Topics related to how swimming can improve fitness and wellness
We’ve been teaching adults how to swim from scratch for over 20 years, and the most common thing that we hear is that new swimmers are timid about going to the pool to practice. It makes a lot of sense. You are scared of the water, all of the skills…
The Balance-Streamline-Propel (BSP) Pyramid is about as a close to a unifying icon that the Total Immersion school of swim coaching has in its repertoire. Terry Laughlin, the founder of Total Immersion Swimming, referred to the elements of the pyramid for over 30 years. When he created the icon several…
“Coach Fitz, how long will it take me to learn to swim?” I get that question from prospective adult clients at Chicago Blue Dolphins over and over again. Most adults get their minds set on a far off end goal of swimming a mile of freestyle with rhythmic breathing over…
I was doing one of the long distance swim training practices that I’ve been writing for my triathletes yesterday, and the main set called for a 1,500 yard aerobic swim. It was a recovery week, so I thought a longer swim would help work out the kinks and help to…
I was checking out my company’s Facebook page this morning and saw that my office manager had posted an article entitled “3 Reasons You Should Be Doing More Kick.” To preempt any comments such as “I’m a triathlete. I thought that I wasn’t supposed to kick.”, I thought I would put…
I’ve had some conversations with some of my swimmers recently about swimming “effortlessly.” When we use the term “effortless” we are using it in the sense of the Taoist term, wu wei. Wu wei is an complicated philosophical concept debated for around 2,500 years, so I will apologize up…
A few months ago, I was asked at a talk how to use a Tempo Trainer effectively in a swim practice. For those not familiar with Tempo Trainers, they are little plastic discs that can clip to your goggles or go under your cap when you swim. You can set…
I took off in the middle of the day to do my swim today. I wanted to play around with some Tempo Trainer sets in this practice and see how I would do. If you are interested, you can see the detail on the practice on our website. For those…
My office manager forwarded on an article from “Chicago Parent” on the use of swim noodles in swim classes. I was about to write a blog post that swim tools don’t teach, teachers do. I was going to take a triathlete angle and pick on my favorite enemies, the hand paddle…
So what do you think about when you are doing your swim training or lap swimming? If it’s not about how you are actually moving through the water and the quality of your movement, you are missing out on a tremendous opportunity to improve and to enjoy your swimming. Total…
