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Total Immersion Swim Video, Will it Help My Stroke?
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Does anyone have any opinions on this video? Will it help my swim. I just can't find the time to work, be a father, and train, and then read a book (i.e. Total Immersion book). I thought maybe I could watch the video while riding on the trainer. My swim needs help. I have endurance but I lack speed and efficiency. I travel 40 minutes each way to the closest lap pool and a Master's swim program is not an option. Any advice? thanks.



Team Endurance Nation
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Re: Total Immersion Swim Video, Will it Help My Stroke? [QuintanaRooster] [ In reply to ]
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The video is pretty good, but I am not sure it will make you any better. It does show some really good swimmers using some really good form.

I started swimming much better after doing a lot of fist glove drills. The fist gloves are those rubber gloves that make your hand into a fist. Doing those drills and learning how to rotate properly IMO is what will make you a better swimmer.
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Re: Total Immersion Swim Video, Will it Help My Stroke? [QuintanaRooster] [ In reply to ]
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I have the book and the video. I don't know if I would say one is better then the other. They compliment each other very well. The video is absolutly worthwhile to watch though if that is your only option. With the underwater shots, it helped me see the form he describes, especially the kicks and how radically far you twist your torso. When I first started swimming TI I felt incredibly slow, but very soon my speed picked up and I felt very comfortable swimming 25 yards in 13-15 strokes.

Good Luck
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Re: Total Immersion Swim Video, Will it Help My Stroke? [stl_triness] [ In reply to ]
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I think it is a scam. I know two people who are die hard Immersion people who just LOVE to tell me what is wrong with my stroke...oddly enough I swim on our pools lane 5 (55 sec 100 yards) they both swim in lane 1 (1:20+ and beginners). Sure they have a nice pretty stroke, to bad it is not getting them to the other end of the pool. Maybe there are faster TI folks out there, I never seen em.

----------------------------------------------------------

What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?
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Re: Total Immersion Swim Video, Will it Help My Stroke? [QuintanaRooster] [ In reply to ]
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http://www.multisports.com/store_books.shtml

I found this video to be very helpful. Short, to the point with some great underwater shots of a progression of drills into a full stroke, and cheap at $18.

jg

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Re: Total Immersion Swim Video, Will it Help My Stroke? [QuintanaRooster] [ In reply to ]
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http://www.totalimmersion.net/ti-workshop-day.html

Here's some TI drills right here on this page. He makes it look so easy, but it is freaking hard to do that!
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Re: Total Immersion Swim Video, Will it Help My Stroke? [QuintanaRooster] [ In reply to ]
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I have the freestyle DVD; it's OK but I wish they would have talked more about flip-turns.

Dave from VA
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Re: Total Immersion Swim Video, Will it Help My Stroke? [stl_triness] [ In reply to ]
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I was wondering the same thing (the video). I basically "started" swimming this past August, at the age of 25. I knew nothing and would get frustrated just trying to do 100m without "blowing up."

Then I heard about TI, and found someone in my town (small town in New Mexico (Socorro)) who had the book and video (tri swimming made easy). I borrowed it and started analyzing it and tried the drills for the first few weeks before starting to incorporate it into my swim technique. I have noticed serious improvements in my balance, but I think it was somewhat limited by my lack of practicing the more advanced drills.

Anyhoo, I have gone from hoping for a 400m time of 11 minutes to expecting a sub 8 in pretty soon. Nothing spectacular, but without a master's program, this was a great way for me to learn basics. Perhaps I could have made the same progress just by hammering away, but I doubt it. With a stroke/length of 17 I still need to work on my form, though.

I was curious about the newest DVD on freestyle made easy as well, but $40 seems pretty steep (especially for someone who is still hunting down a full-time job ;).

If someone has seen the new Freestyle Made Easy DVD, let me know if it is just the Tri swimming easy rehashed (but in better quality) or if it has more things to it.
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Re: Total Immersion Swim Video, Will it Help My Stroke? [QuintanaRooster] [ In reply to ]
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I feel The video is quite expensive for the product but the book is well worth its price. I just started swimming laps 3 months ago and the book has been a tremendous help. I have had not as much benefit from the video. Many of the video drills are demonstrated with a partner so if you have a t1 swim partner the video would be more useful.
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Re: Total Immersion Swim Video, Will it Help My Stroke? [QuintanaRooster] [ In reply to ]
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I got it, watched it, watched it again and again. It confused me.

