I have tried an a embarrassing amount of hours trying to learn this, especially arm recovery, elbow circles, failed.😢

Its literally why i do it. I initially started it as a drill to improve my freestyle as its technically the catch-up catch but ive remained doing it as standard

Many people testify to that, relaxing, yoga, meditation, Nirvana,etc, but I just can't get those elbow circles to work, when my recovery arm comes back, my thumb is on my thigh, then I swing it wide and try to circle but sometimes just feels awkward.

​@@hanskung3278Did you practice with a TI coach?

@@007Mugs No I haven't, I guess I elbow circle aren't worth the money.....Terry didn't always teach elbow circles....sometimes recovery was about swinging wide and I know Shinji doesn't teach elbow circles.

ok thanks will try this

What an excellent story, Brendan! I, too, am learning via the book, and with the help of KZfaq clips as well. For some reason, I feel that Terry Laughlin is some kind of spiritual guide in my life... sounds sappy and weird, but I'm going to go with that. I think these methods of efficiency could be applied to more areas of life, outside the pool. It's sheer beauty and amazing how he has figured out so much. Reminds me of Tai Chi in many ways. I'm also a heavy set fellow who wants to use swimming as part of my weight loss strategy. I notice that I don't seem to have to swim downhill as much as I observe some of the skinny T.I. coaches, on these youtube clips, doing. My legs, hips, stomach and buttocks are pretty bouyant, as is. Did you notice this as well, Brendan? Of course, the drills to find XY coordinates or just doing a Superman glide will help us find what angles our arms will discover, and I'm sure we all have different balance given all the different body types. Keep up the good work and thanks for posting; you're an inspiration for me to keep practicing!

Mumpy Gumboo I am making myself perform pace routines, simply because otherwise you can get into a reverie with your swimming and the times go up, rather than down. With TI its easy to finish a mile/mile-and-a-half and not feel any fatigue at all, but it is useful to push to encourage pace. I too am having no problem with bouyancy! I have though adjusted my stroke so my leading arm isn't allowed to sink as much as before. The wrist is still below the elbow and the elbow below the shoulder but it is not so pronounced. Now amongst the drills there are flat-out 1/2, 1/4 and 1/8 miles where I try to up the stroke rate without losing the smoothness and SL. I've reduced the non-stop mile and 1.5 mile sessions, and it has paid off. Today I managed circa 13 mins for 1/2 mile, circa 6 mins for 1/4 mile and 3 mins for 1/8 mile suggesting I've hit a speed block even when I'm going at full throttle, when I would have expected perhaps 2.5 mins. All ridiculous times and distances when a year ago two lengths of a pool doing front crawl would leave me feeling like death! Increasing the pace increases the calorie burn, but I'm trying to find a balance that doesn't provoke oxygen starvation and hence too much lactic acid (some isn't bad) whilst ensuring that the pace increases incrementally each week. You notice immediately what happens if your stroke gets 'ragged'; the fatigue starts and the speed will drop. So its finding the balance between going as fast as you possibly can, but not at the expense of introducing tiredness. My best time for a mile has broken through the 30-minute barrier (I was stuck at 32 minutes for months) and is now just over 28 mins. If I could do a 2nd half-mile as quick as a single one, I could hit circa 26 minutes, though I'm not certain where I'm losing time. With TI I was hoping to go sub-30 minutes by the end-of-this-year, but it has happened a lot earlier. My long-term target is a mile in 19 mins, and that is now the target for end-of-2015!

Excellent to hear all this, Brendan. Today I swam for about 1/2 hour. It was a struggle, mostly, but that's what I am expecting for the first while. I'm mostly just doing drills. I don't count laps, yet, either. I'm just trying to etch those sensory grooves into my mind/body so I can do TI swimming better. So far, I'm having a hard time knowing how far I"m leaning to the side, how far my head is tilted, or my leading arm (I can't see anything, so I mostly am trying to find out by experimenting with slight variations and find which works best). On top of all this, mostly my struggle is around breathing correctly. I think my legs swing too much from side to side as well. I used to be a good sprint swimmer, but I'm getting too old for that game, any more; it just burns my shoulders out now. Since I really etched in my brain and honed my skills in the traditional forms, it's hard for me to get TI swimming really into my nervous system. However, I have seen some improvements; I've gone from a 14, or 15 stroke 25 meter length, down to a 12 stroke length (only done this once however) and mostly, I do it in 13 strokes. It is simply stunning to watch Shinji do it in 9 strokes! What form! What I find most impressive about Laughlin, is that his form is the most effortless. It reminds me of when I took Tai Chi classes and the Sifu (teacher) would tell us, as we held a pose: "Now see if you can hold your arms up using fewer muscles." And, lo and behold, you could do this! I think that's Terry's big strength; he's just so damn efficient. If Sjinji is the world's most graceful swimmer, I'll bet Laughlin is the world's most efficient.

