Written by Suzanne Atkinson Sunday, 04 December 2011 01:13

For the first time, Steel City Endurance is offering a Total Immersion Freestyle Masterclass.   What is it and how can you benefit?

The Total Immersion basic techniques are great for helping many people, adult learners in particular, develop comfort and ease with freestyle. But there comes a point when you can swim long, and maybe even swim fast...but those pesky details of comforatble breathing, a well co-ordinated two beat kick, and shoulder friendly recovery & propulsion still seem to elude you.  Total Immersion's approach to these vital components of faster, more comfortable swimming continue to build on balance & streamlining, while going beyond the "youtube" videos and self-coaching material.

In the freestyle masterclass we will dedicate 1 class each week to each of these four advanced skills.   We recommned that you sign up for all four sessions as mastery of each one will help you create a complete freestyle stroke suited to your unique body & fitness.  Each session will include appropriate dry-land & in-the-water drills, rehearsals, whole stroke swimming thoughts and integration into practice design.   A tempo trainer is suggested, but not required.  Can be purchsed after checkout from Steel City's website.

Week 1: Effortless Breathing

Breathing is important for the obvious reasons, but many struggle with proper breathing mechanics, timing and in particular technique.  Keeping the head low and breathing into your bow wave sounds simple, but execution eludes many. This class will include drills and whole stroke thoughts to fine tune your breathing until it's as smooth, streamlined and sublimeas your non-breathing strokes

Week 2:  Energy saving 2 Beat Kick

A functional kick that also saves energy seems like a paradox to many triathletes, but by takign advantage of the forces availabe to you, namely gravity and body roll, a well-timed 2 beat kick can aid in streamlining, body rotation and energy saving propulsion. Examine the beautiful 2 beat kick of long distance world record holder Sun Yang in the 1500m World Championship event in Shanghai from 2011:     This week's class will include both dryland and inwater exercises & drills to help you tune into the coordination needed to learn this kick and maximize it's effectiveness while saving energy for the bike & the run.

Week 3:  Elegant Recovery Stroke to save the shoulders

The first place speed is built into the freestyle stroke is with a brisker recovery while maintaining traction in the stroking arm.  Unfortunately the recovery of the arm over the water can make or break your ability to progress beyond basic balance & streamlining.   Most Americans have week, tight upper back muscles that restrict the movement of the shoulder blade and inhibit the recovery arm causing hesitations and sinking in the stroke. This class will focus on learning to relax and activate the upper back muscles in the proper way, protect the shoulder joint & rotator cuff, and get your recovery arm under control with a high elbow that suits your personal physical build & flexibility.

Week 4:  Effective Propulsion for creating power

While many wish to start here, an effective propulsive stroke is best saved to last, since adding power to the stroke is the most expesive way to get faster. Until drag, streamling, balance and breathing are all developed, additions to power simply leak out through inefficiencies in the stroke.  In this class we will work on developing your kinesthetic, tactile & proprioceptive response to pressure in the water in order to help you move through the water, instead of just moving water around.  Direct forces behind you in a biomechanically friendly fashion and save your rotator cuffs!

 

Next Dates for the Master Class - March/April 2012

March 2012 - All Wednesday Evenings. (Not the skipped week due to planned Open Water Camp in Kona_

March 7th, 8pm: Effortless Freestyle Breathing

March 21th, 8pm: Efficient 2 Beat Kick for Distance Freestyle

March 28 th, 8 pm: Elegant Recovery to Save your Shoulders

April 4th, 8pm: Effective Propulsion to Harness Speed

Location

Olympic Swim & Health Club, Penn Hills, PA

Signup:

All 4 Sessions:

Affiliations

Individual $210.00 USD PTC 15% off $180.00 USD

Single Sessions:

Week 1: Breathing, March 7th, 2012

Affiliations

Individual $55.00 USD PTC 15% off $50.00 USD

 

Week 2: 2-Beat Kick, March 21th, 2012

Affiliations

Individual $55.00 USD PTC 15% off $50.00 USD

 

Week 3: Recovery Stroke, March 28, 2012

Affiliations

Individual $55.00 USD PTC 15% off $50.00 USD

 

Week 4: Propulsion, Apr 4th, 2012

Affiliations

Individual $55.00 USD PTC 15% off $50.00 USD

Written by Suzanne Atkinson Wednesday, 12 October 2011 01:07

Effortless Freestyle, Freestyle Masterclasses and TriFit Faster Freestyle clinics - Starting in November

Kona Swimming at TI Open Water Camp, Hawaii

This fall I'm Introducing three distinct ongoing freestyle options for triathletes.  In the past I've taught a single 4 week Freestyle clinic with a 5:1 student:teacher ratio, focusing on fundamental elements of Total Immersion freestyle and more.

