Stroke & Pace Mastery

A self-paced course for mastering stroke skills and pace control the Total Immersion way.

Stage 1 and Stage 2

Stage 1 – Stroke Length Control

Stage 1 Objectives

Choose an SPL goal you will work to achieve.
Learn specific features of the stroke which you adjust to achieve that SPL.
Gain control over those features in order hold SPL consistent over distance intervals.

Step 1 will guide you in examining each piece of the stroke, one-by-one, in order of priority. There are fundamental skills and then there are advanced skills that are dependent upon your fundamental skills. Dependent skills will be much easier to develop the stronger the fundamentals are in your stroke.

The assignments in this step will work through those stroke skills, piece by piece. You may use that list of assignments as a refresher or review at any time during your progress through this course. At each new challenge level, when using stroke counting, tempo and increased distance those stroke skills will be challenged. The simple assignments will be useful to you to use periodically to search for weak spots and strengthen your control.

Stage 1 Reading

Recommended reading… In our Knowledge Base:

In our FAQs:

In our Practice Library:

Stage 1 Skills Test Swim

Objective

To test your ability to hold your chosen SPL N consistent over the distance of your test swim.

Instructions

Using your previously chosen Target Distance, you will conduct a test swim either by swimming that distance in intervals or by swimming that distance continuously.

Pick 3 high-impact Focal Points (those that help you the most to hold your chosen SPL) and cycle through them during the test swim.

You may break up this total distance into ‘mental’ intervals, where you will change your focus of attention after a certain number of lengths.

You do not need to measure the time on this test swim, because you want the focus and your devotion to stay simply upon SPL control. Time control will come later when these foundation skills are more firmly in place. Have someone count strokes for you, or count for yourself. Use a water-proof note pad at the wall to quickly record SPL counts between intervals, or use some way to note on what lengths SPL varied from your goal during in the test swim.

Example

For example, Kerstin’s Test Swim will be 1000m, and she will do it in 4x 250 meter intervals, with 30 seconds passive rest in between. She will test her ability to hold 19 SPL on every length, or do her best to keep an average of 19 SPL on each 2x 25m (one length might be a little more, so she will make the second length a little less to make up for it). She will use Focal Points A, B, and C.

Interval #1 AB
Interval #2 BC
Interval #3 AC
Interval #4 ABC

Report

Did you succeed in your objectives?

What was your SPL across the test swim?

Where did it start to get difficult to hold your Target SPL? What do you think made it difficult?

What Focal Points helped you the most at the moment you felt some struggle?

What weaknesses did you notice in your technique that affected SPL control?

What weaknesses did you notice in your attention that affected SPL control?

What practices will you do to strengthen those areas?

Record your results and observations in your Discussion Zone.

Assignment 101: Measure Current SPL

OBJECTIVE

To find out what SPL you are currently (naturally) using when you swim.

INSTRUCTIONS

Do whatever practice you would like today – maybe one that you normally do – but at the beginning, somewhere in the middle, and then toward the end, spend a few laps counting strokes and record these results.

Look specifically for what SPL you find more comfortable, where you feel you can produce your best stroke (the one you are capable of right now) and swim the longest time with.

Also, take note of how far you push-off from the wall and begin your first stroke. The backstroke flags are positioned at the 5 meter/yard mark on lap pools. Does the distance of that push-off and glide change from length to length? Does it change from beginning, to middle, to the end of practice?

And, observe how you finish at the wall, on the end of the length. Do you glide extra distance to the wall? Do you stroke right to the end? Does it vary a lot?

REPORT

In your Discussion Zone record your stroke counts and your observations about the push-off and glide, and the finish at the wall. In one of the later assignments in this step you will be examining and improving those parts of the swim.

Assignment 102: Choose Target SPL

OBJECTIVE

Pick an SPL improvement goal to work on.

INSTRUCTIONS

Take measurement of your height (in centimeters for metric pool, inches if a yards pool) or wingspan, if you can.

Wingspan is approximately +/- 5% of your height, and may be a slightly more accurate indicator of what SPL you should use.

On the Resources page, under ‘Stroke Counting’ view the Height/SPL Index for your pool length to see what the chart says your ideal Green Zone SPL range should be. How much of a gap is there between where you are now and where you should be, according to this chart?

Consider whether you want to aim for an SPL in your Green Zone, or to aim for an SPL that is a step in that direction.

REPORT

Record your choice or discuss this with your coach in your Discussion Zone.

Assignment 103: Interrupted Breathing

OBJECTIVE

To learn (or review) Interrupted Breathing movement.
To use this breathing pattern in your drill and whole stroke tasks if breathing is still problematic for you.

Until breathing is smooth and rhythmic, with little disruption to your balance or streamline, you may need to use Interrupted Breathing position to breathe without disrupting your body position or progress in the lane. If you have a copy of TI Coach Shinji’s Freestyle Videos (download $15 USD) you may watch and review how the Interrupted Breathing movement is done.

Though we use Interrupted Breathing at beginning steps in the learning process it is still a very practical skill for advanced swimmers and in survival situations. It is the self-rescue position we teach to children and it is the self-calming, or peace-recovery position we may use in a race or in an intense swimming situation. So don’t write it off as child’s play!

INSTRUCTIONS

Review the drill video. Design a task to specifically review and improve your Interrupted Breathing movement and position. Then incorporate Interrupted Breathing into your drill and whole stroke segments as much you as need to, until you have reached the assignments on Rhythmic Breathing and are ready to work on that.

REPORT

In your Discussion Zone describe your current areas of ease and struggle with breathing.

Assignment 104: Head Spine Alignment

OBJECTIVE

To improve head position and relaxation to lay it completely upon the neutral line.
To bring spine into alignment behind the head
Create a firm and flexible core.

Everything follows the head – it is the first piece we examine and the most important piece of the whole body because its position affects every other body part. And the spine is the main route in which forces are transferred through the body. The spine alignment responds to the head position – if head is aligned the spine will straighten up and release tension – if the head is out of alignment it will cause the spine to curve and inhibit the transfer of forces.

