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Swimming Style

So Im curious to what training they do for their swimming, do you follow a plan? make your own?



Do you use TI? Is TI any good? any other styles used?



Personally I just hit the pool and sometime swim constant for 1 hour, ometimes break it down into certain distances and others do short sprint efforts but no set plan. ont know if im making any progress or not!!



Samuel

Comments

  • MGMG Posts: 470
    If you want gains in your swimming then you need to follow a structure. If all you did was do the same run every session then you wouldnt improve very quickly and its berrrrr-luddy boring.



    Do some intervals eg 15x100m with 15-20 sec rests in between, or do a ladder session ie. 100m, 200m, 300m, 400m, 300m, 200m, 100m with 15sec rest. Try timing each imterval and measure any improvements, soon you'll be blasting out each interval and your times will plummet.



    Also incorperate some wieghts sessions into your week, I prefer lighter wieghts but higher amounts of reps.



    Total Immersion has its fans, I dont know much about it, but try TriTalk as I know there are some TI instructors which frequent that forum.



    Enjoy
  • sfullersfuller Posts: 628
    excellent post, thanks.



  • I am just taking some lessons for the first time this year and the focus is more on technique and control rather than intervals and distance. Therefore more important to count your strokes per length and maintain good technique and then watch the times come down.
  • bennybenny Posts: 1,314
    TI; did it last winter for amonth or two: it got my stroke count down, don't know if it made me faster though. Will start it again as soon as the doc says I can restart swimming, which should be somewhere next week.

    Maybe this time I can put the lower stroke count into faster /easier splits!
  • MikeyBMikeyB Posts: 135
    I got the swimsmooth DVD a while ago and followed the sessions on that. I found I made much better progress by concentrating on technique than I did by just ploughing up and down for length after length. It made the whole thing far more interesting too.



    Mike

  • sfullersfuller Posts: 628
    which dvd? there is a couple.
  • treefrogtreefrog Posts: 1,242
    Sfuller, I tend to do what you do, Just hit the pool and go for an hour, although I do count the lengths and try to beat it each time - but it tends to stay regular. I got told off for this and then introduced 2 interval sessions of 10 lengths on (fast as possible) / 8 lengths off x5. It seemed to work as I set a PB at half IM Antwerp for the swim, and I felt ok for the bike.
  • MikeyBMikeyB Posts: 135
    sfuller wrote:


    which dvd? there is a couple.



    I got this one. It includes videos of lots of drills plus complete training programs based on the drills. It has certainly improved my swimming a lot.

  • I have been following the TI style since the end of September. I'm not really following it to plan (in that i'm not following the drills that are laid down as practice, I just try t master the drill, then apply it to swimming), but it has made me swim a lot smoother and faster for less effort. It's really not too different from traditional swimming in the end result, getting you streamlined, balanced and long, but it's drills are considerably different.



    I think I prefer it's style of drills, I can feel the benefits of each drill, where sometimes when I use traditional drills at the swim class, I focus on the drill and lots of other things fall apart. One thing that it might lack is outright speed, as it does not really concentrate on this aspect of swimming, getting it's increases in speed by increasing efficiency. I like it though and have seen big increases in the last 3 months, but I do feel by concentrating on form, I have lost some "swim fitness". It is the closed season though, and I did expect this, hence I started the TI way when I had the time to give the TI way some time before needing to build the fitness back in.



    As to what to do in the pool, I warm up with 10-15 lengths, do a similar amount on TI drills, then about 20 easy lengths of TI way. Every now and again I chase the fast boys in the lane to see how I'm getting on. On a Monday nigh I go to a structured "standard way" training class, and I just do what I'm told.
  • sfullersfuller Posts: 628
    I think I might give TI ago for a while, just to get my stroke count down. I think my swimming is pretty good anyway but anything to gain a more efficient technique!!
  • TI drills have done wonders for my stroke length and count. I've dropped from an average of mid 20's to about 18, and still dropping.
  • Take some lessons. I nearly doubled my speed through the water with proper technique and practice.
  • Definitely get some lessons. However good you think you are, there's no substitute for a coach telling you how bad you are!



    I thought I was pretty good until I had my stroke filmed and compared against a proper stroke. It was embaressing, but it's really motivated me to improve and after a couple of weeks of practising drills, I'm already seeing the benefits!
  • BopomofoBopomofo Posts: 980
    Plodding up and down for an hour at a time is just as bad for you in the pool as it would be on your bike or out on a run.



    I have been taught (read 'mercilessly drilled') into doing much shorter swim and drill sets. I'll do a fast 1500m about once a month to check progress, usually as part of my normal 3500m set.



    As a good test, try counting your stroke for 50m at about 50% effort, then count your stroke going as fast as you can. If there is an appreciable difference then you should put yourself in the 'improver' category and start working on your drills.



    In my local 22m pool I get to the end in 11 strokes at 50%, and 14/15 at full speed. I consider myself to be an improver, so I work on my drills.



    Here's another test: swim at fast pace, faster than you would normally plod along, say 80% effort. Be honest with yourself.... how many lengths is it before your technique starts to go sloppy? If you can go more than about 6 or 8 lengths with perfect form then you are doing very well. Any less than that... DRILLS!



    As a general rule, never swim beyond the point where your form fails. You're just teaching your muscles to remember the wrong thing. Split it up: 15 x 100m with 15s rest is far more productive than 1500m of poor form. Probably quicker, too.
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