Swimmers: Anyone swim Total Immersion style?

dbmata
dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Been reading one of the books on total immersion, and playing with the drills in the pool while waiting for this IT band to heal up. Anyone swim that style? Anyone who swims primarily that style ever compete in a race using it?

Seems a lot more efficient than what my coach has had me doing for the crawl, been playing around with the drills and have already sped up my 100 yard pace quite a bit.

Replies

  • MORECHABLIS
    MORECHABLIS Posts: 164 Member
    I've just looked up what Total Immersion swimming is... And watched a few videos... Its just normal crawl/freestyle, as you are meant to swim and I always have on long swims (1hr plus in pools)... I used to swim a lot (3-5 miles sea swimming etc), I don't tend to now, as pools so busy where I live...

    Its the best way to swim.... I've never competed; My weight has always gone up and down, and sometimes not exercised for 6-9months, when I get in the water I can still swim faster than many thinner fitter people who swim regularly, with out 'pushing' myself, trying to hard...
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    I'm not quite sure about it being "normal" freestyle.

    If it were normal wouldn't I see it more often at the pool, or wouldn't my coach would be utilizing drills like it, because it's normal. In fact, what I do see at the pool is thrashing, people keeping their bodies flat in the water and not rotating, as well as hips dragging. (I'm including myself here, my form is bunk.) What I find interesting is that it seems common sense for use in a pool, but can it be used in a high stress application without it essentially crumbling?

    So MORECHABLIS, when you swim (I'm envious of your ability to swim long distance, btw.) do you have a high degree of rotation timed with your stroke? Do you utilize such a minimal kick and an exaggerated glide? How does it work in open water? During my tri I kept getting swamped from chop, so I've embarked on a hunt to find an efficient solution.
  • pcastagner
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
    I've just looked up what Total Immersion swimming is... And watched a few videos... Its just normal crawl/freestyle, as you are meant to swim and I always have on long swims (1hr plus in pools)... I used to swim a lot (3-5 miles sea swimming etc), I don't tend to now, as pools so busy where I live...

    Its the best way to swim.... I've never competed; My weight has always gone up and down, and sometimes not exercised for 6-9months, when I get in the water I can still swim faster than many thinner fitter people who swim regularly, with out 'pushing' myself, trying to hard...

    I'm not sure it's the "normal crawl". At least not as I was taught as a kid or in lessons. I was taught to kick hard, and to stay flat in the water, whereas TI depends more on keeping your balance forward, having a long waterline, and wiggling from side to is with your core to power the stroke. The glide part of the stroke (skating) is tilted to the side. It at may be how you swim, but it's not how most teachers approach it.

    I'm not by any means fast, but using a TI book made it so I could swim long distances.

    However I've been living on the road and not swimming, and last time I tried, I was not able to find my balance in the water! Everything is different, and now when i exhale i sink. So I have to go back to "pressing your buoy" and basically start over. I've considered lessons but I don't get to a pool often enough for it to be a priority, and I any spare cash goes to other types of lessons and coachings more relevant to work.

    I'm told that open water swimmers do tend to use a similar stroke.


    Oh yeah, if you want to see something neat, check out the proper form for a racing kayak or surf ski. The torso rotation sort of powers the stroke in a similar way.
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
    I was taught to swim TI when I got into tri.

    The whole point of it was to learn to swim with such form that means you no longer pre-exhaust your legs and keep them as fresh as possible for the bike & run.

    If you're in the UK there are plenty of weekend workshops across the country.
    http://www.totalimmersion.co.uk/
  • PINKSPARKLE1965INPARADISE
    PINKSPARKLE1965INPARADISE Posts: 164 Member
    everyone should have their style of swimming underwater is awesome..another world:smile:
  • sarah456s
    sarah456s Posts: 98 Member
    Many many MANY years ago, I used to swim competitively. I think what MORECHABLIS is saying is that this is the way you are taught to swim when you are REALLY taught to swim. It is the more efficient swimming stroke. It seems like it's the same or similar as what we were taught for competitive swimming. I think that's what he means by "normal" crawl. Most people you see swimming in pools have hardly ever done any focused training, and really don't know what they're doing.
  • pcastagner
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
    Many many MANY years ago, I used to swim competitively. I think what MORECHABLIS is saying is that this is the way you are taught to swim when you are REALLY taught to swim. It is the more efficient swimming stroke. It seems like it's the same or similar as what we were taught for competitive swimming. I think that's what he means by "normal" crawl. Most people you see swimming in pools have hardly ever done any focused training, and really don't know what they're doing.

