I followed thw book and tape for about 2 years before parting with the cash for the work shop. I saw no improvement. The wekend didn't offer me anything that I hadn't already learned from the purchased materials. For me, the book and video seemed to do the trick. I'm totaly pleased with the results from TI, just didn't need the workshop.

T.I. is excellent. It was well worth the expense for me. I sucked before I went to the class, and now am a decent swimmer. I took the class first, then dove into the videos, etc. If you take the class, the instructors will make you better, regardless of your skills. I know Terry Laughlin who owns the company. He's real smart, real innovative and it's a professional job. There were good swimmers in the class who after the first day were on the fence about their improvement. After the second day, they felt a little different.

As a former swim coach and someone who has helped coach at a TI workshop I think there are some good ideas for beginners.
personally I'd advise anyone to spend the $400 on doing some leg work and finding a one on one coac from a masters or AG team. Nothing beats someone paying attention to your every movement in the water on every single length you swim and providing feedback. With 3-7 in a lane I personally can't do that.
One o one also gives you correction on the flaws holding you back. You may not need to learn how to kick on your side or learn how to breathe.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

I took the workshop on 2000 and became a MOP swimmer (I was BOP before). I really enjoyed the it and got a lot out of it. One year later and now confident in the water, I joined a masters team and promptly unlearned everything TI taught me. I became really good at emptying the pool of water, however, as the masters team was all about speed, low rest intervals, etc. I got faster but was not a better swimmer.

One year later and platueing, I finally got in touch with a TI coach in my area and now we meet once or twice a month (1/2hr = $25) and she gives me feedback on my stroke and corrections. It's been extrememly helpful and I recommend seeing if there is a coach in your area if you don't want to take the workshop.

I dedicated this winter to doing TI drills and really getting my stroke down before I worry about the pace clock, etc. I'm really happy with my progress and look forward to going to the pool.

Hope this helps.

I bought the book and video last summer. Started doing the drills and made a lot of progress in terms of strokes/lap, endurance, don't know about speed. My g/f and I took the workshop in December. It was the week after a marathon, so my legs were still a little dead, but I am sure that I made progress and benefitted from the instruction and video taping.

Probably boils down to whether you can learn physical skills from a book, or do you need coaching. I plan on finding a local TI coach to work with from time-to-time in order to continuously improve.

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David

I see your points. If you are a good swimmer, having learned from a younger age certain stroke technique and body positions, T.I. may be such a huge change that it might not work immediately. If you have good habits that just need to be tweeked and tightened for improvement, T.I. is probably a real change, rather than a sharpening of skills.

However, I know that watching videos would not have offered me the same results as taking the class. Before taking T.I. I watched the Steve Tarpanian(sp?) stroke video over and over and over, and it didn't help me. For those like me who's weak link in triathlon is swimming, T.I. does give the most important thing: confidence that you can get back to the beach in the middle of the pack at least. It would surprise me if a good swimmer took the class and didn't become a better swimmer in some way.

Wow, you just defined my experience.

I too was a very struggling swimmer, found the TI book while for 5 months in Australia (I live in Switzerland), did the drills for a few months and swam with TI for a while, and made loads of progress.

I would have dreamed before of doing a 500 meter swim all in freestyle, and one year later I could do Nice Triathlon (4km swim) without a problem, fresh out of the water.

After that, as I don't like to train alone, have problems accessing pools outside of team sessions, I trained mainly with a Triathlon group and have lost lots of efficiency/smoothness (and I am not faster either, I'd say slower).

I know that I should get back to TI, but I'm too bored training on my own, can't find enough motivation doing it this way, Triathlon is for me very social too, and nobody in my area knows or even wants to do it the TI way.

Don't even tell me about finding a TI coarch in my area, there are none within 250 kilometers at least.

I'm desperate.

I was never a strong swimmer so I bought the video, the book and hired a TI Coach. It's been a great learning experience and money well spent. At this point I don't think I would go to the weekend class. I think a one-on-one coach will help you faster since you already know the concept. Then just continue to do drills to improve.

Wow-thanks for all the good info. I just found out there is a TI coach in town here, so I'll check with him and see what he can offer.

In the meantime, anyone else have any info they want to add?

Jeff

Well worth it.

I am a coach and have been an advocate of TI for a couple of years now. The weekend workshop will not instantly make you a much better swimmer. But if you do the workshop and continue to practice what you learned, you will no doubt see more improvement than just reading the books and watching the videos.

The price may seem a little steep, but many triatletes pay $100's for a bike wheel and don't think anything of it. In that context it's really not a bad deal!

You also can check my website www.triswimcoach.com for local coaches that may help you.

Good luck!

Kevin
http://www.triswimcoach.com

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"Laugh At the Water and Make The Swim Your Friend"
http://triswimcoach.com
http://triathlonsprinttraining.net

Well, I bit the bullet and signed up for a weekend class in Chicago. I hope it will be worth it - if anything, the $$$ spent will motivate me to swim more often.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a TI coach in Illinois. Any ofther Chicago people know of a good, TI-friendly coach?

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{Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a TI coach in Illinois. Any ofther Chicago people know of a good, TI-friendly coach? } reply

I would email Terry Laughlin of TI. He's quick to respond and eager to help. terry@totalimmersion.net

I took the weekend class at Eastern Michigan. One of our instructors was from Chicago, Derrick Milligan (sp). Very high energy and upbeat. He was working the TI booth at the Mrs T's expo in '02.

Being a BOP swimmer, the class really helped me understand balance and rotation. My masters coach has helped me a ton with the rest of the stroke. Now I'm a solid MOPer.

Good luck