By Louis Tharp

I’ll see my new swimmer Sunday for a three-hour. It’s been three days. I don’t know if he’s been in the pool or how he feels about swimming after our last session.

He’s coming with a friend who successfully completed an intensive six month TI program with me. He went from a 2-minute 100 yards to a 1:15, but he can’t hold that past about 200 yards. For a 1500-yard swim he’s a solid 1:20 per hundred in the pool, which for a local Olympic distance triathlon usually puts him in the lead pack in his late 20s age group. Best of all, he’s not exhausted, stumbling out of the water, and draging his body into transition.

He recommended my new swimmer, but he’s a little nervous about the new guy ultimately being faster than he is. So this duo will complicate the intensive lesson with the new guy.

 We’ll see what happens.

 If his balance isn’t good, I’ll make a judgement call about whether to drive him nuts with more balance drills and talk, or let him kick to achieve balance and move on. I’m not used to working with people who aren’t highly motivated, and he is motivated, so if he looks like he can take it, I’ll stick with balance — like another day of scales when you’re taking piano lessons.

If I’ve chosen the right student, his commitment is how the magic will happen. His friend has been through it, and will tell him to keep going.

It’s all about focus, introspection, critical thinking, and correct repetition, and then all of a sudden one day he’s a proficient swimmer, or on planet triathlon — all of a sudden he’s not dreading the swim because he’s out of the water early and thinking about how he’s going to kill on the bike and run.

And he does.

 

 

 

 About:

Louis Tharp is a competitive age-group swimmer and a TI triathlon swim coach who is currently taking a few semesters off from West Point coaching in order to work one-on-one with Nicholas Sterghos, an ’09 West Point graduate and pro triathlete.

Louis Tharp’s book, "Overachiever’s Diary, How The Army Triathlon Team Became World Contenders" is available from Total Immersion.

Read a sample chapter and reviews from the top triathlon and swimming media at Overachiever’s Diary.

Buy Overachiever’s Diary by Louis Tharp on TI. Read a review of Overachiever’s Diary at active.com

His home pool is Club Fit, Briarcliff in Westchester County, New York.

Want to know what Louis Tharp does when he’s not coaching?