    nope, lots of competitive swimming instructors don't teach TI or are even against the concepts and technique. I once had a lifeguard at a YMCA pick a fight with me just for doing TI drills.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Color me confused, too. This looks just the way I was taught to swim.

    IE, it looks like "normal" swimming.
  • pcastagner
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
    Color me confused, too. This looks just the way I was taught to swim.

    IE, it looks like "normal" swimming.

    you were taught to balance by pressing down on the air bubble in your lungs, to "skate" at an angle instead of being flat in the water, and to power the stroke by twisting your body side to side?

    that's awesome. I was taught all wrong, from numerous sources until I stumbled on TI.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Not in those words, but the effect is the same. High school swim team FTW, I guess....
  • pcastagner
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
    Not in those words, but the effect is the same. High school swim team FTW, I guess....

    well I guess there is hope in the world.
  • AwesomeSquirrel
    AwesomeSquirrel Posts: 644 Member
    Not in those words, but the effect is the same. High school swim team FTW, I guess....

    ^This

    As far as I know anyone who was actively training and competing (I was rubbish btw) as opposed to being taught "to survive for 200 m to pass PE" where I grew up would be taught something very similar to what you call TI. I too would just call this "normal crawl". We had a bunch of drills for it that came out every so often.

    The fact that most people at your pool cannot swim doesn't surprise me in the least, I see it all the time and it makes me sad. Then again I see a lot of people who can only swim head-up (Granny style) breaststroke so i suppose I should be thrilled with anyone I see who will even attempt freestyle.
  • yogicarl
    yogicarl Posts: 1,260 Member
    I was taught to swim this way when I went for coaching lessons to correct my techniques because I was sick of working too hard to too little distance or speed.

    This approach enables me to swim faster than before and for longer without burning out, but my coach didn't give it any special name for the technique - I just thought I was having my swim strokes corrected and I was doing it all wrong before.
  • FranceyPants
    FranceyPants Posts: 98 Member
    It's weird, I trained for swimming most of my primary and high school life and now I do it for cardio every now and then. I find it relaxing.

    I was never taught Total Immersion, but I think I have naturally learned to use similar techniques to swim efficiently - powerful but slow, efficient strokes.

    In the youtube videos it looks like the whole head is underwater, I want to try this next time I go!
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    Bump--gotta learn this! I'm one of those "grannies--almost 60years old at the pool. I swim about 160min 4 times a week. The rest is water aerobics. I've been swimming for 18 years now. What do you "youngsters" say? Can I learn this method?
  • Submariner5
    Submariner5 Posts: 49
    I swam competitively Division I College swimming. We didn't call it Total Immersion back then, but it was part of the whole package. Some of the drills fully drove you to this style. If you practice trying to reduce your number of strokes per lap, you naturally develop these techniques. Some of the biggest gain is "off the walls." When you push off from your flip turn, you can very clearly feel the difference in putting strong isometric effort into streamlining (stretch your arms out rigidly above your head and squeeze your biceps into your skull while making your body as long as possible). Coach used to yell at us if we ever breathed on the first stroke off the wall. You should be gliding off the wall in a locked streamline past the flags before you have lost enough speed to warrant breaking the streamline for a stroke, then wait for at least third stroke to breathe.

    While I was in college, David Berkoff popularized Submarining off the walls in backstroke. Dolphin kicking with the right form on your back fully submerged is much faster than dealing with the surface tension and lost energy generating waves on the surface. They ended up changing the rules to limit how far you were allowed to do this because it changed the stroke so fundamentally. This is borne out by my subsequent career as a Submarine Officer in the Navy. Submarines go rougly twice the speed fully submerged as they do on the surface with comparable power output.
  • yogicarl
    yogicarl Posts: 1,260 Member
    Bump--gotta learn this! I'm one of those "grannies--almost 60years old at the pool. I swim about 160min 4 times a week. The rest is water aerobics. I've been swimming for 18 years now. What do you "youngsters" say? Can I learn this method?