INSTRUCTIONS

You will set up a task to examine and improve each one of these sections of your body.

Alternate between drill and whole stroke – on the drill you will work through a few focal points looking for ways to improve the skill. On the whole stroke portion you will count strokes to measure the effect, both in terms of how many strokes, but also in how much easier it is to achieve a better SPL by certain adjustments you make in the body part.

Select Focal Points from memory or reference the drill outlines on the Freestyle Drill Resources page.

Review the freestyle drill videos to refresh your image of the body position and focal points. You will likely notice more details than you did previously.

REPORT

Record your observations and discoveries in your Discussion Zone. Note which Focal Points were most helpful to you.

Assignment 105: Hip Alignment

OBJECTIVE

To improve hip angle and engagement of core muscles in Skate Position (passive streamline).

The hips are connected to the spine and are a crucial pivot point. A straight and stress-free spine depends both on the alignment of the head on top, and the alignment of the hips on the tail.

Imagine the pelvis bone like the frame holding a table top which your torso sits upon. If the table top tilts down in front, the torso has to arch backward to stay on top. This causes an excessive curve in the lower back. To do this, the abdominal muscles below the belly button must let go – a ‘bulging’ belly is the visible result.

If you lay on the ground, on your back, with knees bent, up in the air, feet flat on the ground, you may be able to slide your hand under your lower back. The arch in the lower back creates a small space. Now pull the front of the pelvis up, toward your belly button, and flatten the lower back against the ground so that there is no longer any space there. This is leveling the hips and also engaging those abdominal muscles below the belly button.

Now stand up, as if at military attention. Lengthen your spine. And now do that same tilt of the pelvis, upward toward your belly button so that the lower back flattens just a little more. You will feel the abdominal muscles below the belly button engage. What you also need to notice is that your thighs are still aligned precisely vertical. The knees are not bent and the thighs are not angled at all – this is the point you need to notice very carefully.

When you lay down in the water, in Superman or Skate Position, you need to level your hips, engage those lower abdominal muscles, while keeping the thighs pointed straight behind you, parallel to the surface – because this is where so many people fail to create alignment, right here at the hip joint. The upper spine seems to be straight, but in fact the link is broken at the hips and the thighs angled downward slightly give evidence that the swimmer does not have the lower abdominal core muscles engaged properly. Level hips will allow you to keep your thighs pointing directly behind the body, parallel to the surface. The muscles below the belly button in front, and the muscles of the lower back will remain firm the entire time you are swimming – without release. You will gain considerable core muscle toning just from learning to control this part of your body while swimming.

INSTRUCTIONS

You will set up a task to examine and improve your hip alignment – first in Superman Glide, and then in Skate Position. Then take some strokes to see that you start of each stroke and finish of each stroke in Perfect Skate with the hips still level.

Select Focal Points from memory or reference the drill outline.

Review the freestyle drill videos to refresh your image of the body position and focal points. You will likely notice more details than you did previously.

REPORT

Record your observations and discoveries in your Discussion Zone. Note which Focal Points were most helpful to you.

Assignment 106: Arm Alignment

OBJECTIVE

To improve arm position and relaxation in Skate Position (passive streamline).
To start and finish every stroke with arm in its best position.

The body in Skate Position is the start and the finish of every stroke. It is the ultimate hydrodynamic base position for the freestyle stroke.

The lead arm reaching perfect Skate Position is the finish of the stroke – where forces will be directed through your body, up through the shoulder and sent directly forward down the lane through your wrist. So perfecting the placement and the relaxation of this arm is critical to the complete stroke.

In the end, your arm will be firm and flexible like the branch of a fir tree in the forest – it has form, it is flexible, and it yields to pressure but returns immediately to position upon release.

INSTRUCTIONS

You will set up a task to examine and improve your lead arm in Skate Position, at the start of each stroke and at the finish of each stroke. Alternate between drill and whole stroke – on the drill you will work through a few focal points looking for ways to improve the skill. On the whole stroke portion you will count strokes to measure the effect, both in terms of how many strokes, but also in how much easier it is to achieve a better SPL by certain adjustments you make in the body part.

Select Focal Points from memory or reference the drill outline.

Review the freestyle drill videos to refresh your image of the body position and focal points. You will likely notice more details than you did previously.

REPORT

Record your observations and discoveries in your Discussion Zone. Note which Focal Points were most helpful to you.

Assignment 107: Leg Alignment

OBJECTIVE

To become aware and control the leg position from the core of the body.

You will see how instabilities and imprecisions in the front of the body are reflected in the legs. They react to what is happening in the body overall because the brain will force the leg to compensate for instability to protect you from it.

The land-mammal instinct to use legs to push and stabilize the body is very strong. The first step to bringing the legs into synchronized cooperation with the swimming stroke is to become aware of what they are doing and then turn that land instinct off. It will require you to find and address the causes of instability in the torso of the body. By turning off the legs, requiring them to slide quietly behind the body (with the most gentle flutter kick, if necessary) your brain will be forced to solve instability by improving control with the core of your body.

INSTRUCTIONS

You will set up a task to examine and improve your leg alignment behind the body. Alternate between drill and whole stroke – on the drill you will work through a few focal points looking for ways to improve the skill. On the whole stroke portion you will count strokes to measure the effect, both in terms of how many strokes, but also in how much easier it is to achieve a better SPL by certain adjustments you make in the body part.

Select Focal Points from memory or reference the Freestyle Drill Resources page.

Review the freestyle drill videos to refresh your image of the body position and focal points. You will likely notice more details than you did previously.

REPORT

Record your observations and discoveries in your Discussion Zone. Note which Focal Points were most helpful to you.

Assignment 108: Balance Opportunities

OBJECTIVE

To examine features of your balance that could be causing hindrance in SPL improvement.

