Please advise new swimmer

I wouldn't discourage you at all from TI. My advice is this: Join a USMS workout group, get in a lane and swim every day.

I took T.I. lessons after about eight years of struggling through lap swims, doing 25 meters in about 50 seconds and 38 strokes. For the first two months after the lessons, I felt as though the wheels fell off my stroke, then the pieces started coming together. You have an advantage in that you don't have eight years of muscle memory to try to erase. It's possible for you to still take your swim lessons and work the balance drills into them. For example, if your instructor tells you to take a kick board and practice kicking, you could just do the kicking part while in "fish" or "skating" position and not use the kickboard. You might get more definitive answers on the T.I. website forum.

If you are new to swimming do not join a masters group and just try to churn out yardage. Any good masters swimming program will try to cater to the bulk of the swimmers paying to be a part of it. Many will have several options that a swimmer can select, so if they want to, "churn out yardage," they'd have that option, or one to work on technique. While I generally perfer the yardage option, my group does even do days where everyone sprints. I think the total yardage today was 1800 to 2000, while other days it will be 3500+. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to work on my butterfly (drills, swims on long intervals, etc), something I really should do more often. We usually have at least 1 lane of technique at least once a week, depending on coaches.

I enjoy writing about this topic because I think it's interesting. Swimmers who are learning how to get comfortable in the water should try TI because it teaches you to lay on your arm and hesitate during your freestyle and that's much more comfortable. TI is synonymous with streamlining and there isn't a coach in the world who doesn't try to improve a swimmer's streamlining. TI is a good thing. From a propulsive perspective, in a recent meeting at the National Team Coaches meeting in 2006, Russell Mark the biochemist at USA-Swimming presented 70 national level coaches information showing that 16 of 20 gold medals and 43 of 60 medals at the last games were won with an Early Vertical Forearm (EVF) position or "high elbow stroke". Go to youtube and type in EVF + swimming to learn more. EVF isn't a style like TI but a critical propulsive position that every swimmer gets their hand and forearm into (even TI Swimmers). The past president of the American Swimming Coaches Association said that the EVF is the component that separates every level of swimmer. And at the last National meet 11 national coaches were asked what part of the stroke was the most important and 9 of the 11 said EVF. EVF is a difficult position to improve upon but even small improvements equate into faster times. The most streamlined vessel is motionless in the water without propulsion. When you combine an improved EVF, streamlining, kicking and endurance, you're going to get faster. Good luck!

Hi Cheryl, Welcome to the forum! Many instructors integrate TI principles without calling it that by name. Can you talk to your current swim instructor and see what his/her philosophy and training are? I wouldn't give up on the current coach without talking to that person, and you might also get a referral to a different coach. (I would pose it positively: "I'd like to work with this approach a bit more.") Did you feel better in the water during the TI weekend? The TI Web site has a list of trained instructors: http://www.totalimmersion.net/ A quick check of the forum discussions on that site turned up an interesting convo titled "Beginner's Blues." Here is a long thread (there are others) on this forum about TI: forums.usms.org/showthread.php Regards, VB

Cheryl My advice to experienced runners learning to swim is to sort out the technical side of swimming first and not bother with churning out lengths yet. TI is as good as any to get you over the fundamental difference between running and swimming. Whether you go TI or not, for the next few months you are practicing swimming, not training swimming.

Just remember you will receive replies from all sides, there will be replies from people who are TI instructors who do not say that they are TI instructors. Some will say it is of no value. You must judge for yourself. We have good things to say and bad things to say here are a few threads from the past. Have a look here www.usms.org/.../showthread.php and here www.usms.org/.../showthread.php Here www.usms.org/.../showthread.php and here www.usms.org/.../showthread.php

If you are new to swimming do not join a masters group and just try to churn out yardage. You really should be spending your time mastering your technique. As to how to learn that technique... I like TI at the beginning level. There are a lot of people on this forum that take issue with it, but if you look at most of the debate threads the arguments tend to be about semantics and whether TI is the right way for elite swimmers. What TI teaches a beginner -- balance, streamlining, core-body rotation, focus on technique -- is hard to argue with. Whether you should stick with your current teacher or only do TI? Depends on the teacher. There are lots of "swim teachers" that unfortunately are not too sophisticated about technique. But there are plenty of teachers who really know what they are doing, TI and non-TI. Ask your current teacher what drills he likes to practice balance. If he looks at you like you're speaking a foreign language then you probably should find a new teacher. Good luck

To TI or not to TI is that the question???

Thanks so much to everyone for your advice. I am soaking in and chewing on every bit of it! Cheryl