Shinji-Like Kick

This last weekend TI Coach Ricardo (Tenerife, Spain) and I were examining a post in the TI Forum from a swimmer who had just completed an advanced workshop with TI President and Master Coach Shinji. Shinji is known for being a master of intricate detail and refinement, as his 9-stroke 25m freestyle video demonstrates. As [...]

Breathe Easy

Recently, I have had three different swimmers come to me with specific complaints about being out of breath from swimming just a lap or two. There are likely a few more possible causes, but here are the three that I run into more often: 1) Struggle. Obviously, then someone is fighting the water rather than [...]

Wetsuit, Waves, and Balance

A few observations to share from my swim in the sea today, wearing my sleeveless, short-legged wetsuit. I went west along the shore for about 31 minutes, into a wind-driven current, with 50 cm swells and wind chop hitting me from 10 o’clock (to my side and slightly against my head). At the half-way mark [...]

Simplified, Intuitive Practice

Here’s an exerpt from an email I received from a recent workshop student. I felt his question and my response may be helpful to those who feel overwhelmed or confused by what to do with TI in your practice times… I`m a little bit unstructured in my swim training so I need some advice. I`m [...]

Help For Sinkers

This is a re-post of a response I gave on the TI Coach Forums. I thought it may be helpful to some of you who have a friend or personally experience problems with planing too low in the water while swimming- making breathing and stroking much more difficult. Without giving the previous coaches story for [...]

Using A Tempo Trainer

I am committed to being a content-producer, so I rarely repost someone elses work, but TI Head Coach Terry wrote a marvelously concise primer on the advantages of working with a Tempo Trainer and included 5 practice set templates at the end. If you have interest in the TT I highly recommend this essay.

The Perfect 25

THE PIECES OF THE PERFECT 25 No matter how short or how far we intend to swim, it starts one 25 meter (or yard) pool length at a time. The excellence of the whole swim is never greater than the excellence of each part of the swim- so why permit inferior parts? Excellence does not [...]

Machine Versus Fish

Next time you’re at the pool or waterway, take a look at the swimmers around you. It is not hard to see the difference between those who swim like ‘machines’ and those that swim like ‘fish’- those that are mechanical in their movements, plowing through versus those that are fluid and quiet- slipping along smoothly. [...]

Kick For Sprinting

It is interesting to note that Sun Yang, when he set the 1500 meter world record in July, did so holding an average of 58 seconds per 100m for the entire race, using a 2-beat kick for all of it except the last 50 meters or so. 15 consecutive 58 second 100 sprints! We may [...]

Sprint Training Strategy

Here is some of my understanding and the considerations I design sprint training around: There are two ways to work on the solution for speed in water- increase power to overcome water resistance, and/or decrease water resistance. It is my conviction that as a smart swimmer I should will do everything possible to develop skills [...]