In the previous assignments you have gone over the sections of the body – head/spine, arms, and legs. Each of these sections has a role to play in making your balance easier or harder to achieve. Your goal is to examine each area, piece-by-piece, and find ways to improve even small details you did not notice before.

INSTRUCTIONS

Use a combination of drills and short stroke segments (like 6 to 8 stroke, without breathing) to examine your body position.

Use the Body Parts Inventory to scan the body sections.

There are two dimensions to Balance:

1) Fore-Aft Balance (or Head/Tail Balance). Are your head, spine, and legs aligned? Is that aligned body staying parallel to the surface of the water? (Even if you are a ‘sinker’, it is still important to maintain a parallel line to the surface).

2) Lateral Stability, or Rotational Balance Can you hold a low-angle Skate Position for 3 or 4 seconds, without moving arms or legs? Can you hold a low-angle Skate Position while swinging your Recovery Arm forward slowly?

This assignment may prompt you to go back and repeat some of the previous assignments.

REPORT

What are the 3 main problems you discovered in position of your body parts- in order of priority? (the parts that are suppose to be holding position)

Problem A =

Problem B =

Problem C =

Then record your observations in your Discussion Zone.

Assignment 109: Recovery Swing

OBJECTIVE

To form a smooth, swinging recovery that sets the stage for a powerful entry.

The quality of your recovery swing determines how that arm enters the water and delivers force forward in the direction you want to travel. Its form and path are as important as the swing in tennis, golf, or a punch in martial arts – it must be careful.

The recovery sets the stage for the entry. The entry sets the stage for the extension. The extension sets the stage for the catch. The ultimate destination of the recovery swing is to bring the elbow as far forward as comfortable, poised high above the head, forearm in front of the shoulder, angled downward 45 degrees, pointing directly forward in the direction you want to send your force.

In drill mode you use a pause at this point to check yourself, but there is no pause in the whole stroke as you smoothly transfer forces through the body, up into the shoulder and down into the water sending it forward. Use pauses to train yourself to find the position, then remove those pauses from the stroke.

INSTRUCTIONS

You will set up a task to examine and improve your recovery swing.

Select Focal Points from memory or reference the Freestyle Drill Resources page.

Review the freestyle drill videos to refresh your image of the body position and focal points. You will likely notice more details than you did previously.

REPORT

Record your observations and discoveries in your Discussion Zone. Note which Focal Points were most helpful to you.

Assignment 110: Entry and Extension

OBJECTIVE

To set up the best entry path.
To extend into Perfect Skate, with target at right depth.

This is the moment that you will experience acceleration in the stroke, if you’ve set up all the pieces and synchronized them well.

The entry, from Mailslot Moment to Perfect Skate, is where you are transferring force from the body rotation and sending it forward to part water molecules (displacement) in front of your body. The entry and extension into Perfect Skate is the main action in the freestyle stroke – it’s like the punch in martial arts, or the moment the club or racket strikes the ball – it the purpose of the entire stroke! Everything else, the catch, and the recovery swing, support this main action.

The path way must be straight ahead, extending directly in front of the shoulder. It starts with the elbow poised high above the head, forearm angled downward 45 degrees (fingers of Mailslot Moment are touching the water directly across from the opposite elbow of the Patient Front Arm), and forearm pointing directly forward in the direction you want to travel. The path from Mailslot to Perfect Skate is like a ski-jump: starting at 45 degrees then leveling out as the hand nears the target depth and finishes by extending forward, not at an angle downward. Then hand will end up at a depth no higher than the lowest point of the body line.

INSTRUCTIONS

You will set up a task to examine and improve your awareness and control of the entry and extension into perfect Skate. Alternate between drill and whole stroke – on the drill you will work through a few focal points looking for ways to improve the skill. On the whole stroke portion you will count strokes to measure the effect, both in terms of how many strokes, but also in how much easier it is to achieve a better SPL by certain adjustments you make in the body part.

Select Focal Points from memory or reference the Freestyle Drill Resources page.

Review the freestyle drill videos to refresh your image of the body position and focal points. You will likely notice more details than you did previously.

REPORT

Record your observations and discoveries in your Discussion Zone. Note which Focal Points were most helpful to you.

Assignment 111: Streamline Opportunities

OBJECTIVE

To examine what features of your movement patterns – the patient front arm, the recovery, rotation, and entry – may be hindering your SPL improvement.

INSTRUCTIONS

Use a combination of drills and short stroke segments (like 6 to 8 stroke, without breathing) to examine your streamline movements. If you need more distance, you can do 1-2 lengths instead, counting strokes.

There are two dimensions to streamline:

1) Passive Streamline, which refers to your body position in Skate Position, and the parts of the body that hold their position in the entire stroke cycle. Head, Spine, and Legs streaming behind the body. Obviously, you need to look for poorly shaped body parts that cause excessive drag in the Skate Position.

2) Active Streamline, which refers to the transition between Skate Position on each side. Active streamline is done during the Recovery Swing, Entry and Rotation. You need to look for poorly shaped, and poorly timed movements that cause excessive drag.

REPORT

What are the main problems you discovered in movements of body parts- in order of priority? (the parts that are suppose to move in a certain careful pattern)

Then record your observations in your Discussion Zone.

Assignment 112: The Perfect 25

OBJECTIVE

To examine and improve every component of your swim across the pool.
Hold the quality of those components consistent on every lap.

Your SPL is affected not just by your stroke, but also how you travel when not taking a stroke – in the push-off and glide from and to the wall and during the flip-turn. To achieve an accurate and consistent SPL you need to examine and at least keep those non-stroke sections of the lap consistent on every lap. The better they are, the easier it will be to maintain a consistent SPL.

This is based off of Coach Mat’s blog post The Perfect 25, and Perfect 25 Training. (It is called the ‘Perfect 25′ after the standard length of a lap pool – but if can be Perfect X for whatever distance your pool is.)

INSTRUCTIONS

It may work best to be warmed up and perhaps have already done some stroke work before this set. You want to be swimming each length your normal best way.