I think I learn differently than normal people. I need to be hit in the face. Having someone poolside to give me one or two things to work on (no more) and seeing a video of my stroke have been the most effective elements in improving my stroke. Constant, interactive feedback has been more effective for me.

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
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Re: Total Immersion Swim Video, Will it Help My Stroke? [QuintanaRooster] [ In reply to ]
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I bought the Total Immersion DVD about a month ago along with the book. The book has more detail but the DVD is helpful simply because I learn more visually than from reading. After awhile I quit listening and just watched the guys swim. It helped me a great deal with relaxing and becoming more streamlined. I saw a big improvement in my pool times. I paid $44 including freight for the DVD. You could have mine for $30 including freight (in US) if you want. You can reach me at gcone@conveyoreng.com
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Re: Total Immersion Swim Video, Will it Help My Stroke? [Record10ti] [ In reply to ]
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I agree on this one. The TI swimmers I know swim nice and relaxed and REAL slow. From my perspective it looks like they glide too much, rotate too much, and extend too much which adds up to slow turnover. However, maybe for a newbie in the pool this is a way to build confidence.
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Re: Total Immersion Swim Video, Will it Help My Stroke? [QuintanaRooster] [ In reply to ]
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I have used the book and video and have taken some TI lessons (from Ian Murray of acmecoaching.com--yes its a plug--no he didn't pay me to say it.) Like many sports when you make a change you can expect to get worse for a while. Many people forget that when Tiger Woods completely changed his golf swing he got worse for a while (about 6-7 years ago) before he got better. The same occurs when tennis players change their strokes, like when Martina Navratilova learned a top spin backhand.

I am still quite mechanical. My swim stroke is now generated by my hips, rather than my arms and shoulders, and I take about 20-25 percent fewer strokes. My arms and shoulders are not tired. My times are back to where they were, but I still have to do a lot of thinking. Will it ultimately make a difference, who knows? But so far I'm pleased.

_________________
Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.
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Re: Total Immersion Swim Video, Will it Help My Stroke? [QuintanaRooster] [ In reply to ]
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i just got the book and the dvd...my comments are

i'm comparing it to the tri train bible......

for me the ti book is terrible but the content is helpful if you can figure it out. there needs to be illustrations that really communicate visually the concepts they discuss...i found myself drawing out what they were trying to explain....the photo illustrations are worthless...basically this books is supposed to be a manuel to help you swim better...but they have terrible communication skills/organization of the book overall is bad..

the book is very poorly organized...and for me this just reflect an unclear vision....just compare it to the train..bible...the descriptions are convulted and a bit confusing...deciphering really what to do is difficult...and if i didn't buy the video to help visualize the descriptions i would have no clue what how to do what they are talking about...

which brings me back to clarity...it needs to be illustrated much better and explained much better

i can't stand the lame stories they put in the book about what ti can do for you...there is not enough information no clear descriptions of the style of swimming but there sure is clear descriptions of how ti will take "x amount of time off your swim"....really annoying

i can see how they are more concerned with conveying how great ti is BUT they don't actually emphasize the techniques that make ti great...they are selling you something over and over in the book how it will help you BUT they spend little time and lots of confusion how to implement the techniques!!!!

the video is horrible but is necessary to understand what they are really trying to explain in the book....the shots are too quickly shown i put the video on pause and just tried to watch each person to figure out what the hell they were trying to talk about in the book...i didn't follow the order of the video because the stroke descriptions suck..so i just watched the video over and over.....really bad design....

essentially i found the book and dvd horrible....but together if you spend time just trying to decipher it all it can help your swim....

just fixing my body position has helped quite a bit...from the ti...

ultimately i find the information helpful but i cannot stand anything else about the ti...the book is a poor excuse of an manuel..absolutely one of the worst books i have ever encountered...and the video is just as bad as the book...BUT if you are patient you can decipher it....they need to hire a graphic designer and concentrate on communicating their theories and less on selling you on how "great" ti is....



i have gotten better in my swim though
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