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Total Immersion DVD

WillRace4Food's picture
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started by WillRace4Food on January 2, 2009

Of my list of 2009 goals, improving my swim has the biggest potential to boost my triathalon performance. I have had the fastest run split and a top 20 bike split in every tri I've competed but by position coming out of water is an insurmountable setback. In the last tri I did (pool, not open water) I had a 16:30 split for the 700m distance.

With that background: Has anyone tried the Total Immersion "Freestyle: Made Easy" DVD? I read the book when I first got into tri about two years ago and IT BLEW MY MIND! I feel so much more comfortable in the water, my legs stay high. But I know I'm not getting long enough; my stroke is too short. I really have trouble with the 'catch' style stroke where both your hands pause for a moment in the reach. Does the DVD do a good job of explaining the system so I can develop my technique? Thanks in advance.

jonovision_man's picture
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jonovision_man posted 1 year ago.

I have the book and the DVD.

They're basically the same content and drills. The DVD is nice because you can see what they're supposed to look like.

There's some stuff on Youtube too, ie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJpFVvho0o4

jono

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brittda posted 1 year ago.

Hubby went from a non swimer (would be lucky to complete the swim in the time alloted-- 2:20) to a 1:15 IM swim in a matter of months. He did the dvd and drills and then took the weekend class here. It is great for some, and they swear by it. It is important to do the drills until you have them down before progressing.

mccnc's picture
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mccnc posted 1 year ago.

Love the DVD. I took TI classes but bought the DVD so I could see someone else do what I was learning. I needed to see some of the small details that I was having trouble with. It really helped! I tried just watching utube but this video is very clear and the angles are such that you can really see what's going on.

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deepbluex posted 1 year ago.

I went from being a non-swimmer (zero laps in a pool, no open water swim - knew how to float and lounge around in a pool just for fun) to feeling comfortable doing long distance freestyle stroke swimming. I used the "Freestyle Made Easy" DVD by Total Immersion - it was very helpful and I watched it a couple of times. i didn't do the drills but the video helped a lot in making me understand hwo to coordinate my body position for the freestyle. For the beginner, it's a great tool. For the intermediate swimmer, not as much.

fastdog5's picture
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fastdog5 posted 1 year ago.

+1. The DVD is how I learned to swim. Once you become an "intermediate swimmer" you have to do the drills to improvve your balance and get faster. I assumed I had "grown out of" the dvd & sought help from a coach to get faster & he started me doing, guess what, TI drills.

supernova's picture
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supernova posted 1 year ago.

I'm not a fan of TI, I think for the basics of swimming it is good but for real speed you will need to stick with basics. If you look at swimming you should have your head down and one arm in front to stretch out your body and float on top helping your position, but just like every sport you will have to build your endurance and speed the old fashion way. I did all the TI drills and class and just found that my original way was good for me. Good luck.

jonovision_man's picture
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jonovision_man posted 1 year ago.

supernova wrote:
I'm not a fan of TI, I think for the basics of swimming it is good but for real speed you will need to stick with basics. If you look at swimming you should have your head down and one arm in front to stretch out your body and float on top helping your position, but just like every sport you will have to build your endurance and speed the old fashion way. I did all the TI drills and class and just found that my original way was good for me. Good luck.

From my understanding of it, the philosophy isn't to eliminate endurance training... it's too make sure you're not powering through bad form, and instead use your strength and endurance to power your good form.

Maybe you already had good form. :)

jono

fastdog5's picture
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fastdog5 posted 1 year ago.

jonovision_man wrote:
From my understanding of it, the philosophy isn't to eliminate endurance training... it's too make sure you're not powering through bad form, and instead use your strength and endurance to power your good form.

Maybe you already had good form. :)

jono

Yes.

Buckupnorth's picture
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Buckupnorth posted 1 year ago.

I borrowed a copy from the library. At least you could preview before you spend the $$. I didn't end up buying it. I think they also have some stuff on youtube, but I'm not really sure. Another try it before you buy it scheme:) Becky.