Choose some short distance repeats like 4x 25 or 3x 50 for each round. Do several repeats so you have several, frequent opportunities to study each piece of the lap, attempt some corrections and test.

You may even want to break this assignment down into several practice sets. Work on just one component of the Perfect 25 in one practice, as one of your skill tasks for the day. You are welcome to work on all of them if you would like to devote a good portion of your practice to it.

Your process:

Observe what you normally do.
Decide on some feature you want to improve.
Define your own Focal Point solution for each improvement you want to make.
Test your Focal Point.
Start imprint the improvement on many successful repeats.

Round #1 – Examine your Push-Off from the wall.

At what depth do you place your feet?
At what angle are your feet turned?
How far do you bend your knees?
Is your head and torso directly beside your legs or slightly above? (which direction will this push your body?)
Is your head already down (laser lead pointing ahead) before you push off?
Are your arms streamlined in front of the head before you push off?
What amount of force do you apply when you push-off? Does it change from length to length?

Round #2 – Examine your Glide after push-off.

What direction does your body point? Straight ahead, parallel to the surface? Diving down? Pushing up to the surface right away?
At what depth are you starting?
Do you hold your body long and straight? Or do you do a ‘dolphin’ movement at some point?
Do you start kicking immediately, or start kicking later once you start to slow down?
Using a Tempo Trainer set to your comfortable tempo, how many beeps do you take to glide, if you push off on Beep #0?

Round #3 – Examine your Break-Out. This is the moment your body breaks the surface.

How far away from the wall are your eyes? (Backstroke flags are at the 5 meters/yard mark).
Do you come up at the same point every time or does it change from length to length?
Did you come up parallel to the surface (head and hips touching surface at same moment) or come up at an angle head-first?
Did you make lots of waves when you broke the surface or very little?
Did your body come to the surface on its own buoyancy or did you use the first underwater stroke to pull you up to the surface?

Round #4 – Examine your First Breath. It can add a lot of drag to take the breath on the break-out if the head is not in perfect position. But because of the several seconds of holding breath on the flip turn most swimmers do this. If you do an open-turn, you may consider waiting to take the first breath until the second stroke after break-out.

Which arm takes the first underwater stroke? Always the same arm?
Do you always turn to breath first on the same side?
Where is your Laser Lead pointed when you take that first breath?
Is your Patient Front Arm in place while turning to breath?

Round #5 – Examine your Finish at the wall.

Could you fit another stroke in before you touch the wall, or do you have very little glide before the last stroke? Or does it vary a lot?
Do you apply the same force on the last stroke you take on every length?
Do you come to the wall full-force, or do you intentionally slow down before touching the wall? How much?
Do you turn to breathe just before touching the wall or do you hold your breath a bit longer when you are that close?
Where do you touch the wall? Does this set you up to immediately turn again, or do you need to reposition your hand to prepare for the next push-off?

(Turns at the wall will be addressed in another assignment)

REPORT

In your Discussion Zone record your observations and Focal Points.

In what ways are your non-stroking sections of the lap affecting your SPL?

How could you make some improvements in those sections to affect a 1 second saving or 1 SPL savings per length without having to change anything in your stroke itself?

Assignment 113: Breathing - Head Position

OBJECTIVE

To improve head position for breathing.

The position of the head will make it easier or harder to get a breath in a timely manner, without disrupting balance and streamline.

The challenge in head position is that it is an all-or-nothing proposition: you either keep the head laying down (weightless) completely resting on the water, laser pointing forward underwater in order to get a quick easy breath, or you have to lift the head a great deal to get the mouth up to the air. The slightest tilt of the head upward will require you to lift more of the eyes out of the water in order to get the mouth out of the water – and that lifted head causes gravity to push downward on the hips, even a little. That press downward on the hips causes a disruption in the balance and a break in your streamline which takes at least 2 or 3 strokes to correct. The difference in ease is dramatic, but it can only be reached by finding that truly weightless head breathing position and remaining loyal to it.

So, for this you need to practice many, many drill repeats without attempting to take a breath so you can focus completely on the position until it gets familiar enough to make taking a breath easier. Improving breath timing and the catch skills will make it even easier to breathe.

Note, that if you are looking forward even slightly before you turn to breath, this will automatically cause the head to tilt upward while turning to breathe. The eyes look straight down during the non-breathing sections of the stroke and then turn to look directly sideways while turning to breathe. The laser lead spine must always be pointing straight forward, not upward.

Study References:

TI Freestyle Drills- Rhythmic Breathing

INSTRUCTIONS

You will set up a task to examine and improve your control of head position before and during the turn to breath. Do this most of the time without actually breathing, and try a few with breathing.

Select Focal Points from memory or reference the Freestyle Drill Resources page.

Review the freestyle drill videos to refresh your image of the breathing skills and focal points. You will likely notice more details than you did previously.

REPORT

Record your observations and discoveries in your Discussion Zone. Note which Focal Points were most helpful to you.

Assignment 114: Breathing - Timing

OBJECTIVE

To improve the timing of the breath to improve ease.

The simple rule-of-thumb is to turn to breath as early in the stroke as possible, and take just a quick sip, not a big gulp. Everything is urging the swimmer to breathe late and long, but this must be resisted.

But there are more details to the timing – it is coordinated with several other parts of the stroke happening at the same time:

A. Turn to breathe as the spear arm is extending forward. Continue to extend the spearing arm forward, don’t press downward at all. Do not set the catch on the lead arm until the head is completely back, looking straight down.

B. Turn to breathe with the earliest part of the catch. This is the moment of maximum acceleration and lift – the moment it will be easiest to get to breath. If you see your recovery arm coming back with your own eyes, then you are breathing too late.

C. Use the shoulder to pull the chin. This is another way to examine the same timing. Imagine a string tied from shoulder to your chin and as the torso rotates it pulls the head effortlessly with it. There should be little sense of turning the neck, just turning the body to breathe.

