Correct swimming technique comes first

We see so many keen swimmers completing lap after lap of highly inefficient swimming technique. Their aim is to improve and get faster.

But what we see is struggle and fight, sometimes fear response kicks in, the look of “oh my god, will I get my next breath”.

Rather than swimming, it looks like a serious of survival breaths linked with some frantic arm and leg movements!! Sound familiar?

Exhaustive, inefficient swimming that lacks sustainability over any reasonable distance!

However, we know that…

“If you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you always got.” – W.L. Bateman

If your stroke is within certain limits of efficiency, and has the key elements of balance, streamlining and propulsion then you have the capacity to improve your speed and overall performance, thereby reaping the benefits of the strength and endurance you have gained during your training sessions.

The key is to get stronger and faster but never lose your technique.

In every swim workout session and with every swimming stroke you need to make sure you focus on your technique, no matter how tired you are or how hard the training might be.

So let’s introduce you to some basics.

Total Immersion (TI) Freestyle Demo – Terry

What words spring to mind when you watch Terry swim?

Correction swimming technique

The building blocks to easy efficient swimming come from being “aware’ in the water. Awareness comes from relaxing and releasing tension, which in turn comes from our first goal of attaining a “balanced body” in the water.

Here are some TI concepts to get your head around!

• Decrease energy waste, instead of increasing energy supply
• Let conditioning happen, while you practice efficient swimming
• Swim fast, rather than hard
• Learn ease, before focusing on speed or endurance
• Balance will make the biggest difference by far on your swimming efficiency
• To learn even simple skills the brain must sense that the body is supported and stable

This week, when you swim. Ask yourself if your body is balanced in the water? (an unbalanced body would feel like your feet and legs dragging through the water)