    That's a YES from me.

    My school swim classes were worst than useless - I ended up with a real fear of water and swimpools and swim teachers. It wasn't until I was in my early thirties that I decided to teach myself how to swim, did that by reading and copying and in my fifties just recently went for some coaching to refine my strokes - best money and time I ever spent.

    Yes - go for it!
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    Been reading one of the books on total immersion, and playing with the drills in the pool while waiting for this IT band to heal up. Anyone swim that style? Anyone who swims primarily that style ever compete in a race using it?

    Seems to be pretty much the style that I learned when I was taught to swim. Someones come up with a snappy name and a nice franchise opportunity now though, I guess that's the difference.

    Being competitive is about efficiency and form, and this is the most efficient form to develop.
  • melissa44
    melissa44 Posts: 57 Member
    Hi just found the Total Immersion site and sounds awesome! I saw your post and wanted to know what you thought about it and what book or DVD you recommend to start out with :)

    I swam since I was a child at Brenda Villa Aquatorium in Commerce CA, I grew up with her, she is a multi Olympic winner in water polo and swimming :)

    I swam and played water polo on a men's team in high school as in the 1980's they were mostly men, so swimming has always been a passion.

    I became a RN and worked nights for 10 years and gained 200 pounds, I ballooned up to 400 pounds at 5'8", 12 years ago I dropped the 200 pounds and have maintained it, keeping track of calories and exercising pretty intensely, (Jillian Michael's, P90X Yoga, Ellipti GO outdoor bike, kettlebells, etc.) Tore my lateral collateral ligament in my knee and have been forced not to exercise due to the pain and the need to listen to my body and recover (which I do not handle well lol).

    Went to the pool yesterday since I figured I could burn some calories and not compromise the healing process, swam an hour and a half and burned about 700 calories (yay me, and lost 4 pounds)

    Now I am trying to read as much about this technique before I jump in the pool today lol also been looking at youtube videos, so any advice would be so helpful thanks :)
  • lgrix
    lgrix Posts: 160 Member
    My swim coach teaches Total Immersion style and when I took lessons from her, she introduced me to it. I had to relearn how to swim since I was self taught. It is the only way I swim now, still learning and practicing.

    She is a distance open water swimmer, has done the English Channel with very good time, so yes, it can be used in open water swimming.

    I learned it so I could complete tri's. I used the DVD, watched repeatedly, working my way through the drills.
  • melissa44
    melissa44 Posts: 57 Member
    I have been swimming the TI style now for about a month, 4 days a week averaging between 1.5 hours to 3 hour swims, in a indoor 25 meter pool and a outdoor 50 meter pool. I have fallen back in LOVE with swimming. I have a Forerunner 910 XT watch used for triathlons that has been tracking my stats and they have drastically improved in one month, where as in traditional swim team/water polo practices I did not see such a great improvement in such a short amount of time. I can definitely see the difference in my ability to swim much more efficiently and sustain greater endurance. I love using the Finis swimmers snorkel and aqua sphere seal mask with the TYR nose plugs, thus I can focus on my long distance swim without cranking my neck constantly for breathing, I believe I have arthritis in my neck from years of swimming.

    One month stats are I burned 700 calories in 1.5 hours, swam 2400 yards with an average stroke count of 11 per a 25 meter pool
    My Swolf drastically decreased to 52 and my efficiency increased to 56.

    A month ago I was averaging about 20 strokes across the 25 meter pool, which I was able to shave off 9 strokes in a month, THAT IS INCREDIBLE!, and my efficiency went from 26 to 56, Swolf went from 65 to 52.

    So yes, it does LOOK like normal free style crawl it is totally different, for once in my swimming life I am learning about gliding, streamlining, balancing, fish like swimming, NOT thrashing in the water, but gliding gracefully across the pool appearing effortlessly swimming. Now that I believe I am getting the basics down I will try and increase my speed :)

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