Afternoon all
My swimming is shit, as demonstrated by the fact I won the 'Drowned Pirate' award at IM Regensburg 2011...and it hasn't improved in the interim (which isn't surprising as i've barely been in a pool since ).
Anyway, i've joined a gym with a pool now (2 pools in fact!!), so i shall be partaking of the joys of swimming. I need to get better to start triathlon again too.
Has anyone on here done any 1:1 coaching with a Swim Smooth instructor, or been to a swim clinic run by them? I was considering it, though not until I can get back to swimming 400m continuously (can't even manage that at the mo!). I quite liked the fact you see them once, get advice, videos to take away etc then you work on what they've taught you and see them maybe a month later.
It would be good to hear folks thoughts on the swim smooth 'product'.
Ta muchly
Pea
Comments
go for it
which gym did you join?
Any one to one swim coaching will be good. As long as you an relax breathing in the water anyway. If you can't you'll never focus n what they are saying
It's not my experience, but a friend had a good time with the Total Immersion course.
He really couldn't swim very well but he's taking part in triathlons now.
Theres a free swim dvd with Triathlon plus mag this month (I think its Triathlon plus, not 220 the other one, its in my car, I'll go and av a look)
I've done TI and Swim Smooth and would definitely recommend 1 2 1 Swim Smooth.
I dd a TI weekend ... but wouldnt mind doing Swim Smooth sometime
I found the TI weekend put me off swimming, whereas an hour and a half with Swim Smooth gave me some big improvements.
I should caveat that, I'm still not a very good swimmer but at least not ALL of the old ladies doing breast stroke in the pool are faster now.
Before I did TI - i used to ight the water and was always out of breath even after 200-300m
The TI sorted me and now I dont even find 10k's daunting
My coach is TI based. It's made the world of difference to how I feel about swimming. Given the early stage I'm at and how well he's expressed some basic building blocks, I think the quality of the coach and how well we communicate is probably more important than the label he teaches under.
Thanks folks.
Will i've joined David Lloyd in Port Solent. Has a 25m indoor pool, and 18m (I think) outdoor pool. I really like the gym I have to say - got 3 months of price too, because of a couple of offers being on, so made the price a bit less horrific!
That sounds good Kate. I've looked into TI before, and although tbh i've not had actual coaching in it, it did seem strange to me when I was trying to do some of the stuff they talk about. You're right about the coach though DS, that makes a big difference.
I think i'll go for the 1:1 session and see how it goes. Tbh i'll not be doing it until nearer the end of the year rather than imminently - got some weight loss and fitness/core strength/flexibility targets to hit first, as improving those will help swimming (I struggled with all three when swimming before).
Thanks for the info folks (and i'll try to find the magazine too, cheers!).
Avalaf i've managed to conquer the breathing okay, so that's good, it is just my general technique that needs a lot more work!
I will be really keen to read how you get on. I haven't had a 1 to 1 either, but have read their book, which is fantastic.
Ahhh, i've not seen the book Faithsdaddy. I shall have to look for that!
Lee, I know most of the DLPS coaches. I'll PM you as it would be unfair to give my opinion of their strengths and weaknesses on a public forum
Lee have you seen the swimsmooth website? There is a lot of useful stuff on there as well
Lee, I have literally just done one this last week! I've always been a confident and competent swimmer. I did Outlaw swim last year in 1hr10. However, I felt I could / should be faster. I've been swimming quite a bit in the last 6 weeks or so as I've got the Dart 10K in a fortnight.
So I went to the lady in Richmond as I seemed to have reached a plateau and wasn't getting any faster.
I had the video analysis and when confronted with years of bad habits I was, quite frankly, shocked! Lots of things to tweak and improve upon! She also identified a very old shoulder injury, which it seems I'm still showing signs of!
Anyhow, I now have an X rated video nasty to look at along with examples of the 'drills' I need to be doing in order to try to correct 40+ years of bad habits!
It is also gives me a fantastic exhibition as to why I *need* / *must* lose 2 stone!!
I went down the swim smooth route purely because I read Funkin's post IM Bolton race report where he mentioned that he went along to the Swim Smooth clinics! I thought, 'If it's good enough for a Kona qualifier...'
I have to say I was impressed with the whole thing and am looking forward to seeing improvements!
Yeah i've been having a look Meldy, thanks. I get emails from them too, so i've actually started reading them, ha ha!
Thanks for all the info Cas, got it
Ah that is good timing then Siggy! Sounds like it was a really interesting session. Can't wait to hear how you get on with all the drills. Are you going to go back and see them in a month or so to see how you're doing, or just judge it by improved swim times?
I definitely want to get back to tri, and as much as my biking and running are pretty pish too, i feel i can improve them on my own, but my swimming is drastic, and it needs serious work, and help. I'm thinking of the Austria IM in 2015, so time to get better (the decision is Austria, right? Well, wherever it ends up will do me )
Thanks for all the replies folks
I did one of the one day swim smooth clinics and really enjoyed it, video analysis to take away plus a pdf of stuff to work on. Quite a lot of time in the pool as well. I have decided to join a swim smooth squad session on a Thursday night for a while - it is a long drive but I am hoping it will be worth it for a few months at least.
Ahhh, i forgot you went to one of the sessions Mathschick, i'm sure i've even asked you about it, lol. Let me know how the squad sessions go Good luck with them.
Here's the link to the book Lee;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Swim-Smooth-Complete-Coaching-Triathletes/dp/1119963192/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377893900&sr=1-1&keywords=swim+smooth
Thanks FD. Just checked out the 'look inside' feature, it looks good picked up a couple of tips already!!
Lee, I'm not sure if I'll go back yet! 'We' discussed a chat in a month or so, but I'll see how / if my speed increases and decide appropriately! It wasn't cheap but, having said that, if it works, and there's no reason so far to doubt it, it will have been worth it! I think the 'squad sessions' would be the best and most cost effective way to go next! For me anyway!
I have been invited along for an initial taster session FOC so will follow up on that!
Fair enough. If you don't feel the need to have another 'check' 1:1, the squad sessions sound like a good plan. I've ordered the Swim Smooth book, so looking forward to that arriving next week
Swim Smooth book arrived today, hurrah! Just had a quick look through it, and i'm excited about reading it all. Went for a wee swim last night, and I can feel a lot of the things i'm doing wrong - hopefully this book will give me some ideas about how to correct the problems. I'd still like to to a 1:1 session - need to be able to swim a bit further in one go first.
Looking forward to my next swim now (words I never thought i'd utter!!!)
It really is a great system Lee. I'm going to dump all of my old TI stuff on ebay soon. Swim Smooth all the way
We shall soon be fish-like, I can feel it in my bones!
Are you anywhere near Godalming? I'm going to swim some of the river Wey once Heron lakes shuts down for the summer. I put my email down in a related thread, but nobody wants to play
Think about 90 mins away, in Southampton. When are you doing that?