taught by Fiona, Dave, Noel, and Kim as well as the “Easy Freestyle” DVD was paying off. In fact, one of the lifeguards at the pool said, “you are swimming really long and gracefully, it’s really a pleasure to see that.” And he is also a TI fan!

I still run into a ton of mistakes, I have my good and bad days, but now I know what to do about them. Leslie Thomas, the TI coach in my area, is going to introduce me to open water in February and early next year I plan on beginning breaststroke drills followed by back and then butterfly. My ultimate goal is to become a TI coach and work with low-income African American and Latino youth.  I have realized my dream of swimming well and swimming safely, and I want to help others to do it, too.  

The post Total Swim – Dec 08 – Swim for Joy appeared first on Total Immersion.

By Jim Voce

In 2007 I joined an off-season triathlon group and was struggling to keep up with the rest of the class. I was stuck in the beginner’s lane, trying to comprehend what “drive with your hips” or “pretend your belly button is a camera taking pictures of each side of the pool” was all about. To put this in perspective, when I started last year I was out of breath after almost every warm-up and dead tired after every practice, even though I could bike for an hour and run 10-minute miles.  I joked about finding a triathlon with a 25 meter swim event.  I finally went to the internet to search for some help, and found Total Immersion. That is when my swimming life changed.  I purchased the Freestyle Drill Cards and Freestyle DVD and watched them over and over. Suddenly what my coach was saying started making sense.  I watched the DVD about a hundred times, making notes as if I were going to teach someone else and went into the pool. 

Fast forward to November 2008: I have competed in three sprint triathlons and swimming is now my strongest and favorite event.  My swim times have become progressively faster in each triathlon.  My favorite practice is straight freestyle in 300 meter intervals.   I like to alternate using a pull buoy where I can concentrate on strict form and minimal splashing.  A few weeks ago I tried to swim for distance after a 900 meter warm up; I was able to go 2600 meters straight without feeling winded or tired.  My shoulders were getting tired but I had run out of time before running out of energy.  My next workout was a week later and I wanted to see how far I could swim in one hour: the result was 3500 meters straight and I could have kept going! 

I now watch everyone swim with a diagnostic eye and notice a lot of inefficiency. I think one of the most important things I have done to reduce my own inefficiency is to extend my reach or “lengthen the vessel” and get the most out of the propulsion I generate with each stroke.  The subsequent gliding not only makes me faster but also uses so much less effort.  Going forward I hope to compete in an Olympic distance triathlon next season.  I can swim an Ironman distance, but in the absence of TI-like training for running and biking, I am now restricted by what used to be my strongest events!

Jim is a Communications Technician in Chicago, IL.  He currently swims 2-3 times a week in the off season to stay in shape and get ready for the next triathlon season (his second).  Jim has been married for 10 years to Lisa, who (along with his three children) supports his pastime by waking up in the wee hours to cheer him on from start to finish. 

The post Total Swim – Dec 08 – My Success Story appeared first on Total Immersion.

By Diane Riggs

I first learned about Total Immersion Swimming from Bill Lang, my husband’s friend from college. When he asked me to be a student for his teacher qualification video I was delighted. I learned water survival skills when I was a child living on the Long Island Sound thanks to our town’s free swimming lessons.  When I was a teenager I did synchronized swimming for a short time.  I was never a fast swimmer, but I loved it and kept swimming into adulthood.  A partial rotator cuff tear from a fall when I was 31 meant that I sometimes had to take a break from swimming.  

One of these breaks occurred from 2005-2007 after I fell from my bicycle right onto the injured shoulder.   The pain was excruciating and I could not move my arm more than a foot from my side.  After physical therapy and a year of weight training I felt strong enough to try swimming again in December 2007.  I found that my shoulders, back and core muscles were stronger and my balance was improved; I was no longer sway-backed in the water.  I started experimenting and took out a few books from the library to see how to improve my form in order to increase speed and endurance and prevent further injury.

In May I did my first sprint triathlon, swimming the quarter mile in 13 minutes with a total time of one hour and 57 minutes.  In July I did a second sprint triathlon, swimming for the first time in Lake Erie.  On the day of the race I became disoriented in the water and in minutes I was gasping for breath, almost unable to move my arms.  I managed to get to a lifeguard on a kayak and rested for a while, then swam and rested again.  He said that I was hyperventilating and coached me to breathe more calmly.  By resting with the lifeguard and swimming short distances, I managed to finish the swim.  Still wheezing from water in my lungs, I got on my bike and cycled the fourteen miles, then finished the triathlon with a run/walk for a total time of 2 hours and 26 minutes. I was stunned that I could have trouble swimming; this had never happened to me before!  So when Bill offered to teach me Total Immersion I was grateful for the help.  I had already signed up for a third triathlon at the same Lake Erie venue.

The first things that Bill taught me – floating on your stomach with your hands in the “pocket” and feeling the balance of the patient hand – reminded me of the dead man’s float I was taught as a child on the Long Island Sound.  The easy, relaxed way that each new movement was added was reassuring. I found it a little more difficult to find the sweet spot for breathing because I didn’t have enough time to practice it. When we started doing the underwater switching it seemed quite natural, but it is so different from swimming the crawl that it doesn’t trigger old habits.  I enjoyed feeling the balance shift as you switch hands.  But when Bill taught me the zipper and the “french manicure” this was more familiar.  A few times I felt the propulsion that you get when you switch hands, but at this point I could not put it all together.  I have never been able to breath on the left side, but suddenly I began to naturally breathe on the left side as well.  This showed me that if I work on the small pieces of the technique my swimming will become more flexible and consistent.  I also found it very useful to watch the video without any sound because it allowed the imitative side of my brain to absorb the movements.  In the three or four days that we had together I could not completely acquire what Bill was teaching me, but what I did learn really stayed with me.

Three weeks later I went back to Lake Erie for my third triathlon.  I had been practicing what Bill taught me, swimming at the lake.  The single most useful thing was the image of a ray of light going straight out through the top of my head like a headlight.  I found this instantly raised my whole body so that I was floating on the water rather than my legs sinking, and my breathing became more relaxed.  It was also psychologically reassuring in the relatively murkier water of the lake. So on the day of the race I felt confident.  I finished the triathlon in 1 hour and 56 minutes.  I am pleased with how the Total Immersion technique helped me recover my balance in the water.  I believe that practicing this technique will transform my swimming.

The post Total Swim – Dec 08 – Lessons from Bill – Part 2 appeared first on Total Immersion.

Coaching Careers: Follow your Passion with TI

The post Become a TI Coach – Contact Lobb appeared first on Total Immersion.