Does anyone else here NOT kick when they swim freestyle?
When I was 19, a coach told me that a lot of "real" freestylers don't kick, which was a surprise to me because every other coach I'd had would yell at me to kick during my events. I grew up thinking I was the odd one out, but maybe someone on here knows what I'm talking about...
Parents
Former Member
It's a common misperception of TI that we advocate drill, drill, drill. The approach you have used is that one I have pursued personally and recommend. Drills are most effective when you have deeply ingrained habits that are resistant to change when you swim the whole stroke.
Drills provide a way to break a complex action and/or error down to manageable smaller problems and solutions. They also provide a workaround when the whole-stroke is resistant to change, bcz the CNS doesn't "recognize" the drill as a habit pattern.
However, once one has stored those new movements in long-term memory and can begin working on assemblage or coordination of the parts, it's often better to do polishing with whole-skill practice as that's how one achieves better integration.
Doesn't mean one is necessarily "finished" with drills at that point but that they have their place.
I do very little freestyle drilling at this point. I do a pretty fair amount of drilling in the other strokes as my opportunities for improvement are more basic and my skills less advanced/polished.
Gotcha. I think I recall something in your DVD about awareness swimming in which you swim full stroke free but concentrate on a particular portion of the stroke...for instance, a high elbow pull.
Another DVD I bought was from GoSwim with Erik Vendt and Kaitlin Sandeno. I refined my stroke a bit by watching them swim underwater. In the past few years I have taken bits and pieces from several sources to improve my stroke. My point? I enjoy taking bits and pieces from many different swimmers and coaches to improve my overall swimming.
It's a common misperception of TI that we advocate drill, drill, drill. The approach you have used is that one I have pursued personally and recommend. Drills are most effective when you have deeply ingrained habits that are resistant to change when you swim the whole stroke.
Drills provide a way to break a complex action and/or error down to manageable smaller problems and solutions. They also provide a workaround when the whole-stroke is resistant to change, bcz the CNS doesn't "recognize" the drill as a habit pattern.
However, once one has stored those new movements in long-term memory and can begin working on assemblage or coordination of the parts, it's often better to do polishing with whole-skill practice as that's how one achieves better integration.
Doesn't mean one is necessarily "finished" with drills at that point but that they have their place.
I do very little freestyle drilling at this point. I do a pretty fair amount of drilling in the other strokes as my opportunities for improvement are more basic and my skills less advanced/polished.
Gotcha. I think I recall something in your DVD about awareness swimming in which you swim full stroke free but concentrate on a particular portion of the stroke...for instance, a high elbow pull.
Another DVD I bought was from GoSwim with Erik Vendt and Kaitlin Sandeno. I refined my stroke a bit by watching them swim underwater. In the past few years I have taken bits and pieces from several sources to improve my stroke. My point? I enjoy taking bits and pieces from many different swimmers and coaches to improve my overall swimming.
