Total Immersion Swimming is often thought of as an approach that teaches people to swim slowly. But that’s just a misunderstanding! This coaching method is super effective for swimmers of all levels, whether you’re just starting out or competing at the highest levels.
Terry Laughlin Founder of Total Immersion Swimming
Founded by Terry Laughlin, Total Immersion Swimming uses the knowledge gained from Terry’s experiences of working with elite collegiate swimmers in the United States. It’s not just a unique style of swimming; it’s all about efficient and effective techniques that anyone can use.
Practice Slowly
While we do encourage swimmers to break down their strokes and start off by swimming slowly, this is actually a key part of the process. Just like musicians practice scales and tennis players refine their shots, swimmers need to focus on the individual components of the front crawl. This way, they can develop new movement patterns.
Master Consistency
After mastering these elements at a slower pace, the next step is to achieve consistency. This aim is to maintain that improved front crawl stroke over longer distances. Many swimmers find that their speed decreases as they swim further. This is not because they aren’t fit enough, but because their stroke and focus can falter as they swim longer, which leads to a loss of efficiency.
Increase Efficiency
As swimmers learn to keep their efficiency over greater distances, they can then shift their attention to picking up speed. Interestingly, a slower stroke rate can actually help swimmers go faster! Our goal is to help swimmers become more efficient and extend their strokes. This means they can cover more distance with each arm cycle. Getting this right often means slower stroke rates while still achieving faster overall speeds. This can be a bit puzzling since it goes against the common belief that a quicker stroke equals faster swimming.
Splash = Drag
It’s easy to mistake a splashy, busy swimming style for speed in the water. But in reality, splash equals drag which is slow. Swimmers often need to slow down to speed up.
So, the next time you’re in the pool, why not try experimenting with a slower stroke rate? You might be surprised by how it affects your speed and your overall effort!
Learn Total Immersion Swimming
If you’re wondering how Total Immersion Swimming could help you to learn front crawl then why not book a taster session here or if you have lots of questions then get in touch and book a FREE 15min Lets chat here.
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