Study References:

TI Freestyle Drills- Rhythmic Breathing

INSTRUCTIONS

You will set up a task to examine and improve your control of head position before and during the turn to breath. Do this most of the time without actually breathing, and try a few with breathing. Alternate between drill and whole stroke – on the drill you will work through a few focal points looking for ways to improve the skill. On the whole stroke portion you will count strokes to measure the effect, both in terms of how many strokes, but also in how much easier it is to achieve a better SPL by certain adjustments in breathing.

Select Focal Points from memory or reference the Freestyle Drill Resources page.

Review the freestyle drill videos to refresh your image of the breathing skills and focal points. You will likely notice more details than you did previously.

REPORT

Record your observations and discoveries in your Discussion Zone. Note which Focal Points were most helpful to you.

Assignment 115: Breathing - Air Management

OBJECTIVE

To improve the exchange of air.

There are many dimensions to the management of your air. The amount of air in the lungs can noticeably affect the buoyancy for some swimmers. Special care may be necessary for some situations.

Overall, the goal is to keep the body calm and lower demand for air exchange so you have more options in breathing. In general, you should be creating a gentle, steady stream of bubbles from the nose while face down in the water. At the last micro-second before touching the air you clear the airways with a quick exhale blast, and prepare the lungs to immediately inhale with a quick sip.

Ideally, you are calm enough to take just a quick sip, a partial air exchange, and do so more frequently – frequently enough (like every three strokes) that you can afford to skip on every once in a while. Large exchanges of air increase the stress on the body, or a reaction to greater stress on the body.

One more detail – you don’t need the entire mouth out of the water to inhale, just half of it. Get familiar with having water in the corner of your mouth while you are inhaling. This will allow you to keep your rotation angle lower, and the timing quicker.

Study References:

TI Freestyle Drills- Rhythmic Breathing

INSTRUCTIONS

You will set up a task to examine and improve your control of exhale underwater before and inhale during the turn to breath. Alternate between drill and whole stroke – on the drill you will work through a few focal points looking for ways to improve the skill. On the whole stroke portion you will count strokes to measure the effect, both in terms of how many strokes, but also in how much easier it is to achieve a better SPL by certain adjustments in breathing.

Select Focal Points from memory or reference the Freestyle Drill Resources.

REPORT

Record your observations and discoveries in your Discussion Zone. Note which Focal Points were most helpful to you.

Assignment 116: Breathing - Patterns

OBJECTIVE

To make your weak breathing side more comfortable as your strong side.
To expand the breathing patterns you may use.

Once a swimmer has truly established the equivalent of a ‘walk’ (versus jogging) in their swimming – what we call a ‘walking’ speed stroke – a 3 stroke breathing pattern should be fairly easy to hold. If it is not, and there is no medical condition to suggest some natural limitations, then this can be a good standard for measuring progress in swimming efficiency.

You may read more about breathing patterns. Working on your weak side (everyone has one) is essential to expanding your available breathing patterns.

Why practice more patterns? Because heart rate affects how much air exchange you need, while stroke rate affects when you can possible turn to get some air. If there are any changes in heart rate or stroke rate, then you need to adjust breathing pattern to serve the demand for air and minimize stress. And if you swim in open water, you need to be prepared to breathe on your weak side, or at variable patterns when the weather doesn’t make it easy to use a particular pattern.

INSTRUCTIONS

You will set up a task to improve your weak side breathing, to make it more like your strong side. And set up a task to examine and expand your breathing patterns.

Select Focal Points from memory or reference the Freestyle Drill Resources page.

REPORT

Record your observations and discoveries in your Discussion Zone. Note which Focal Points were most helpful to you.

Assignment 117: Propulsion - Hip Drive

OBJECTIVE

To firmly connect your hip rotation to the rotation of the shoulder.

The pieces of the stroke will eventually be formed into one complete synchronized whole. The hips and shoulders are the tips of the torso and work as a unified piece. The hips are closer to the body’s center of mass and a focus upon them create a stronger sense of control over the body mass. The goal of the entire stroke is to send this center of mass forward, not push water back.

Study References:

TI Freestyle Drills- 2 Beat Kick and Catch

INSTRUCTIONS

You will set up a task to examine and improve your awareness and control of the hip drive. You want to keep the hip rotation firmly unified with the shoulder rotation as one piece, and use it to drive force forward not downward. The hip drive is always smooth, not abrupt. And the ultimate skill is to create as much power in a smaller angle of rotation, not more.

Select Focal Points from memory or reference the Freestyle Drill Resources page.

Review the freestyle drill videos to refresh your image of the body position and focal points. You will likely notice more details than you did previously.

REPORT

Record your observations and discoveries in your Discussion Zone. Note which Focal Points were most helpful to you.

Assignment 118: Propulsion - The Catch

OBJECTIVE

To improve your catch and hold on the water.

The catch affects more than just pushing the body forward – done poorly and it wastes energy by shoving the body in many directions other than the direction you want to go. Done well, and it drives you forward smoothly, like a torpedo sliding steadily toward its target.

Remember, the head will reflect the direction of force with the catch – especially, if you do 1-arm swimming.

Study References:

TI Freestyle Drills- 2 Beat Kick and Catch

INSTRUCTIONS

You will set up a task to examine and improve the shape, the timing and the pressure in your catch. You may want to set up a separate task for each one of those points: one for shaping the catch, one for timing, and one for adjusting the pressure of the catch.

Select Focal Points from memory or reference the Freestyle Drill Resources page.

Review the freestyle drill videos to refresh your image of the catch and focal points. You will likely notice more details than you did previously.

REPORT

Record your observations and discoveries in your Discussion Zone. Note which Focal Points were most helpful to you.

Assignment 119: Propulsion - 2-Beat Kick

OBJECTIVE

To improve your 2-beat kick.

It is very important to realize or remind yourself that the 2-Beat Kick is meant to assist rotation, not push you forward. It is meant to assist rotation, not initiate rotation – the torso turns and then the foot presses on the water to make it easier to turn.

