Climb--and Master--the TI Pyramid of Skills | Total ImmersionTotal Immersion

Naval architects observe principles of physics and hydrodynamics in designing a sea-worthy vessel. Nature followed the same principles in the evolution of fish like the barracuda and aquatic mammals like the dolphin.

TI is the only swimming method to observe the same laws and principles in shaping and propelling a human ‘vessel.’ Three decades of experience—and countless thousands of teaching opportunities–have definitively shown that teaching three foundations in this order Balance–>Streamline–>Propel brings better outcomes faster than any other approach.

Balance

Our first goal is to create a balanced vessel, one that can maintain a horizontal, comfortable, low-drag position with a minimum of kicking or heartbeats. We achieve this by cooperating with the natural forces of gravity and buoyancy

A balanced body will rest parallel to—but mostly beneath–the surface with just 5% of body mass above the surface. When the body is balanced that 5% will be distributed all along the body—a ‘slice’ of the head, some upper back, a glimpse of one buttock, then the other.

Since the head, by itself, is 8% of body mass, if most of it is visible above the surface, other body parts must sink. Thus our first Balance mini-skill is to release the head’s weight to rest upon the water. When we do, we should see only a hand-sized slice of the back of the head above the surface. This is true for all strokes.

Another balancing action is to extend the bodyline fully in each stroke—improving water displacement by extend the body over more water-surface area. In freestyle, a third critical Balancing action is to enter early and reach forward at an angle that will put the hand below the bodyline at full extension or Catch.

A balanced and stable vessel allows the swimmer to move the limbs in ways that minimize drag and maximize forward motion, rather than wasting energy fighting gravity. This produces immediate and dramatic energy savings.

Finally, when we are active 90% of the brain’s energy goes maintaining balance—and 90% of that energy goes into correcting imbalance when it occurs. When the brain senses the body is no longer fighting gravity, is no longer in danger of sinking, it calms down–freeing up mental energy and bandwidth for mastering other efficient-swimming skills—like Streamlining.

Lesson 1 of the 1.0 Effortless Endurance Self-Coaching Course teaches Balance skills.

Streamline

After establishing a balanced, stable vessel, the swimmer gains the capability to create a shape that moves through the water with a minimum of resistance. The benefits of drag reduction increase as we swim faster since drag goes up as a square of the increase in velocity: 2x faster = 4x more drag. So energy savings from Streamlining can be quite significant—second only to achieving Balance.

Even better, like Balance, actions that improve Streamlining (i) are relatively easy to learn, since they involve mostly whole-body, or larger body part actions, not fine-motor control; and (ii) save far more energy than it takes to execute them.

Three basic Streamlining mini-skills are:

Shape your ‘vessel’ to be as long, sleek, and stable as possible—as in the Freestyle Skate drill.
Lengthen your bodyline—and keep it long for a bit more of each stroke cycle.
Minimize waves, splash (noise), and bubbles as you stroke.

Lesson 3 of the 1.0 Effortless Endurance Self-Coaching Course teaches Streamlining skills.

Propulsion

When your vessel is balanced and streamlined, your arms and legs are freed up to contribute far more effectively toward producing locomotion, rather than diverted to controlling body position and stability, or moving water around.

To a large extent, Propulsion improves automatically as a result of improving Balance and Streamline. At least 75% of maximum propulsive efficiency is achieved while you’re not even concentrating on it—simply by liberating arms and legs from correcting body position/shape errors.

The first three mini-skills of Propulsion are:

Put hand and arm in position to trap-and-hold the maximum volume of water, then press on the water with patience, care and sensitivity—not heedless application of force. You learn this in the Skate position.
Calm ‘busy’ legs by achieving Balance, then learn to coordinate a toe-flick on one foot to drive the opposite hand to its Catch position below the bodyline.
Set your rhythm or tempo, and initiate power from your core, rather than in the arms and shoulders.

Lessons 1-2-3 of the 1.0 Effortless Endurance Self-Coaching Course teach ‘automatic’ Propulsion skills.

The 2.0 Freestyle Mastery Self-Coaching Course teaches expert-level Propulsion skills.

swimsmart

when I met you in 1995 at the Ridgewood Y in NJ, your understanding of how human swimming works was not widely accepted, to say the least; two decades later, we now know you uniquely understood the principles of human propulsion through water and created a methodology to teach others how to do it; congratulations on your intelligence, persistence and passion; many have benefited greatly in many ways
Keith

How are using fist gloves any different than just using a closed fist?
- Robert Husanik
  
  I can only guess, as I don’t have these gloves, but my hands are more “tight”, when I am swimming with closed fist, so more relaxed feeling could be the benefit of using gloves. I like this exercise.
  - kueli
    
    That is only part of it. The gloves turn off every sensor in your hands. That makes swimming much more challenging. And when you take them off your hand awareness increases by much more…
Gil

Thanks fo a great post.
I’m practicing TI for couple of years, but I’ve noticed that although my speed is getting better, my legs are moving like scissors when I kick.
How can I improve it?
- KearneyHimself
  
  Hi Gil,
  I had the same problem. Hard to think about several different things at the same time. So I started off swimming with just the leg action, then began to synchronize the arms with the legs rather than the other way round. You will be surprised how effective the minimal two beat leg action can be and how far you can go on a single breath.
- Terry Laughlin
  
  Gil
  By ‘scissoring’ legs, do you mean spreading widely? If so, that’s usually a natural response to lack of stability in the core. Go back to working on Balance and Stability. Lessons 1 and 2 in the 1.0 Effortless Endurance Self-Coaching Course. http://www.totalimmersion.net/store/
Dave

‘…We achieve this by cooperating with the natural forces of gravity and buoyancy…’

I might say rather something to the effect of:

‘We can begin to achieve an appropriate streamline posture in the water by recognizing when the natural forces of gravity and our body’s own unique asymmetric buoyancy hinder our ability to pass through the water with a minimum amount of drag. Then we must practice various methods to overcome these hindrances.’

I just think that each individual has his/her own unique buoyancy (or lack of it) creating potential roadblocks to an efficient, smooth and streamlined stroke. Once we recognize that, we can be aware of it and practice the drills that help overcome it.

Total Immersion

Climb–and Master–the TI Pyramid of Skills

by Terry Laughlin