This month I have concentrated on stopping Overgliding; that tendency to simply glide along losing pace but I guess looking wonderful! Now I am keeping the leading arm moving and having got my stroke rate down - the best I've done is 11 in a 25m pool, I'm now ratcheting it up, ensuring the speed-drop troughs are shorter.

Brendan Newport Hi Brendan. When you say you're keeping your lead arm moving, do you mean that during the reach forward, you move it very slowly initially. That looks like what Terry is doing in this video, if not taking a tiny pause in the most forward reaching position. I, too, have gotten 11 strokes in a 25 meter pool, quite a number of times. That is with a healthy push-off, mind you. But, it is acceptable to do so. Thing is, I can't seem to break the 25 seconds per/length. I can do it in 23 seconds, if I put more effort into it, but for a good steady endurance rhythm, 25 seconds seems to be the fastest I can go without burnout. Do you time your lengths, Brendan?

Is this style useful for burning calories or a way to remain injury free while not burning calories so intensely?

⁠imo it will burn calories if you swim long distances or swim for half hour or longer and how fast but it’s comfortable

+Peter B. Bae Peter, I swim mainly for the sheer pleasure of feeling a beautiful sense of flowing *like water.* However the efficiency of this style has also made me fairly fast--at least for my age. I won six National Masters open water championships between ages 55 and 60 (we shot this video when I was about 59) and broke the national 55-59 records for 1- and 2-Mile Cable Swims in open water. I will turn 65 in March 2016 and have set some ambitious goals for Masters Nationals next April.

Peter B. Bae I even sleep sometimes while swimming !

Simply perfect, Terry Laughlin. I'm searching for people in cologne / Bonn to swim / practice together. Without being in water several times a week, I could'nt exist. Breathing, moving, consciousness... If possible I close my eyes during swimming. Or listen music. Harmony... Thanks a lot for teaching this. Best wishes!

Peter B. Bae Fast swimming is economic swimming. The fastest swimmers don't look like they're swimming with very much effort.

Hello Terry, I have had improvement on my TI swimming along the years that I have been practicing it through your books and DVDS , The issue that I have is that TI is misinterpreted by some of the experts that are preaching it. I missed a clear message about TI. There are many "caciques", much ego.TI is a simplified and scientific approach to swimming, but somehow it is missed in the process of teaching it. Sometimes I get a glimpse, a eureka insight from a past TI instructor who developed his/her own business. Some of her own videos have a simpler approach without any baggage. For instance Terry, in the 2 days TI workshop I had attended, the instructor may have miscoated you about your recovery, saying that your pushing the water back past the hips may be a bad habit from your early swimming years. I came to realize that you do this in ALL YOUR SWIMMING, furthermore, the videos I have been watching explains that pushing the hand past the hips makes the front gliding hand to elongate, thus, helping the slippering of the body through the hole". I came to develop a questioning approach to TI "experts". I feel that there is always some incomplete information. There is always something left out on purpose. For instance, in the workshop that I had attended, the instructor wanted to create a whole new "advanced" workshop to introduce the two beat kicks . I believe this should have been included in this 2 days workshop...Can we get any simpler and streamlining?

What is a ipsi hand?

@@philhaggar6285 Ipsilateral vs. contralateral. Kinesiology terms. Ipsi means on the same side. Contra means the opposite side. For example, synchronize the flicking of the left toes (foot), with the completion of the left arm (EVF), same side (ipsi) and the opposite (contra) hip drive. Good luck. Been telling many to try total immersion.

He died after listening to a podcast?

Must have been an awful podcast.

Thank you for your kind words🙏🏼We are very grateful that Tim captured Terry’s final interview. It is such a treasure to have something that was recorded less than 2 weeks before Terry passed. He would be so gratified to know that it was impactful to you. Happy Laps🧜‍♂️

gv. mclbrixhbfp

Thank you, Rafael. Terry (my father) loved people, and loved to see them empower themselves. Swimming is healing bc it’s all about learning what YOU can do-and we see all the time that people are capable of such great things. Glad you feel it made a difference in your life, that is all he ever wanted in this world: to make a positive difference. Don’t we all? The thing I tell every person who leaves my swim classes is this: You now have skills that you can improve for yourself, AND share with others. Simplicity is your friend. Share this gift with others-you have great potential to teach another person what you have learned. I truly believe that this method is so easy, most anyone can learn it or teach the basics of it. I hope you are still enjoying swimming 🏊🏻‍♀️ 🏊🏾

awesome make sense thanks

This style is a very soft hand in to the water. And slightly open fingers is the best way to achieve that gentle entry and stay mindful of the no splash technique. IMO and experience

prga

Robert Brandywine Hello. The deeper arm spear will not create more resistance but will raise hip and improve streamlining. It also enables a better catch as the hand is already in the correct position. You have to make sure your head is also in the correct position. Good luck. It works!