This year in order to allow for better absorbtion of new skills, and also devote ample time to advanced skills such as seamless breathing, effective two beat kick and a propulsive catch, I've decided to offer two distinct four week skills sessions.  In addition, I'll be offering an ongoing weekly fitness session associated with US Masters Swimming.  Following are brief descriptions of each:

Effortless Endurance  (4 week class, 1 hour per week):

If swimming feels uncomfortable, you tire easily or increasing distance is a struggle, the culprit is energy waste, not lack of fitness. The solution isn't swimming more or harder; that only ingrains your "struggling skills." The fastest way to transform struggle into effortless, enjoyable swimming is by learning the Effortless Endurance skill sequence: Balance > Streamline > Propel.   Learn to cooperate with gravity, streamline and immediately swim further, faster with less effort, and propel yourself using gravity and body mass, while transfering workload to fatigue resistant muscles. Video analysis included.  Limit 5 students

 

Freestyle Masterclass (4 week class, 1 hour per week)

If you've reached the "OK Plateau" - you're swimming is good enough but not improving -- if you're in need of reinvigoration, or you sense nagging inefficiencies in stroke, kick or breathing, the freestyle masterclass will put you on the path from efficient to expert in freestyle. You'll learn higher-level skills, particularly how to (1) catch-and-stroke more effectively; (2), breathe seamlessly; and (3) get more out of your kick while working less. Participants should have completed the Effortless Endurance class, a private lesson series or have similar freestyle ability. If in doubt, upload video of your swim.  Video analysis included.  Limit 7 students

 

Weekly Faster Freestyle with US Masters Swimming (ongoing 8 week sessions, 1 hour per week)

If you enjoy racing and seek to improve your speed, I'll teach you to how to improve fitness and speed with precise optimization of stroke length and stroke rate . You'll learn to replace generic repeats and magazine/book workouts with engaging and 100 percent personalized practice.  This weekly session can be a supplement to your current swim training, including masters swimming, or it can be a standalone weekly group swim session to complement your personal swims.  Tempo Trainer required. (can be purchased from Steel City Endurance at a 20% discount off retail).

Participants in Faster Freestyle are expected to have participated in either a private lesson series, the Effortless Freestyle class, or have similar swimming ability. Average 100yd repeat pace should be less than 2:00, and you should be able to swim 200 yards continuously, and 1500 yds or more per practice session. (more advanced swimmers 500yds continuous in < 10 minutes and 2000yds or more per swim session). Limit 12 students

Currently Scheduled Session Dates: (Reg Price/Tri Club Price)

Effortless Freestyle (TI 1.0) ($210/$180)

November Wednesdays 2nd, 16th, 23rd, 30th  8pm

Affiliations

Individual $210.00 PTC 15% off $180.00

 

Freestyle Masterclass (TI 2.0) ($210/$180)

December Wednesdays 7th, 14th, 21st, 29th, 8pm

Affiliations

Individual $210.00 PTC 15% off $180.00

TriFit Faster Freestyle/US Masters (TI 3.0)

Fall 8 Week session ($80/$72)

Every Tuesday 8pm, starting November 8th thru December 27th

 

Affiliations

Individual $80.00 PTC 10% off $72.00

Question:  Why are the 4 week clinics so much more expensive than the 8 week Tri Fit session?

The 4 week clinics are very technique focused, and class size is limited to 5-6 students to allow for frequent hands on adjustments and personal attention.  Video analysis of stroke is included during first and last sessions, with videos uploaded for viewing online at any time.

The 8 week TriFit session allows up to 12 students and is a more traditional fitness swimming session affiliated with US Masters swimming. Participants must be members of USMS.  There will be 95% full stroke freestyle with personalized sessions guaranteed to improve your speed.

I'll be sending out more info with instructions on how to sign up for the upcoming swim sessions in the next few days.  And of course, I will always be available for private and group lessons as well.