The turn is first,the foot press is a micro-second or two behind. The press of the foot is not in a straight path downward either – it is slightly rotational as well (big toe swings inward following the arc of a crescent moon, the whole leg rotating a little in the hip joint) to reflect its assistance of the torso rotation.

The kick is a compact, smooth and steady press against the water – it is not abrupt, punchy or require big spread of the legs. One leg presses while the other is pointing in a relaxed, untroubled way. And don’t let the heels touch the air and pull bubbles into the water. The best kick is quiet and splashless. It is more accurate and perhaps helpful to call it a ‘press’ of the foot, rather than a ‘kick’ of the foot.

Study References:

TI Freestyle Drills- 2 Beat Kick and Catch

INSTRUCTIONS

You will set up a task to examine and improve the shape, the timing and the pressure in your kick.

You may want to set up a separate task for each one of those points: one for shaping the kick, one for timing, and one for adjusting the pressure of the kick. Work on one leg at a time, until it feels easier to work on both legs, back and forth, at the same time.

Select Focal Points from memory or reference the Freestyle Drill Resources page.

Review the freestyle drill videos to refresh your image of the kick and focal points. You will likely notice more details than you did previously.

REPORT

Record your observations and discoveries in your Discussion Zone. Note which Focal Points were most helpful to you.

Assignment 120: Synchronized Propulsion

OBJECTIVE

1) To improve the synchronization of the propulsive pieces. The four main propulsive pieces:

A – the Spear/Entry
B – the Catch/Hold
C – the Hip Drive
D – The 2B Kick

You have worked on each of these pieces separately. Now is the time to put them together, two-by-two, to examine and improve the coordination between each pair. They work together, one supporting the other, the timing exactly together or slightly ahead or behind the other. Your assignment is to study these relationships, experiment and improve the coordination between each pair.

Study References:

Synchronized Propulsion Pieces

INSTRUCTIONS

You will set up a task to examine and improve the synchronization of each of these pieces.

You may set up a separate task for each sync combination. You may need to focus on just one side (or one cross-body combination) at a time, until it feels familiar and your brain can focus more easily on both sides together, back and forth.

Select Focal Points from memory or reference the Freestyle Drill Resources page.

Review the freestyle drill videos to refresh your image of the kick and focal points. You will likely notice more details than you did previously.

REPORT

Record your observations and discoveries in your Discussion Zone. Note which Focal Points were most helpful to you.

Stage 2 – Adjust Stroke Length with Precision

Stage 2 Objectives

OBJECTIVES

Learn which parts of the stroke you can control to adjust SPL with precision.
Switch SPL within your 3-Point SPL range on command, like switching gears on a bicycle.
Learn to switch SPL by feel.

STEP 1 has you learning how to achieve your a certain SPL – either ideal or improved SPL. In that step you learned to recognize and memorize the ways you control your body shape and timing of movements in order to achieve that SPL. You are at STEP 2 because you know how to do that. Now you need to expand your ability to hold that N SPL and shift it up (N+1) and down (N-1), like gears on a bicycle, using short distance intervals. We call this SPL Gears. Each swimmer will have an SPL Green Zone (discussed in STEP 1) range of about 5 points (like 17 to 21 SPL). Within that range is a ‘Sweet Spot’ of about 3 points (like 17 to 19 SPL). Ideally, you will work with these 3 SPL counts in your training. For example: if you have been achieving an SPL of 19, now you will work on shifting from 19 to 18 SPL on different lengths, and from 19 to 20 on different lengths.

Stage 2 Reading

Recommended reading… In our Knowledge Base:

Rate Of Perceived Effort Scale (RPE)

In our FAQs:

In our Practice Library:

Stage 2 Skills Test Swim

OBJECTIVE

1) To test your ability to shift precisely into your trained SPL gears at designated points in your test swim.

INSTRUCTIONS

Using the 3 SPL gears (N, N-1, N+1) you have been training with, you will conduct a test swim of your ability to shift gears by feel, on command, over your Target Distance, either by swimming that distance in intervals or by swimming that distance continuously.

Pick 3 of your favorite, most effective Focal Points (those that allow you to adjust and control SPL the easiest) and use them during the test swim.

You do not need to measure the time on this test swim, because you want the focus and your devotion to stay simply upon SPL shifting and control. Time control will come later when these foundation skills are more firmly in place. You will need to count strokes for yourself.

At any point that you fall off of your chosen SPL for that length, you will make a correction while swimming and continue on.

For example, Piotr’s Test Swim will be 800m. He will do it in 4x 200 meter intervals, with 20 seconds passive rest in between. He will test his ability to hold shift from 17 SPL to 18 SPL, and to 16 SPL. He will set up a different shifting pattern for each interval.

Interval #1 – 100m at 17 SPL, 100m at 18 SPL.
Interval #2 – 100m at 16 SPL, 50m at 17, 50m at 18.
Interval #3 – 50m at 17 SPL, 50m at 18, 50m at 17, 50m at 16.
Interval #4 – 50m at 18 SPL, 100m at 17, 50m at 16.

REPORT

Did you succeed?

How precise was your shifting at each shift point? Were you able to add or subtract one stroke without extra glide to the wall?

Where did it start to get difficult? In holding a particular SPL or in shifting? Was shifting to a higher SPL or shifting to a lower SPL harder? Why?

What Focal Points helped you the most to adjust SPL? What Focal Points helped you the most to hold SPL?

What weaknesses did you notice in your technique that affected SPL control? What weaknesses did you notice in your attention that affected SPL control?

What practices will you do to strengthen those areas? Record your results and observations in your Discussion Zone.

