Criticism of TI Principles

Former Member
Former Member
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.
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  • Originally posted by Jazz Hands Why do you think stroke length is about drag and stroke rate is about propulsion? I don't think I ever said any such thing. I think a longer stroke can increase both propulsion (since the arms are applying force for a longer time) and reduce drag (by putting the body into a more aerodynamic profile). I think sprinters make the tradeoff of slightly reducing the propulsion they can achieve per stroke by shortening their strokes and turning over faster. At the same time they probably take a hit on drag because they aren't in as favorable a position. However, the total amount of force they apply against the water over the course of a race is increased because they're taking more strokes.
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  • Originally posted by Jazz Hands Why do you think stroke length is about drag and stroke rate is about propulsion? I don't think I ever said any such thing. I think a longer stroke can increase both propulsion (since the arms are applying force for a longer time) and reduce drag (by putting the body into a more aerodynamic profile). I think sprinters make the tradeoff of slightly reducing the propulsion they can achieve per stroke by shortening their strokes and turning over faster. At the same time they probably take a hit on drag because they aren't in as favorable a position. However, the total amount of force they apply against the water over the course of a race is increased because they're taking more strokes.
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