Total Immersion
Barbsarama
Posts: 73
in General Chat
[color=#cc3399]Hi All,[/color]
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[color=#cc3399]Here I go again with my questions - I've bought ANOTHER book... the total immersion book. I did my first session today. I did the first lesson. How did it feel? Annoying. I felt like i was in every body's way and not convinced it will help me in time for my next tri in two [/color][color=#cc3399]weeks (panic!) and didn't feel like a work out, not even a little bit...[:o][/color]
[color=#cc3399]Any one got any advice (you know about how they found it hard at first but it's done wonders for them?) and also wondering if i should just shelve it for now and take it up again after the next tri (ie is 2 weeks too short a time to try to get it working for me enough to do a triathlon).[8|][/color]
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[color=#cc3399]Oh and one more question - how many times per week and for how long would anyone recommend I do the drills etc for?[&:][/color]
[color=#cc3399][/color]
[color=#cc3399]Thanks[/color]
[color=#cc3399]Barbs[/color]
[color=#cc3399][/color]
[color=#cc3399]Here I go again with my questions - I've bought ANOTHER book... the total immersion book. I did my first session today. I did the first lesson. How did it feel? Annoying. I felt like i was in every body's way and not convinced it will help me in time for my next tri in two [/color][color=#cc3399]weeks (panic!) and didn't feel like a work out, not even a little bit...[:o][/color]
[color=#cc3399]Any one got any advice (you know about how they found it hard at first but it's done wonders for them?) and also wondering if i should just shelve it for now and take it up again after the next tri (ie is 2 weeks too short a time to try to get it working for me enough to do a triathlon).[8|][/color]
[color=#cc3399][/color]
[color=#cc3399]Oh and one more question - how many times per week and for how long would anyone recommend I do the drills etc for?[&:][/color]
[color=#cc3399][/color]
[color=#cc3399]Thanks[/color]
[color=#cc3399]Barbs[/color]
0
Comments
Keep goin with it. Its the best way to improve. I 'm a fellow struggler in the water.
If you want to make an improvement within the next couple of weeks, then unless your stroke is complete pants, then you're going to struggle to make more than a few seconds off a 400mtr time.
I reckon the most important lesson you can learn from the TI is making your entry silhoette as small as possible and really reaching as far in front as you can to make your stroke longer and shallower
You can count your strokes per length to measure improvement. Although this is dependant on a zillion variables, I reckon aiming for around 15 individual hand entries on a 25 mtr length is a pretty good rate.
As for amount of times drilling, then depends how good your swimming and endurance is anyway, but maybe 25% of each session a couple of times a week.
The TI process is based on re-educating your central nervous system & muscles to work in a different way to what they probably do with the intension of getting you to do what the experts do as a matter of course. It starts with the very basics & then build up. It depends on you getting the first lesson right before moving onto the second, the second before the third etc. Do it properly & you will see significant inprovements. Short cut & you have wasted your time. Dip in and out & you'll not see the full benefits.
It is a technique book so don't expect a session to feel like a workout - this is made clear thought the book.
In reality you are breaking down everything your body knows about swimming & starting again. Expect to be slower at first as you learn to get your body balanced (as a sinker I found this hard) & learn longitudinal rotation etc.
You don't need to buy yet another book expecting miracle improvements - this is counter to reality. Put the TI book on the shelf & finish your season doing what you do now. Then get it down & work though it page by page though to the end. If you don't improve after that then you will need to get one to one coaching (google 'triathlon' and 'coaches' or 'coaching') - someone who will help you work on technique, speed & stamina over the months you need to build in improvements.
Drills. I do them after warmup, before the main workout, again after the workout and before warm down. Do them every time you swim - just do more of them during one of your weekly swims - if short of time use the drills as warmup. Agree with Graeme - about 25% of your total distance in a week is good.
Previous attempts at a 400m timed swim were terrible, took about 13 mins and left me gasping, but with the new found technique and better breathing it dropped down to just under 8 mins with very little exertion.
I think the key to all disciplines after your drills and concentrating on technique, is to go away, come back to it fresh and most of all, just enjoy doing it. Good luck.
Barb don't think for a sec that what you do now following the Total immersions is going to help you cut down 20 secs off your swim time, cause it ain't going to happen in such a short period of time, learning something takes time, if you don't feel ready for the triathlon comming up, don't do it cause you might end up retiring early in the race, and hate the sport.
I used the book on and off for about two years, with a constant feeling that I was getting better, but ultimately no-where. There was a fundamental problem with my stroke that I'd either not picked up on in the drills, or I was doing some of the later drills just plain wrong. Basically, I was playing 'catch-up', and waiting in the glide phase for too long, only switching when my recovering hand passed the other elbow. As a result, my limit was around 100m - not very impressive!
Then I had two 30-minute lessons with a professional instructor in the fortnight before the Stratford Tri this year. Problem corrected, and I swam the 400m of the race. Admittedly, I was slower than if I'd swum breast stroke, but the important thing is that I got out of the pool feeling ready for the bike - positively full of beans in fact.
So . . . for your race in two weeks time. I'd have a 1:1 lesson with a trained instructor, as this is more likely to pay off in such a short timespan. THEN use the TI drills to refine your stroke and improve your position in the water etc, over the next six months or so.
I think its the perfect time now to get this thing going. Don't know if I will be patient enough to follow it completely.
Hey HoundDog, did you restart this thing??
