I've noticed at lot of dicsussion in recent threads about TI principles,
As you can see from my location, I'm on the other side of the atlantic and TI has started to make an impact over here.
I've come across a lot of people in my local University pool who seem to have been mesmerised by the TI message and it is now common for me to see people swimming on their sides with one outstreached arm and a submerged head.
When the time comes to breath these guys have their heads so deep from pressing their bouy that they end up lifting it so high that they loose whatever alignment they had in the first place.
From talking to them, none of them seem to want to develop a proper kick and build up endurance so they can develop
good form.
I have decided to post a list of TI priciples and my own critism of these, feel free to add to the list or post a TI defence!
TI PRINCIPLE 1
Side to Side Rotation
to get into Low Drag Fish-like Position
Criticism
Rotation is good to get extentsion and
a good catch + power into the stroke,
Excessive rotation slows down the stroke.
TI PRINCIPLE 2
Swim DownHill
Press your Bouy
Criticism:
Holding head too deep creates drag
Makes breathing Difficult
TI PRINCIPLE 3
No Kicking
Criticism
Kicking essential to fast swimming
+ to maintain good form particularly
for male swimmers.
TI PRINCIPLE 4
Front Quadrant Swimming/
Distance per stroke,
Criticism
A reasonably high Stroke rate is necessay for
fast swimming,
Unless you have a very strong kick a glide
phase in your stroke will cause decelleration
TI PRINCIPLE 5
Drills will make you a better swimmer
Criticism
Drills are important, but there is no
substitute for good quality fast training.
Originally posted by free142
A reasonably high Stroke rate is necessay for
fast swimming,
Unless you have a very strong kick a glide
phase in your stroke will cause decelleration
All studies of competetive swimmers have shown that stroke length is highly correlated with speed, while stroke rate is not. That is not to say that if you slow down your stroke rate by half, that you won't go slower. It says that people in the faster heats often have the same stroke rate as people in the slower heats. That is why, for people who do not have an efficient stroke, they will have more to gain by figuring out how to get a longer stroke length.
For your second part, sounds like you recommend popping up swimming immediately after you start your race, because during the glide you are decelerating. But during that glide (after the start, and off each wall), are you still moving faster than your average speed? If you can conserve energy by adding a little more glide in your stroke, will you be able to swim at that speed for longer than if you put in more continuous effort? For most people, they cannot maintain their 50 speed during a 100, so energy conservation does become an issue.
Originally posted by free142
A reasonably high Stroke rate is necessay for
fast swimming,
Unless you have a very strong kick a glide
phase in your stroke will cause decelleration
All studies of competetive swimmers have shown that stroke length is highly correlated with speed, while stroke rate is not. That is not to say that if you slow down your stroke rate by half, that you won't go slower. It says that people in the faster heats often have the same stroke rate as people in the slower heats. That is why, for people who do not have an efficient stroke, they will have more to gain by figuring out how to get a longer stroke length.
For your second part, sounds like you recommend popping up swimming immediately after you start your race, because during the glide you are decelerating. But during that glide (after the start, and off each wall), are you still moving faster than your average speed? If you can conserve energy by adding a little more glide in your stroke, will you be able to swim at that speed for longer than if you put in more continuous effort? For most people, they cannot maintain their 50 speed during a 100, so energy conservation does become an issue.
