Posts Tagged ‘Total Immersion Swimming’

Which Kick is Best for YOU? 2-Beat or 6-Beat
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on March 16th, 2014

This is a guest post by TI Coach Gary Fahey.             A blog post discussing kick strategies landed in my inbox a couple of weeks ago, much of it advocating a six-beat kick (6BK) for all but the most skilled of swimmers. While I disagree with this premise and the example presented […]

From Focal Point to Muscle Memory: Part One
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on March 5th, 2014

Last weekend, Friday Feb 28 to Sunday Mar 2 I joined coaches from Total Immersion-UK at a Triathlon Show in Sandown Park near London. Each day, I spent an hour demonstrating TI teaching methodology in an Endless Pool, coaching five swimmers for  only 10  minutes apiece in each hour–a total of 15 swimmers over three […]

The (Re-) Education of a Competitive Swimmer
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on February 23rd, 2014

This is a guest post by TI Coach John Fitzpatrick, head coach of the Chicago Blue Dolphin swim instruction and fitness program. I’d been a swimmer since early childhood, but I don’t feel like I started to understand swimming until the fall of 2000 when someone recommended I read Total Immersion:  The Revolutionary Way to […]

The Evolutionary Instinct to Efficiency
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on February 15th, 2014

What’s the connection between evolution, snow-shoveling, and swimming-improvement? The past few days brought a snow-storm of historic proportions–18 to 24 inches, atop 10 inches from a week earlier. For me, that meant opportunity for my own ‘Winter Games.’ I’ve been skiing on a rail trail for the past week, and was anxious yesterday to get […]

T.I. (‘Tee-Aye’) Chi
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on February 7th, 2014

Brian Suddeth, a TI enthusiast from Bowie MD. has been helping a blind friend and co-worker, named Mark, to learn efficiency the TI way. Mark had attempted a marathon run, but suffered an injury and had to drop out.  So his new goal is to complete a mile in open water, at the Great Chesapeake […]

Why I Count Strokes the Conscious (‘Hard’) Way
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on February 1st, 2014

Earlier this month, TI Coach (and ‘Head Librarian’ of the TI Swim Academy) Mat Hudson wrote a  blog titled Why Count Strokes? I urge you to read it — all the way through. It’s packed with invaluable insight and clear, compelling explanation. At the top, Mat enumerates his reasons for counting strokes. My favorites include: Counting […]

A Splash-Free Life?
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on December 20th, 2013

I’m delighted and honored to present this guest post from noted writer and blogger—and recent convert to ‘splash-free’ swimming—Mariah Burton Nelson. What would it mean to lead a splash-free life? To splash is “to cause water or other liquid to move in a noisy or messy way.” In swimming, leading a splash-free life means gliding […]

Allen Rosenberg Transformed Olympic Rowing: What can his methods do for your swimming?
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on December 15th, 2013

This week, TI Coach Bill Lang sent me a link to a NY Times obituary for Allen Rosenberg,the US national coach for rowing in the 1960s and 1970s, a period of transformation in rowing form and philosophy. Bill shared this with me because he saw such strong parallels between Rosenberg’s principles and those of TI. […]

Swim Faster; Be Healthier (Maybe even live longer!)
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on December 6th, 2013

When you train the TI way, efforts you expend to swim faster aren’t for the momentary ego gratification of the time itself, nor for the higher placing it may bring in an event. The more compelling reason is because those efforts can bring proven benefits to physical and mental health. [Also because time provides an […]

Should you ‘Psych Up?’
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on November 27th, 2013

Just two weeks ago, in a previous post, I pondered the wisdom of advice in the NY Times “Well’ blog which suggested you keep telling yourself “This workout feels good” . . . even when it doesn’t. That section of the Times continues to offer tips about how to ‘psych yourself’ through an exercise session. […]