Enjoying my swim drills.

[bx]

I know I don't comtribute anything particularly insightful to this forum, and I've had a couple of beers, but I am enjoying my time in the pool more and more as I very gradually progress through the drills in Easy Freestyle.

Since posting disasterous footage of my swim in January, I went back to the beginning, and haven't taken a single stroke of freestyle since. But I don't think I'm in a drill rut. Through the drills:-

- I've learnt to feel the difference between horizontal and not horizontal. Not as trivial as it might sound.

- I sit on my lungs, whilst keeping my head floating, not pressed down. That took a while to figure out, too.

- I've got the lateral TILT ingrained (rather than ROTATION, which I think is a potentially misleading term) - purely as a consequence of extending one arm forwards.

- I don't press the water down at the catch phase (which raises the front torso)

- I can do a 2 beat kick without activating the other leg. Months of practise went into that.


So, in all, it's a fairly modest set of claims, but acceptable for 10 months of extra drilling? In terms of the DVD, I'm at the "spear switch with 2 beat kick" stage. So I'm not recovering above water at all yet. But this drill is challenging enough, and I expect to be on it for some months yet.


I swim 2 or 3 times a week, and for no more than 40 minutes per session. For me, that is enough before I start to get tired and sloppy. Having said that, half that time is probably spent mucking around, playing with bouyancy, doing jellyfish, doing log rolls, gliding around...

I enjoy it all. And I'm learning aquatic skills slowly but surely.
Thanks to the main man himself, and all on this forum who provide clues along the way.

[a338082]

Hi bx,

This is an interesting post for me. It is good to know that others spent their time at the pool drilling.

When I started learning swimming 3 years ago at the age of 46, I spent almost the first two years doing drills only. But I never got to your levels as described. Then I started going to TI tune ip and I was encouraged to start swimming laps. Only recently, I swam my first 600m non stop. I still feel that my form is not where it should be. Can you advise the specific drills and focal points that you have been doing. I am considering spending my (almost) daily hour drilling/laps 50/50 and I wonder what drills I should be doing. I do have most of Terry's books and DVD and I have been through them many times so I prefer something refreshing.

[a338082]

BTW, how is lateral tilt different from rotation ? And why is is it better ? And on which direction are you tilting ?

Thanks in advance

Joseph

[westyswoods]

Bx,

Thanks for the post, your words will help others understand we are not all naturally gifted. I commend you for doing it your way, many of the issues you speak of, have been sticking points in my journey.

Swim Silent and Be Well
Westy

[Danny]

I often see posts on this forum from people who are very determined and only do drills, perhaps because they hope that by doing this they won't develop bad habits, which must then later be broken. While this is commendable, I think it can be carried too far. One of the pieces of advice that Terry gives is that, after you have tried something for a while and you feel you aren't progressing any more with it, then move on and try something else. He also endorses the benefits of practicing full stroke. Even the masters themselves tell us that they are still improving. If their technique is not yet perfect, that must mean that they too have some "bad habits", but they don't let that deter them from swimming full stroke. So I believe a fear of bad habits can be carried too far, and I would advise people who are teaching themselves to swim to risk a little and try full stroke, even in the early stages of learning.

For me, one of the most difficult drills to learn is skating, and that is one of the first drills that one learns in TI. For this reason, I think there is some benefit to jumping around in the drill sequence, just to get a feel for everything that is in there. Once you have tried everything, you can better judge where your weaknesses are and then decide how to concentrate on them. But concentrating on your weaknesses should not prevent you from enjoying doing some of the other things you have already mastered, even if they are not in sequence!

Good luck!

[bx]

Oh dear, I was rather sloshed when I posted this last night, but thanks for the replies and I wil attempt to address the points raised.

Originally Posted by a338082

BTW, how is lateral tilt different from rotation ? And why is is it better ? And on which direction are you tilting ?

Hi Joseph, for me, "tilt" conjures up an image closer to swimming off your tummy, rather than "rotation", which sounds like spinning around on an axis. If you stand with both arms outstretched in front of your shoulders, then let one arm drop down and reach as far forwards as you can with the other arm, without deliberately twisting your torso, the ensuing tilt/rotation of the shoulders is the amount I swim with.

Originally Posted by westyswoods

Bx,
Thanks for the post, your words will help others understand we are not all naturally gifted. I commend you for doing it your way, many of the issues you speak of, have been sticking points in my journey.

Thanks Westy. I am certainly not gifted at any physical sports - at school even the teachers always said I had poor co-ordination. I will certainly do it my way :)

Originally Posted by Danny

[...] So I believe a fear of bad habits can be carried too far, and I would advise people who are teaching themselves to swim to risk a little and try full stroke, even in the early stages of learning.

Hi Danny, I appreciate your words, and indeed they have been echoed before on this forum. I would say, however, that I'm not afraid of bad habits! I did more conventional drill-and-swim for 16 months or so before I decided to start afresh. I judge an approach from the result, and this approach wasn't working well enough - for me - at that stage of my learning.

Originally Posted by Danny

For me, one of the most difficult drills to learn is skating, and that is one of the first drills that one learns in TI. For this reason, I think there is some benefit to jumping around in the drill sequence, just to get a feel for everything that is in there. Once you have tried everything, you can better judge where your weaknesses are and then decide how to concentrate on them. But concentrating on your weaknesses should not prevent you from enjoying doing some of the other things you have already mastered, even if they are not in sequence!

Indeed skating is hard, and I had difficult-to-diagnose differences between left and right-side skating, so I had to concentrate on it more. I do jump around in the drill sequence. I do my own drills too. It all sounds a bit fraught and deadly serious - I really do muck around a lot in the pool. I see the DVD drill sequence as a guide, not a bible! Thanks for the good wishes.

Originally Posted by a338082

Can you advise the specific drills and focal points that you have been doing. I am considering spending my (almost) daily hour drilling/laps 50/50 and I wonder what drills I should be doing.

Hi, I think my original post basically described what I've been working on.
An example of something I play with now - not an official TI drill - it to float in Superman and do the slowest, gentlest 2 beat kick to keep legs up. I'm trying to imprint some of this feeling onto the underswitch, er, spearswitch with 2bk drill.

One I picked up from the forum (I think due to Shinji) is to push off and pull back with both arms, until you find how to do this without making your front half raise up. That's great fun - I feel like a torpedo...

[bx]

Addendum.

At the risk of "channeling swimust", in my last three swims, I've finally obtained the feeling of pulling myself along the rungs of a submerged ladder, at least for about two strokes out of every three. This is for the spearswitch with 2bk drill (no overwater arm recovery, and no breathing yet).

I certainly never felt this stability and grip on the water when I was in my "swimming rut" last year :)

So if I'm in a drilling rut - so be it - I'm getting there!