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Outside the Box:
Triathlon Swimming: Made EasySaturday, June 6, I was a guest at the first anniversary celebration of the Catskill Recreation Center, in Arkville NY, deep in the heart of the beautiful Catskill Mountains, an enjoyable 75-minute drive from my home in New Paltz. In her email inviting me to participate, Becky Manning, the center’s director described it as “an […]
Posts Tagged ‘Total Immersion Swimming’
When We’re Mindful, We’re Alive.
by Terry Laughlin
Posted on October 30th, 2014
by Terry Laughlin
Posted on October 30th, 2014
Ellen Langer, at age 67, is the longest-serving psychology prof at Harvard. What she is best known for is studies which have shown that people can make marked physical changes, improving health, reversing aging effects, etc. in response to mental suggestions, which she calls primes. The New York Times Magazine just published an article about […]
How to Swim Faster . . . and Pain Free
by Terry Laughlin
Posted on October 11th, 2014
by Terry Laughlin
Posted on October 11th, 2014
Is there a technique that allows you to swim much faster–while also minimizing the potential for shoulder pain? There is! And it’s one that nearly all coaches and swimmers overlook. Most people treat the recovery portion of the crawl stroke as incidental. Since it’s not involved in propulsion, they figure, it serves only to get […]
Why Swimming Can Be More Beautiful Than Golf
by Terry Laughlin
Posted on August 12th, 2014
by Terry Laughlin
Posted on August 12th, 2014
At the recent PGA Championship—one of golf’s four major championships—Tom Watson came within two strokes of making the cut to play to two final days. He did this less than a month shy of his 65th birthday. Watson, who was the top ranked player in the world for 5 consecutive years in the late 70s […]
Zen and the Art of Breaking World (or Personal) Records
by Terry Laughlin
Posted on July 9th, 2014
by Terry Laughlin
Posted on July 9th, 2014
What do you suppose it takes to set a world record in swimming. More to the point, what do you suppose it feels like to swim faster than any human in history? A recent article in the New York Times Miles From Her Top Competitors, a Young Star Still Outswims Them reported that US distance […]
Video: How We Build The “World’s Most Efficient Freestyle”
by Terry Laughlin
Posted on April 27th, 2014
by Terry Laughlin
Posted on April 27th, 2014
This beautiful short film is by TI Coach Johnny Widen (of Lulea Sweden, near the Arctic Circle.) Johnny shot it in Oct 2012 at Total Immersion Level 1 Coach Training in Windsor England. Johnny’s first purpose was to create a pre-training study video for future TI coach trainees. He used excerpts to also create an artistic view of […]
Change Your Swimming in Three Minutes, Part Two: Visualize!
by Terry Laughlin
Posted on April 18th, 2014
by Terry Laughlin
Posted on April 18th, 2014
In my previous installment in this three part series Change Your Swimming in Three Minutes I suggested setting aside three minutes at the beginning of practice-in most cases before you enter the pool–to calm and focus your mind. To recap, the first-stage exercise included: Nose breathing. Mouth breathing stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, which activates when we’re […]
Focus: Always a Work in Progress
by Terry Laughlin
Posted on April 8th, 2014
by Terry Laughlin
Posted on April 8th, 2014
In my most recent post Change Your Swimming in Three Minutes, I suggested doing a 3-minute exercise in nose-breathing and mind-clearing prior to entering the pool for practice. I wrote that post after several days of doing that exercise as I prepared to start a session of writing. It did help center me for somewhat […]
Change Your Swimming in Three Minutes
by Terry Laughlin
Posted on April 3rd, 2014
by Terry Laughlin
Posted on April 3rd, 2014
Do you have three minutes to spare? Not just any time. Specifically the three minutes just before you enter the pool, or any body of water. If you do, try this: Sit or stand wherever you’re comfortable. Then breathe through your nose, counting down 20 breaths. Each time you exhale, think: 20 . . . […]