Triathlon swimming made easy Read Online Free PDF

along!"
    That sense of ease and comfort is transforming for swimmers who have struggled for years without ever feeling good. Ten minutes, and one simple skill, have made them feel more capable than anything else in their swimming experience. That's why mastering balance is the non-negotiable foundation of "fishlike" swimming — the skill that must be learned by every would-be swimmer before attempting anything more advanced.
    Which simply means that learning to swim is no different from learning to walk or learning any other land-based skill. Many years ago, just learning to stand unaided, and then take a few shaky steps, took each of us weeks of utterly concentrated effort. But it was essential to every movement skill that followed, from basic play skills such as running and bicycling to advanced athletic skills such as gymnastics, dance, or downhill skiing.

    In each instance the body's center of gravity (several inches below the navel) must be kept artfully aligned over the feet while the body is moving in ways likely to upset that alignment. We spend virtually every waking minute consciously or unconsciously practicing dynamic balance in that way. And our motivation to excel at it is great for, if we don't, we'll be terrible at sports — and be much more likely to fall and fracture things.
    Part of the reason it has taken so long for swimmers and coaches to understand how essential it is to master balance is that being unbalanced doesn't have so serious a penalty in the water as on land. Rather than a painful fall and instant lesson, we start doing laps any way we can and simply get tired from all the extra drag of a body moving towards its natural (i.e., vertical) position (and begin learning how to struggle). Our reaction to that is "I need to get in better shape."
    Ten years of teaching have shown us that every swimmer who has not consciously worked on balance has room to improve on it. Even Olympic swimmers have told me they could feel their hips become lighter and higher after practicing simple balance drills, though we could not always see a striking difference. But with Olympic medals won by the tiniest of margins, even fractional improvements in efficiency loom large.
    The immediate improvement in every swimmer to whom we've taught our basic balance drills has shaped TI methods as nothing else has. It's also shaped the thinking of hundreds of coaches who have attended a TI workshop and seen how rapidly a sense of balance can transform a struggling swimmer into a fluent one. Mastering balance is not only important in its own right, but also impacts every part of the stroke. Here's how.
    1. Balance keeps you horizontal and slippery. Imagine kicking with a board angled slightly upward. The increased drag would make kicking a lot harder. Now imagine how much drag your whole body can create when positioned at a similar angle. If you're not perfectly horizontal, it's a lot more work to move yourself forward than if you are horizontal. After viewing underwater video of thousands of swimmers, we've concluded that well over 90% have room to improve their balance, including many who appear from the deck to be doing fine.
    Usually the best-hidden imbalance is that which happens only momentarily during the stroke (e.g., while breathing in freestyle). Viewed in slow-motion or stop-action from under water, it shows up glaringly. The swimmer usually has no idea this is going on at all until he or she begins regular balance practice and realizes how much better it feels to be completely supported by the water.
    2. Balance saves you from wasting energy fighting "that sinking feeling." Let's clear up one thing right now: Your body is supposed to sink. Huge amounts of energy are wasted because of the nearly universal misunderstanding that good body position means riding high in the water.
    Novice swimmers spend upwards of 90 percent of their energy just trying to keep from sinking. Their "survival stroke" leaves little energy for