Assignment 201: SPL Control Points

OBJECTIVE

1) To become familiar with the features of your stroke control which affect SPL. In order to lengthen or shorten your stroke, many changes will take place in your body and in your stroke control. At this point many of those, or most, you may not even be aware of. In order to learn to control those points and adjust SPL on command, you first need to become aware of those specific points. This assignment is designed to put you in that position where your a change in tempo will cause a change in your stroke control and this will be reflected in your stroke count. A change in stroke count means something changed in your body. No change in your stroke count means you held something the same, and you need to recognize what you did in order to either change it or protect it.

INSTRUCTIONS

You will a Tempo Trainer to help you incrementally slow down the tempo of your stoke and then incrementally speed it back up again. You will count strokes and observe the changes in SPL as tempo changes. You may set up a Tempo Pyramid task like this: Set #1 – Slow It Down

10 rounds of (2x 25m, or 1x 50m).
Start with Tempo Trainer at 1.30, (or at a very comfortable tempo for you).
Slow down tempo by +0.05 for each round. You will end up at 1.75 tempo, if you start on 1.30.

Set #2 – Speed It Up

10 rounds of (2x 25m, or 1x 50m).
Start with Tempo Trainer at 1.75, (or whatever tempo you finished Set #1 on).
Speed up tempo by -0.05 for each round. You will end up at 1.30 again.

Observe these particular areas:

What changed in your effort level (how hard did you work) as tempo changed? What part of the stroke or in the body did you apply more or less effort?
What changed in your streamlined body line?
What changed in your patient front arm?
What changed in your recovery?
What changed in your entry?
What changed in your catch?
What changed in your kick?
What changed in the amount of noise and splash you made?

REPORT

Record your observations and discoveries in your Discussion Zone. Note which points of the stroke you felt you had most control over. Note which points of the stroke you felt you had poor control over. Note at what tempo your stroke count did something unexpected – and propose some reasons why.

Assignment 202: Switch SPL with Recovery

OBJECTIVE

To adjust SPL N to N+1 and N to N-1 precisely by changing the speed of your Recovery Swing.

Without losing the Patient Front Arm, or changing the speed or pressure of the Catch, you can simply swing the Recovery a bit slower or a bit faster to change the length of your stroke.

INSTRUCTIONS

Set up practice Task #1 where you will start at SPL N (your Target SPL) and then do several repeats where you are switching from N to N-1 and back to N. To lower SPL you will slow down the Recovery Swing just a little. Experiment to find out exactly how much. You will change only the speed of the Recovery Swing while keeping all other features of your stroke the same. Your goal is to start on exactly N SPL, and then switch to N-1 SPL precisely – no half-strokes or extra gliding (or kicking) to the wall at the end. Set up practice Task #2 where you will start at SPL N (your Target SPL) and then do several repeats where you are switching from N to N+1 and back to N. To raise SPL you will speed up the Recovery Swing just a little. What other parts of your stroke did you feel a pressure to change because the speed of your Recovery changed?

REPORT

In your Discussion Zone report your difficulties and your discoveries in changing just the speed of your Recovery Swing.

Assignment 203: Switch SPL with Catch

OBJECTIVE

To adjust SPL N to N+1 and N to N-1 precisely by changing the pressure of your Catch and Hold.

Without changing the speed of your Recovery Swing, you can simply change the pressure of the Catch to change the length of your stroke. In learning the Catch, we used the image of holding a pilates ball. Imagine pressing on that ball a bit lighter or a bit heavier. Keeping the pressure steady (the ball of water molecules gently pushes back) you can press on the water a bit more or a bit less, yet keeping the same speed of body rotation.

INSTRUCTIONS

Set up practice Task #1 where you will start at SPL N (your Target SPL) and then do several repeats where you are switching from N to N-1 and back to N. To lower SPL you will increase the pressure of the Catch just a little. Experiment to find out exactly how much. You will change only the pressure of the Catch while keeping all other features of your stroke the same. Your goal is to start on exactly N SPL, and then switch to N-1 SPL precisely – no half-strokes or extra gliding (or kicking) to the wall at the end. Set up practice Task #2 where you will start at SPL N (your Target SPL) and then do several repeats where you are switching from N to N+1 and back to N. To raise SPL you will decrease the pressure of the Catch just a little What other parts of your stroke did you feel a pressure to change because the pressure of the Catch changed?

REPORT

In your Discussion Zone report your difficulties and your discoveries in changing just the pressure of the Catch.

Assignment 204: Switch SPL with Mailslot

OBJECTIVE

1) To adjust SPL N to N+1 and N to N-1 precisely by delaying the Catch timing past the Mailslot moment. Ideally, even at highest tempos, the Recovery Arm reaching the Mailslot moment and front arm setting the Catch will happen at the exact same moment. This is the minimum amount of ‘stroke overlap’ we want to see in the stroke. (It is also recognized by the Patient Front Arm). But if you delay the set of the Catch just a microsecond after the Mailslot moment, you can lower your SPL a little. This would be called increasing stroke overlap in some coaching circles. In TI we call this Asynchronous Stroke Timing. The ability to intentionally make micro adjustments in this stroke overlap is an advanced stroke skill. Without changing the speed of your Recovery Swing or the pressure of your Catch, you can change the overlap amount of the Mailslot moment and the Catch moment to change the length of your stroke.

INSTRUCTIONS

Set up practice Task #1 where you will start at SPL N (your Target SPL) and then do several repeats where you are switching from N to N-1 and back to N. To lower SPL you will increase the overlap of the Catch just a little – make the Catch just slightly later than the Mailslot moment. Experiment to find out exactly how much. You will change only the timing of setting the Catch to the Mailslot moment while keeping all other features of your stroke the same. Your goal is to start on exactly N SPL, and then switch to N-1 SPL precisely – no half-strokes or extra gliding (or kicking) to the wall at the end. Set up practice Task #2 where you will start at SPL N (your Target SPL) and then do several repeats where you are switching from N to N+1 and back to N. To raise SPL you will decrease the overlap of the Catch just a little – make the Catch just slightly later than the Mailslot moment. What other parts of your stroke did you feel a pressure to change because the timing of the Set-The-Catch changed?

