Easy Freestyle Swimming by Terry Laughlin (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)A few weeks ago, a friend convinced me to do a sprint triathlon with him in a few months. Soon thereafter, I decided to go to my gym's pool to see how far I could swim, just to gauge how much work lay ahead. I already knew *how* to swim (via years of lessons at the Y) but figured I needed to work on my fitness level. To my shock, at the end of maybe 75 yds, I had to stop. I was exhuasted, gasping, and had a heart rate through the roof. Even though I'm in decent shape, i figured I must be out of shape for swimming. So to the gym I went, faithfully churning out lap after exhausting lap, trying to kick and splash my way to fitness. But part of me knew there was something wrong. I would see the 65 year old guys doing lap after effortless lap and thought there must be a better way. Well, THIS is that better way. The TI system was recommended in Joe Friel's "Your first Triathlon" and his highly regarded "The Triathlete's Trainig Bible" as well as in "Chi Running".
Now there's nothing magical or mysterious about the TI system. Some of it is just sound swimming technique known by others for a long time (eg looking down, body rotation, streamlining, etc). But there are other aspects that seem to be unique to TI. Where the system really shines is in the step-wise approach and skill-specific drills to building a smoother and more efficient stroke. It's broken down so logically and systematically that one can't help but to improve one's freestyle stroke by simply trying to execute its lessons.
The DVD itself is of decent quality, more than adequate to accomplish its goal. While a couple of the video sequences look as though the camera operator was drunk, it is mostly well-filmed and it is easy to see the details of the drill that is being explained. They are shot both above and below the water and from multiple angles, sometimes even using split screens to enhance understanding. The music and graphics are a little cheap but who really cares. Before a pool session, I usually watch a chapter while taking notes. Then I bring my notes with me to the pool (in a ziplock bag) to jog my memory of the important points I need to keep in mind. This really works but it's not magic. You'll have to drill, be patient, and get to the pool regularly.
While the DVD itself will be sure to improve your stroke, I think the weekend TI workshop is extremely helpful in making sure you're doing the drills properly. Until you see underwater video of yourself, it's really hard to get an accurate sense of how efficient your stroke really is.
All in all, an extremely useful DVD for anyone (especially triathletes) who wants to improve their freestyle. Highly recommended!

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Swim easier, farther and faster. We Guarantee It! Easy Freestyle is the next best thing to having your own Total Immersion coach. Master the skills and secrets for swimming as easily, as far or as fast as you d like. Easy Freestyle presents seven self-coaching lessons, perfected at Total Immersion Workshops, with every telling detail examined above-and below-water, with slow-motion and comparison video.Lesson One Cooperate with Gravity: Cleverly use gravity to achieve a sense of support, comfort and confidence.Lesson Two The Past of Least Resistance: Minimize energy cost by learning fish-like body positions and profiles. Lesson Three Swim with your Body: Use weight shifts, instead of fatigue-prone arms and legs to spear your body through the water.Lesson Four Perpetual Motion Propulsion: Connect powerful, effortless hip drive to your stroke and kick for maximal speed with minimal fatigue.Lesson Five Relax you Recovery: Use a compact, relaxed recovery to channel energy and power where they do the most good.Lesson Six Seamless Breathing: Breathing skills that get your muscles the oxygen they need and make your stroke more powerful and effective.Lesson Seven Turns that Save Energy and Time: All the details for the easy and airy open turn, and a flip turn that s faster and easier than ever.Lesson Eight The Secrets of Speed: The fool-proof way to convert an efficient stroke into more speed.

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Freestyle: Made Easy Review

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(More customer reviews)The book (Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way To Swim Better, Faster, and Easier) and DVD aren't completely aligned, but do supplement each other well. Actually, I probably wouldn't recommend the DVD without the book.
There are two extremes of swimmers that would likely be interested in this swim method: complete beginners looking to start swimming and experienced swimmers looking to examine this method. Like most, I was somewhere in the middle (after being told by a swim coach that I looked like I was being electrocuted in the water, I thought that this relaxed style of swimming would be a good remedy).
Beginners will instantly see the value; it starts at the very beginning with active floating. Experienced swimmers will need to be prepared to start at the very beginning as well, as Terry Laughlin (correctly) sees a need to break down established patterns of movement in order to build new muscle memory.
My freestyle has become significantly more relaxed. Of course, I still have a long way to go to becoming a proficient distance swimmer (practice, practice, practice), but this video has helped eliminate a lot of bad habits so that the practice is actually beneficial.
One criticism (aside from the somewhat cheesy production): proper flutter kick is nearly ignored. Although it's not the primary source of propulsion for efficient swimmers (e.g., Terry only kicks once per stroke), it's still a significant supplement when wanting to swim fast. It would have been nice to see it addressed more in the video.

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FREESTYLE MADE EASY - THE TOTAL IMMERSION SYSTEMTotal Immersion: Freestyle Made Easy illustrates everything about freestyleswimming - how to kick efficiently; every part of the stroke - entry,catch, finish, exit and recovery; how to breathe - in the pool and in openwater; and how to do both the relaxing open turn and the fast flip turn. Toallow you to study all of this carefully, the DVD uses more views (surface,underwater, front, and directly overhead), more slow-motion and more stopaction than any DVD produced before. Since 1989, Total Immersion Swimminghas become a phenomenon among improvement-minded swimmers - the firstprogram in the history of swimming instruction with "raving fans." TI hasbecome so popular because it is simpler than any alternative; it works withunprecedented dependability and it makes swimming enjoyable and deeplysatisfying. Freestyle Made Easy provides the whole picture on smartFreestyle. Running Time: 42 minutes

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