Little background information. I am a serious athlete that played some small college basketball and football several years ago. I have been Crossfitting for the past year and a half. I have a solid base of general physical fitness and I am pretty darn fit. I recently have become very interested in triathlons and have begun training for a sprint not too far away. I own a nice trek road bike and ride/run often so I am not too concerned with those two aspects. Why I’m here is to get some advice on swimming. Truth be told, I’m not good… yet. Here are a few questions.
- Total Immersion is the direction I have been pointed so far and I have begun to drill in the method some. Is this the way to go??
- What are the most important basic aspects that I need to nail down first before progressing into full stroke/ long distance training?
- What SPL should I aim for in a 50m pool? I’m 6’4" with 80ish wingspan.
- Is it natural to feel like I’m swimming slow as crap at first??
As all of you being somewhat competitive could understand, it is frustrating trying to learn a new skill that you suck at. Thanks for any and all advice/tips/input!!!
T.I. is the way to go. Terry’s got a great methodology and it works.
Tips:
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Relax and understand hydrodynamics. Harder effort does not make your faster, it’s all about technique.
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Don’t expect to be a better swimmer by being a stud at Crossfit or Gym Jones. Unless you did them in the water.
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I’m 6’4" and can glide 25m using 10 - 12 strokes and a good push off the wall.
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Unless you plan to race in the pool, try to get out in open water as much as possible.
Enjoy life, its all good.
Total immersion is good for teaching you to be comfortable and balanced in the water. I took some private TI lessons when I first started swimming three years ago. Mostly you do drills with TI. It seems to work for some people, especially at the beginning.
I actually prefer what I did afterwards: found a good collegiate swimmer to watch me, give me tips and drills, then get out and swim. I’m still slow, and may never be fast, but I’m a much better and more confident swimmer now, and still improving.
And you should join the swim challenge!
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=2849153
hands on, get some private lessons, go from there
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TI is good if you’re really struggling and feeling wiped from only a lap or two. This problem, which is like an inability to “jog” in the water, often results from really bad body position. TI is good at getting people who have this problem to get more horizontal and to feel comfortable jogging.
BUT, I don’t think TI is great at getting you to swim fast. It doesn’t really deal well with the propulsive aspects of swimming.
There are a zillion posts on here you can search through to find tips on how to go fast. Often they will contradict. Generally, though, I think the ST readers hold in highest regard the old advice from the late Doug Stern and the new advice from garyhallsr.
A lesson or two are also great ideas. I took a lesson at the local Y and he filmed me underwater and then explained what I was doing wrong as we watched the tape. It was extremely helpful.