After seven years of teaching TI Freestyle Workshops, I’ve learned I can nearly always recognize those swimmers who have prepared for the workshop by practicing with the guidance of the TI Easy Freestyle DVD.  Here are the stroke characteristics that set these swimmers apart:

Head Position:  Conventional swimming and human instinct encourages most people to look forward when swimming.  Those who have access to TI materials usually have their head in a better position.  Their eyes are looking straight down with their nose pointed directly to the bottom.  For example, if a laser beam was attached to their spine line, it would be pointing forward and not up.  This head position leads to a more horizontal body line which is a balanced position in the water.  Being balanced reduces a swimmer’s drag and provides much needed stability.  Keeping the neck muscles relaxed and allowing the water to support the weight of the head will improve this position.

Skating Position.  A typical swimmer is flat or only rotates at the hip.  Rotation only from the hip causes the body to become segmented by the unsynchronized movement of the upper body and the lower body.  It is obvious when a swimmer has a unified body line.  This means the shoulder and hip on each side of the body are aligned while in a slightly rotated position.  There is the attempt to maintain this alignment as the swimmer goes from one side to the other.  This aligned body position reduces drag and decreases effort.

Timing:  The average swimmer has no timing in their stroke and their arms are in constant motion.  Those exposed to TI have a more "patient" leading hand.  In other words, the leading hand is not dropped immediately as it enters the water. There is a pause, however, short.  The swimmer is attempting to keep the body line long for at least a brief moment before going to their other side.  This momentary pause also keeps the body from being in constant motion.  Continual motion comes with a high energy cost.  This timing needs to be improved but it demonstrates that the swimmer is attempting to lengthen and streamline their body to reduce drag.

Silence:  The swimmer is quieter.  There is less frantic movement such as arm churning, rapid kicking or force applied to the water.  As a result, there are fewer bubbles, waves, splashing and general turbulence as the person moves through the water.  There is a greater sense of relaxation as opposed to the obvious effort of the average conventional swimmer.

These beginning TI swimmers are heading in the right direction and will most likely feel some improvement in their swimming.  There are, however, important elements that need to be refined or are completely missing.  Changes made in these areas will significantly contribute to the swimmer’s continued development towards ease and efficiency.

Swim Taller with Overlap.  Improved stroke timing will keep the body line longer reducing drag, decreasing effort and increasing speed.  Those who have a sense of lengthening the body line on each stroke will lose it by dropping the leading arm prematurely.  To remedy this, leave the leading hand in place until the recovering arm begins it’s entry into the water slightly in front of the head so that the hands will pass each other there.

Wide Track, Compact Arm Recovery.  Most swimmers, even those with a high elbow, tend to recover too close to their body.  In addition, the recovering arm is often carried higher than necessary and is extended too far forward over the water so it enters close to or at full extension of the arm.  This type of recovery results in an unnecessary use of energy, creates varying degrees of turbulence upon the entry and is destabilizing causing a loss of balance.  Also, with this type of  entry, the swimmer is set up to push down on the water and not to lengthen forward.  Practice a relaxed, high elbow recovery, on a wide track, with the fingertips just over the surface of the water with an early entry.  This arm recovery requires much less energy, helps maintain balance, enables a quiet slice into the water, lets the water support the weight of the arm as it lengthens forward underwater, and, it allows the swimmer to maximize the distance traveled on every stroke.

Leading Arm Position:  Upon entry into the water and extension forward, the leading arm should not be positioned so the wrist is level with the shoulder.  This causes a loss of balance and does not allow for the best leveraged position for anchoring.  The leading arm should be angled slightly downward so the wrist is below the shoulder with the hand relaxed and the fingers angled toward the bottom.

Effortless Rhythmic Breath.  Lack of timing in the stroke leads to difficulty with breathing.  A rhythmic breath should be taken at the time of the switch with rotation of the core to air.  A breath that fits seamlessly within the rhythm of the stroke requires balance, rotation from the core and proper timing.