REPORT

In your Discussion Zone report your difficulties and your discoveries in changing just the timing of the Catch.

Assignment 205: Switch SPL with Extension

OBJECTIVE

To adjust SPL N to N+1 and N to N-1 precisely by adjusting the length of the Extension (to the Target) of the Spearing Arm.

The primary purpose of the Spearing Arm is to take the rotational force created in your body and transfer it forward through that arm – to part water molecules so you can move forward and fill that space with your body. You direct that force to a specific point in front of you – the Target (where your lead wrist ends up in your ideal Skate Position). By making that Target slightly farther ahead or slightly closer you can adjust SPL. Without changing the other features of your stroke you will change the distance in front of you for that Target to change the length of your stroke.

INSTRUCTIONS

Set up practice Task #1 where you will start at SPL N (your Target SPL) and then do several repeats where you are switching from N to N-1 and back to N. To lower SPL you will reach a couple centimeters further with your wrist (keep fingers soft). Experiment to find out exactly how much. You will change only the Extension while keeping all other features of your stroke the same. One more tip: trying reaching a little further with your shoulder, instead of the wrist. Notice how it changes the way you lengthen your body. Your goal is to start on exactly N SPL, and then switch to N-1 SPL precisely – no half-strokes or extra gliding (or kicking) to the wall at the end. Set up practice Task #2 where you will start at SPL N (your Target SPL) and then do several repeats where you are switching from N to N+1 and back to N. To raise SPL you reach just a couple centimeters less. What other parts of your stroke did you feel a pressure to change because the length of your Extension changed?

REPORT

In your Discussion Zone report your difficulties and your discoveries in changing just the Extension of the Spearing Arm.

Assignment 206: Walk-Jog-Run SPL

OBJECTIVES

To identify an SPL that feels like the equivalent of your ‘walk’ stride on land.
To identify an SPL that feels like the equivalent to your ‘jog’ stride.
To identify an SPL that feels like the equivalent of your ‘run’ stride.

Running on land is natural to humans. We recognize the differences in energy demand between a walking stride, a jogging stride, and a running stride. Walking requires much lower effort than running does. One can walk for a long time, while one can only run for a limited distance. This assignment is meant to help you recognize the effort/speed trade-off you make inside your body using different SPL.

INSTRUCTIONS

Within your the range of SPL you are currently comfortable using (knowing that you are still working on improving that SPL range) set up a task that allows you to experiment with various SPL to identify which you might consider your ‘walk’ SPL, which is your ‘jog’ SPL, and which is your ‘run” SPL.

Walk SPL = the SPL I feel could swim with all day long.
Jog SPL = the SPL that raises my heart rate a bit, but I could hold this for an hour or two.
Run SPL = the SPL that raises my heart rate a lot, but I could hold it for 15 to 30 minutes.

Then design a task set that will test out how it works over a longer distance. For example: Walk Round:

6x 50m experiment with Walk SPL
1x 400m test Walk SPL

Jog Round:

4x 50m experiment with Jog SPL
1x 200m test Jog SPL

Run Round:

4x 25m experiment with Run SPL
1x 100m test Run SPL

REPORT

In your Discussion Zone record your observations about how easy or difficult it was to identify your Walk, Jog, or Run SPL. And describe how you can use these three intensity levels in your practices.

Assignment 207: Switching Gears Down

OBJECTIVE

To develop your technique for switching your SPL gears down (longer stroke) and back, one point. N to N-1.

In the previous assignments you were examining the different points of the stroke you could adjust to create a change in your SPL. Now you will select your own combination of those techniques to adjust your SPL to a lower point (N to N-1) and back again. The idea is to be conscious of exactly what you must adjust in the stroke to affect the SPL change you want, then memorize that technique.

INSTRUCTIONS

Design a task involving full lengths of the pool that will have you swim at N, then switch up to N+1 and back down to N in various patterns. This needs to challenge your sense of feel for each SPL, and to finish at the wall as precisely on your chosen stroke count as possible.

REPORT

In your Discussion Zone you may record your observations on how you affected the switch and what difficulties you encountered.

Assignment 208: Switching Gears Up

OBJECTIVE

To develop your technique for switching your SPL gears up (shorter stroke) and back down (longer), one point: N to N+1.

In the previous assignments you were examining the different points of the stroke you could adjust to create a change in your SPL. Now you will select your own combination of those techniques to adjust your SPL to a higher point (N to N+1) and back again. It may actually be more challenging to shorten the stroke for some swimmers, than lengthening it. The idea is to be conscious of exactly what you must adjust in the stroke to affect the SPL change you want, then memorize that technique.

INSTRUCTIONS

REPORT

In your Discussion Zone you may record your observations on how you affected the switch and what difficulties you encountered.

Assignment 209: Multi-Gear Switching

OBJECTIVE

To become familiar with switching your SPL range more widely, by feel, over different distance intervals.

In the previous assignments you were working on switching just up and down one SPL point. Now you need to increase the challenge by switching between your highest (N+1) and your lowest (N-1), and to switch at different patterns and intervals.

INSTRUCTIONS

Design a task involving full lengths of the pool that will have you swim at various combinations, at various distances. This needs to challenge your sense of feel for each SPL, and to finish at the wall as precisely on your chosen stroke count as possible. Here are some pattern examples (which you can do in reverse also):

N-1, N, N+1
N, N+1, N, N-1
N-1, N+1, N-1 N+1
N-1, N+1, N

You may do these at variable distances. These are multiples you can use with any length or distance you choose:

1x, 2x, 3x
3x, 3x, 3x, 3x
3x, 1x, 3x, 1x

The idea here is that you can hold a certain SPL for a few lengths, until the rhythm feels easy, then force yourself to switch precisely and get into the rhythm of the next SPL as quickly as possible. An example set could be:

3x 25m N-1
1x 25m N
3x 25m N+1
1x 25m N

With no rest between lengths.

REPORT

In your Discussion Zone you may record what way you found this task easy or difficult, and the reasons why.