Now that I've gone through the hassle of signing up as a member of this dicussion group, this gets more and more fun. Maybe I'll get fired from my job :)
Anyway... I'm sure that ALL Masters level swimmers have heard of Total Immersion (from now on referred to as TI) swimming, correct? What are everyone's opinions about TI swimming? I am most curious because as a coach of age group swimmers, I was looking for training videos for our kids. I happened upon TI and liked what I saw... at first.
Here's some background for my experience with TI... very well put together, most of what they teach has been in existence for some time anyway, and they certainly are good for teaching novice/beginner swimmers the basic technique for swimming.
However, when looking to swim fast, and I mean fast, not lap swim quality, but truly competitively, I thing TI has missed to boat completely. Yes, smooth and efficient swimming is nice, but did anyone see the NCAA's? There are 20 year old men swimming 9 strokes per length in breaststroke! We have a number of age group coaches in my area teaching their kids how to swim breaststroke at 6 or 7 strokes a length!!! What gives? Extended glide is one thing, but when you slow down your stroke to such an extent just to achieve long and fluid strokes you sacrifice speed tremendously.
Hey, if you can swim 9 strokes a length at 1 second per stroke that is WAY better than 6 strokes a length at 2 seconds per stroke. Simple math.
Anthony Ervin of Cal swam the 100 free in the follwing SPL... 12 (start)/15/16/16. I could be off but that's what I was able to get from the (ahem- PALTRY) ESPN coverage. Now TI has goal SPL's of 12/13! Hello, if the BEST sprinter in history takes 8 cycles, shouldn't that tell us something? Turnover is very important. Same with streamlining, yes streamlines are nice and quite important but A.E. pops up after 5 yards MAX out of each turn. You only serve yourself well if your streamline is faster than you can swim, most age group swimmers would be well-served to explode out of the turn and swim within 3-4 yards.
Alas, it's been a slow day finishing my work for the week. Just looking to start a nice discussion. It's been my experience that a lot of Masters level swimmers are also engaged in coaching age group swimming at some level, and therefore I feel we can get some good dialogue going on this issue.
Now I've just used TI as an example because that's what I've had my experience with, but more general is what keys do you all stress when trying to mold competitive swimmers?
Au revoir,
-Rain Man
Parents
Former Member
I'm no physiologist and am therefore incapable of proving the following statement, however I think it may have some credibility and ask any of you who are qualified to respond please do so:
I think the face-down front-quandrant style of swimming freestyle is leading to more shoulder injuries than there ever have been.
Now here's my observances:
1. With face-down, the arm winds up being directly overhead, a more stressful position on the shoulder than if it were lowered slightly. Try this at home. Stand up, and raise you arm over your head. Feel the strain on the shoulder. Gradually lower you arm so that you will finish with it pointing straight in front of you. Notice the strain decrease the entire way.
2. Front-quadrant keeps your one arm directly overhead for a long period of time as the other arm approaches, whereas "windmill" swimming the arm is only directly overhead for a split second.
To jump back into the TI fray, I will say this:
Good drillsets, nice instructional video, smooth and efficient strokes. But how do you race? Turnovers increase and you lose the front quadrant effect. The womens 50M and 100M free world record holder has minimal hip rotation, no front quadrant style, and positions her head slightly higher than is being advocated. She is the best in the world.
I have no problem teaching TI, as long as coaches read the disclaimer that says "TI will not be held responsible for an increase in your 50, 100, and 200 freestyle times. You should only apply these techniques to racing the 1500."
Well, obviously there is no disclaimer, but what I am getting at is learn the drills, swim that way in practice, but take the next step to learn how to race. The fundamentals that are being tought that are worth holding onto will stick with you.
That's why you drill TI. So that when you race, maybe some of the fundamentals like body position will stick with you. But I don't believe you can get in the water and "race" TI. Save that for technique sets in practice. When you race, your hard work during the technique sets will carry over. I just want someone, ANYONE, in the TI community to acknowledge that fact. You practice TI, you don't "race" TI.
Thanks for your time and patience.
-RM
I'm no physiologist and am therefore incapable of proving the following statement, however I think it may have some credibility and ask any of you who are qualified to respond please do so:
I think the face-down front-quandrant style of swimming freestyle is leading to more shoulder injuries than there ever have been.
Now here's my observances:
1. With face-down, the arm winds up being directly overhead, a more stressful position on the shoulder than if it were lowered slightly. Try this at home. Stand up, and raise you arm over your head. Feel the strain on the shoulder. Gradually lower you arm so that you will finish with it pointing straight in front of you. Notice the strain decrease the entire way.
2. Front-quadrant keeps your one arm directly overhead for a long period of time as the other arm approaches, whereas "windmill" swimming the arm is only directly overhead for a split second.
To jump back into the TI fray, I will say this:
Good drillsets, nice instructional video, smooth and efficient strokes. But how do you race? Turnovers increase and you lose the front quadrant effect. The womens 50M and 100M free world record holder has minimal hip rotation, no front quadrant style, and positions her head slightly higher than is being advocated. She is the best in the world.
I have no problem teaching TI, as long as coaches read the disclaimer that says "TI will not be held responsible for an increase in your 50, 100, and 200 freestyle times. You should only apply these techniques to racing the 1500."
Well, obviously there is no disclaimer, but what I am getting at is learn the drills, swim that way in practice, but take the next step to learn how to race. The fundamentals that are being tought that are worth holding onto will stick with you.
That's why you drill TI. So that when you race, maybe some of the fundamentals like body position will stick with you. But I don't believe you can get in the water and "race" TI. Save that for technique sets in practice. When you race, your hard work during the technique sets will carry over. I just want someone, ANYONE, in the TI community to acknowledge that fact. You practice TI, you don't "race" TI.
Thanks for your time and patience.
-RM
