Comments on: The 4 Stages of Skill-Learning. And the Critical Kaizen Loop

By: Dave Davenport

Dave Davenport — Fri, 06 May 2016 21:10:00 +0000

Terry’s TI messages of old, to ‘swim downhill’ and use ‘front quadrant’ swim technique would seem to equate to what you are trying to achieve here. They certainly help me to get in the right position for speedy and efficient propulsion.

By: How to LOVE Practice--and Why That's So Important | Total ImmersionTotal Immersion

Fri, 06 May 2016 19:07:27 +0000

[…] weeks ago I published a post The 4 Stages of Skill-Learning. And the Critical Kaizen Loop which proved to be one of the most popular of the year. In that post I explained the stages […]

By: KearneyHimself

KearneyHimself — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 10:34:00 +0000

Hi Clint,
What I was thinking about is what Terry calls the patient catch. Others talk about front quadrant swimming. This is when the recovering arm is fully extended at three o’clock by the time the pulling arm has reached six o’clock.
What happens above the surface of the water is also important because it affects the balance of the body in the water. By rotating the body about it’s axis, TI swimmers are able to make the recovery in alignment with the direction of travel. This also makes it easier to get a breath without having to raise the head out of the water.
The old-fashioned style of crawl, where the shoulders are kept horizontal, results in the arms being flung forward at the side of the body, making very hard work for the shoulder muscles and excessive resistance driving the full width of the body thru the water.
TI is about keeping the body long and narrow in the water. There are many aspects of the technique that have to work together to get it right, so it is well worthwhile studying the texts and videos to get a clear mental image of what we are trying to achieve.

By: Clint Myers

Clint Myers — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 17:11:00 +0000

when you say “in front of the shoulders”, do you find that most people keep their arms too low, or too far to the side?

By: KearneyHimself

KearneyHimself — Sat, 16 Apr 2016 17:02:00 +0000

We all have “heavy legs” because our center of buoyancy is higher in the body than our center of gravity. Keeping the arms, as much as possible, in front of the shoulders helps to move the center of gravity further forward. But the biggest problem for many people is trying to swim with their heads out of the water. The body rotates around the center of gravity, so the legs sink and they are forever swimming uphill, working much harder than they need to. From my observations, the great majority of triathlon competitors still haven’t got the TI message!

By: KearneyHimself

KearneyHimself — Sat, 16 Apr 2016 16:42:00 +0000

Everyone has heavy legs because our center of buoyancy is higher in the body than our cente of gravity. Keepin

By: Lion Heart

Lion Heart — Sat, 16 Apr 2016 09:55:00 +0000

Can’t thank you enough for sharing such a deep insight..and I thought a month to master one skill was too long!

By: Mic

Mic — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 18:15:00 +0000

Thanks. Reminders are needed and described from a personal perspective sink in better.

By: SEB

SEB — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 18:02:00 +0000

Great post! Thanks Terry!

By: Keith Berger

Keith Berger — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 17:56:00 +0000

Really great Terry–I love what you said about ‘what you don’t know that you don’t know.’ That is the ‘realm’ where real breakthroughs occur! How you get there is in what I think you call ‘presence’ and what I call ‘wonder.’ Kind of like when you are swimming (or whatever you are doing that you are interested in mastering) and just ‘being there’ noticing whatever you notice. You’re not ‘in your head’ or thinking about a concept necessarily. I don’t believe I’ve really mastered swimming yet to the degree that I have with medicine or woodworking, but you are pointing to the domain where that happens. Awesome!