Hi Kris Clay.... yes, I'm sure you'll find that TI swimming is good for weight loss, since you'll be able to sustain it for longer periods of time than other systems... you won't burn out any muscles and you'll just be gliding along for nice long swims if you can get into the technique. If I'm not mistaken, for weight loss, we need longer term, lower heart rate exercises (with an occasional short, intense sprint thrown in every week or ten days), to burn fats instead of the glycogen in our livers. And, if we exercise too hard, too much, we'll release cortisone which, for many, makes them gain weight. If you're new to this, start slow and do the drills. One mistake I made when I started was thinking I couldn't turn my head to the side at all, to get a breath. That's not really true. While much of it is done with the body roll, it's also about a small, quick turn of the head (while keeping the neck straight) to get air. I absolutely love TI swimming. I fell out of love with my bicycling and hiking due to feet issues. So, this is a great thing to do and it's a big part of my life. It's so many things rolled into one: meditation, cardio exercise, core strength building (kind of like underwater pilates), muscle toning (while stretching also), and a constant learning challenge. Practicing in a swimming pool, gets me more excited for open water swimming in the summer. I cannot fly on land, but I feel like I can while I'm swimming.

Thank you for the information. I appreciate your help. best wishes to you in return.

This information is mistaken. Sets of sprints or high endurance activity is much more effective for weight loss. The idea of 40-60 minutes of light cardio for weight loss is a very old model that hasn't yet been updated in the current culture's awareness. Sprints are much better for weight loss. One way you could incorporate sprints into swimming is to do your longer, relaxing swims, but make sure to really swim in a fast, tiring way every once in a while. The short sprints you do early on in the workout will make the rest of the workout far more effective, whether or not you do sprints. So you can either do 5-10 sets of sprints (30-60 seconds each) or do a longer swim, occasionally sprinting and at other times just going past a leisurely pace. If you'd like more info, look up HIIT training and weight loss. The evidence in conclusive. Best of luck, friend!

Dean either tie a band or put a buoy between your legs it will help you get used to the glide without too much of the leg movement

+Dosa Zsolt Diagonal.

+Dosa Zsolt Shinji Takeuchi does same sides, and Terry also does same sides in this video

No, you can clearly see (e.g. around 1:08) that he's kicking with the opposite leg. I think you're being misled by the little twitch of the hip that he does before the actual kick.

Greater efficiency, greater flow, ability to swim longer without tiring and greater enjoyment for a beautiful peaceful movement.

+Walter WANG it just the way they phrase it is different, I tried TI and gave up because at the end it's the same as regular swimming. they dont turn all the way up to the sweet spot to breath when they master this TI technique it's not necessary. The sweet spot make you feel more secured when breathing, but even the coach in this video doesn't turn all the way around to breathe isn't he. But that's only my opinion

+YIFANFENGSHUN Very Well Said Sir ! This is exactly what I too felt for years and at least now I find somebody commenting about the ' Emperor's Cloth " ! ha ha ha...

You can. Watch practice and concirate

+Ocanadakiter reducing resistance, kind of like going on gear lower on your bicycle.

IMO I don't think splitting your fingers is meant to create less drag, I think the point is to keep your hand relaxed. Cupping your hands will eventually tire your hands and then you start compensating your form. By keeping a relaxed hand you enter the water fluidly and consistently. Hope I helped

Cool guys thanks i gotta get back in the water since i can't jog anymore due to a bad rollover 5 months ago.

+Ocanadakiter It's a physics thing, splitting you fingers "creates" a larger hand. Water doesn't "compress" between your fingers, spreading them "makes them wider". livehealthy.chron.com/fingers-open-vs-closed-swimming-4106.html

+DTMacahilas thanks man i got to get back at it and try this technique. .

That a great realization..

Yes, you can do that. Thanks for asking.

@@robertfagan3876 Thanks Robert . Please visit and watch the video when I notice you.

he only does it because he's swimming slowly

Can you say MP ! When I watch MP I see Total Immersion in his stroke, just faster, but still the hip drive and glide. It was talked about in the 1st TI book about Bill Boomer (which has coached the Olympic swimmers). That is my finding, hope it helps.

R d2up

Mumpy Gumboo I'm built like a broomstick and my centre of mass is very far up my body. I feel like I'm almost tilting into a somersault when I reach perfect centre. But it also feels perfectly balanced, keeps my hips up, and keeps my head fully immersed without having to crane my neck or anything. So yes, skinny people have 'sinky' legs, and I'd say they tilt forward more. Whatever works best for your body