One of the things that never ceases to amaze me about the sport of swimming is the number of different ‘swimming tips’.

Many coaches have their favorites:

"Reach as far as you can each stroke"
"Push right through to the end of the stroke with your triceps"

"Swim with a high elbow recovery"
"Point your toes"

 

There are undoubtedly thousands of  possible ‘tips’ for freestyle alone!

Now lets just think about this for a minute… If you divide the human body up into a great number of parts, each with many possibilities for movement, we can quite easily create an infinite number of variables which need to be taken care of. Sound like a tough task? Well it is!!! If you doing the 4 things above all at the same time you will see what I mean. Please note – I’m not actually suggesting that ANY of these things will necessarily help you – they may or may not but it depends on what you are doing in the first place.

 The key is knowing the single most important thing to work on. What is going to make the biggest difference to your stroke? Is it AT ALL important how your hand is pulling through the water if your legs are dragging down and your body is pointing uphill at 45 degrees? Please don’t think I am exaggerating here – this is not an uncommon scenario for new swimmers who go along to stroke correction classes. No matter how well or hard an ‘uphill’ swimmer pulls through the water, it aint gonna make them go real fast.

So what SHOULD you be thinking about while you are drilling and swimming? What is the 20% of your technique where you can make the 80% difference you are looking for? There is of course no simple answer. You actually need to discover these things for yourself! The good news is that Terry Laughlin has literally spent years of his time in the water trying out subtle variations of movement patterns and refining shortcuts to help you to get there more effectively. A TI book or DVD is a valuable tool – especially in the hands of an ambitious learner like Timothy Ferriss !

TI is NOT ‘a collection of swimming tips’ and that is what sets it apart. TI is a a paradigm shift that starts with the question "What is optimal technique?" followed pretty quickly by "How can you learn it?". Once you genuinely engage this pathway it is impossible to go back to mediocre swimming so BE WARNED! 

Even within TI there is A LOT of information to navigate. Once you begin to realise how much better your swimming COULD be you are well positioned to begin. Here are my tips:

 1. Don’t try to understand everything all at once. Try out one idea or ‘focal point’ at a time. Too much thinking can overload your mind, make you rigid and jerky and prevent you from doing any one thing well.

2. Don’t try to ‘get it right’. There is no right and wrong, only different actions that cause your body to interact differently with the water. Try a bit more or a bit less … a bit narrower or a bit wider … how does that feel? Are you moving through the water more easily? Which way is quietest? …most comfortable? Experiment with your drills and after a while your body will KNOW what is optimal.

3. Get some feedback. What you THINK you are doing is often only vaguely connected with what you are ACTUALLY doing. Video is king. Underwater video is Emperor! Get a trustworthy friend to check if your arms are staying on their tracks and BELIEVE what they say!

 4. Put it back together again. When a drill is feeling good, do some whole stroke swimming and see if you can carry the same sensation across. Is your body as relaxed or are you starting to fight the water? What level of quality are you working at?

5. Practise with other TI swimmers. Whether you are at a group TI session swimming alongside Terry Laughlin in a lake or just sharing a lane with a fishlike freestyle there are so many benefits. It is just like yoga, Mountain Biking or enjoying a cold beer – best when shared with others who are on the same page!

6. Hire a coach. We are passionate about TI. We like to share our passion with people like YOU. We live to see swimmers take BIG STEPS forward with their swimming.

 

See you at the pool,

 Dunstan

 

 PS You can contact me via the Australian TI Site