I bought this book back in early Autumn. I have followed the lessons and drills (for about 6 weeks, possibly more). In that time I didn't do any other swimming, just the drills. I have to say that it is useful to get the DVD as well (I was lucky enough to be able to borrow a copy) - if a picture is worth a thousand words then a DVD must be worth a whole lot more. I found the whole program great to follow. I had been finding that I was starting to not enjoy my swimming at the end of the summer - this was the main reason I got the book. It has left me totally refreshed and invigorated. I do belivev it works as well. Before the the book I was at a push able to swim a length (25 m) in 18 strokes, but this dropped to at least 20+ when I fatigued. I am now able to swim a length in 14 stokes if I really try, but am averaging 15 - 16. I swam 1500 without stopping 2 weekends ago (my longest swim since the ironman in August) and was able to keep this storke rate up for the entire swim.
Advice - follow the drills in the order that they set out as they are in a logical sequence that all make sense the further into the program you go.
What I did find difficult was going from drill (triple overswitch) to full stroke. Getting the breathing timing right was difficult. Keep at it and it will click. Good luck and enjoy.
Am anxiously awaiting my copy.
Got myself a timex IM swiming watch today though.
Can't wait to get in the pool now.
Think that also answers your question benny.
What sort of time are you saving with a lower stroke count Tim?
Other tips?
As I said head position is very important - make sure you are looking directly at the bottom of the pool. This will make a real difference to bouyancy and the downhill swimming feeling. I remember being told by a qualified swimming coach to look forward in the water as I swim - net result I know now is to make my legs sink and become a lot less streamline. Also having your lead arm lower in the water (5 o'clock instead of 4) on the drills helps a lot with bouyancy and balance, especially if you think yourself a 'sinker'.
You will probably find as I did that going from the underswitch drills to the over switch drills a great feeling. Here you really discover what this technique is all about. Suddenly you think wow so this is how easy swimming can be.
I did find it difficult going from triple overswitch to full stroke. Getting the breathing correct is difficult. Just stick with it and it will come in the end. I did find that I was getting very breathless when I first started the full stroke. I think this was a combination of kicking my legs too hard and not being used to being under the water so long due to the length of glide. Getting the legs correct is awkward and this is where the DVD came in useful. Try to learn to kick the legs to aid the roll of the body. As you kick down on one leg you roll the opposite way with your body (hope that makes sense).
Thats all I can think of now. By the way I am by no means an expert on this. These are things I have found as I have been following the program. I am still very much perfecting this stroke. Today for example my swimming session was taken up with going over many of the drills. I think that is key - keep returning to the drills frequently even when you are comfortable with the full stroke.
Anyway, keep in touch and good luck. Tim
Good luck.
I've come across many who claim to use the TI method & to be honest they are talking rubbish. Watching them swim they clearly haven't sorted out body balance (variously called swimming long or flat or simply being hydrodynamic in other coaching books/methods etc) which is one of the first steps before moving on to longitudinal rotation etc. So I'm not surprised that "the belly" has come across many who are not making the progress that they should.
The thing to remember is that TI is not a different way of swimming but a step by step method of getting those of us who are not "natural" swimmers to do it properly. That is to end up swimming the way that the top swimmers do naturally.
Ultimately we all have different swimming potential and all we can do is get as close as possible to realising it. For some it is TI (probably those who come late to competitive swimming), for others it is one to one coaching & analysis (late commers with time & willingnes to invest cash), for others it is tri club coaching & for others it is dedicated swim clubs/squads. I have one to one coaching and we do include a number of "TI" drills but the drills actually pre-date TI but if they work then they get used.
By their very nature swim clubs/squads attract those who have the technique either naturally or who were taught correctly at a far earlier age.
Whatever your background as a swimmer you will benefit from consistent and progressive coaching which works on technique as well as endurance & speed. Whatever the "method" it has to be done properly: sort out technique before building endurance & speed. For some it's TI for others it is not.
That's very true HarryD.
I was keen to improve my swimming at the end of last year, did some research, and decided that TI was worth a go. After reading the book I reckoned that (for me at least!) 1-2-1 coaching would be the best way forward. After going through all the drills and coaching steps I'm just about there with a full stroke now, and it's taken about 3 months. I can't see how anyone would get there just using the book, there's so many elements involved in building up the stroke and without an expert eye, you really would have no idea if you were on the right track or not. I think you'd become demotivated pretty quickly.
Doing it from the DVD with a buddy would probably be a better option, - I haven't seen the DVD so can't really comment
I'm sure it doesn't just apply to TI, - there seem to be so many nuances to a stroke that self teaching from a book (and one with very few illustrations) has got to be nigh on impossible if you ask me.
Good luck Barbs, keep us up to date on your progress.
H
I try and employ what I learnt from the book & watching the DVD.
My kick is now more economic and mainly a means of initiating my body rotation, rather than a forlorn effort at propulsion.
I have a very obvious body rotation and I feel (but probably don't look) like I'm nearly swimming on my side.
I keep myself as long as possible and I reach for the end of the pool on each stroke.
Pressimng my chest facilitates my body length and (in my mind anyway) correct shape.
Does the above sound like a fair synopsis or have I missed the point of TI?
It feels like it's working. I can do a 25m length in 14 strokes if I'm very deliberate but I'm not quick.
The way I see it....
The zipperswitch drills teach you to trail your hand in the water during recovery, this is to give you the feel of leading the recovery with your elbow. Im sure once you start overswitching you shouldn't be entering the water with a vertical hand, that would be counterproductive - once your hand and forearm have reached your head you should be extending your arm to reach for full extension and the same time as starting your rotation.
Take a look at drill #11 to see what I mean.
http://www.totalimmersion.co.uk/02Free_Stuff--Videos.html
H
i bought my book in 2004, has there been much of a change in the drills theory etc?
How does anyone else find the drills or what do you do to see it through to the end?
Is it simpler to book a course or does that just compliment the book?