In this introduction, Terry gives you an idea of what you can get out of the Total Immersion technique.

In this lesson Terry gives you an explanation of why he's going to how to emulate a fish, rather than a traditional swimming method.

In this lesson Terry gives some tips on how to get the most from the course and introduces the downloadable eBook which comes with the course.

In this lesson Terry talks about how to improve quickly through drills and how to focus on one specific sensation and introduces the downloadable WORKBOOK. Click on Downloadable Materials to get the WORKBOOK. and an accompanying IMAGE guide.

This group of drills and skills imparts three qualities essential to ultra-efficient swimming—and to creating the conditions for continuous long-term improvement:
1. Immediate energy savings from a weightless and stable body position.
2. The body control necessary to learn all subsequent skills.
3. The focus, sense of calm, and habits of self-perception that will make your swimming more satisfying and effective for decades to come

Torpedo practice repeats are briefer than any other drill. Though you may only practice it a few times, it will create invaluable and enduring body awareness that improves Balance and Core Stability—the indispensable foundations of an efficient stroke.

The greatest benefit of Torpedo is that it has few ‘moving parts.’ This allows pinpoint focus in several key mini-skills—a ‘weightless’ head, head-spine alignment, and an engaged core:

Isolating your head in front will heighten awareness of when you’ve achieved an aligned and neutral head position, preparing you to maintain that position in every step that follows.

You’ll also have better awareness of activating core muscle. Both skills are essential to maintaining a sleek, stable body position when you begin moving your arms and legs.

Torpedo: Rehearsal

• Stand tall with feet together in your best posture.

• Keep shoulders relaxed.

• Keep head neutral. Don’t lift or tuck your chin.

• Imagine you’re wearing ‘cargo’ jeans with pockets on the front. Reach hands down thighs as if to reach deep into those pockets. (We’ll reference ‘Cargo Pockets’ several times in our lessons.) Pull navel to spine. Lightly press legs together.

Torpedo: Practice with a Glide

• Push gently into a surface glide. (Don’t plunge underwater.) Your legs will sink gradually as glide slows. Maintain head-spine alignment as they do.

• Hold legs together to increase glide and slow legs from sinking.

• When you lose momentum (in a few seconds) stand for a breather and mental reset. Then push into glide again.

Torpedo Checklist
Head: Release its weight so you feel the water support (or cushion) it.
Arms: Push hands deep in Cargo Pockets.
Core: Pull navel toward spine.
Legs: Press together and lengthen.
Bodyline: Maintain the strong posture from your rehearsal.

Torpedo: Practice with a Flutter
By adding a flutter kick to Torpedo, you’ll gain a few seconds to memorize key focal points and sensations. Do not turn this into a kicking exercise! Keep kick small, gentle and quiet.

Torpedo: Partner Practice
Assisted practice with a partner can greatly ease and accelerate the acquisition of key skills because:

• The assisting-partner’s hands-on cues provide the most accurate feel for correct positions.

• Being towed or supported allows the practicing-partner more time to memorize key sensations.

There are two ways to assist:
Tow from Head

1. Cradle head

2. Check that only the rear third of the head is visible above surface.

Gently waggle head (and/or lightly massage neck) to release any tension.

Walk backward while towing at pace sufficient to keep body balanced.

Support Feet
Lightly support (don’t lift) feet and:
Stand briefly to observe head-to-toe alignment.
Ensure that legs are pressed together . . . then push into glide.
Watch to see that legs remain together after release.

Torpedo Practice Tips:

• Repeat Gliding Torpedo four or more times.

• Strive to glide a tiny bit farther each time.

• Keeping head and spine aligned and legs together should help increase glide distance.

• Then repeat Torpedo with Flutter two to four times. As you do, perform a head-to-toe scan of items on the checklist.

• When you’ve memorized the feeling of weightless head, engaged core, and streamlined legs, proceed to Superman. Revisit Torpedo any time to refresh those sensations—either between repeats of Superman, or before Whole Stroke repeats.

Because your bodyline is longer, you’ll travel farther in Superman than in Torpedo. Yet these reps are still fairly brief—about 8 to 10 seconds. However, a strong and targeted focus will help you imprint essential sensations and habits, even in brief repeats. Unlike Torpedo, Superman is worth practicing hundreds of times, over many months, creating invaluable insights each time. Because both drills are exceedingly simple, you should be able to easily apply new insights to whole stroke.

Essential habits taught by Superman include:

• A weightless, stable head position. This is always the starting point for achieving a stable balanced body position.

• A fully extended bodyline. This increases support by extending your body over the maximum water surface area. A longer bodyline also reduces drag. You’ll travel farther effortlessly with a ‘lighter’ body and less drag.

• Relaxed hands (helps Balance) and a Wide Track arm position (improves Core Stability.)

• Calm legs drafting behind your upper body (reduces drag.)

• Maintain these habits in every drill . . . and every stroke you take from now on.

Superman: Rehearsal
Start in Torpedo position, then:

• Extend arms on shoulder-width Tracks.

• Relax hands. Hands should be slightly below shoulder height, so arms slope down as shown.

• Extend hands farther by opening underarm/axilla.

• Tuck tummy.

• Memorize these sensations. Check in with them while practicing Superman.

Superman: Practice

• Extend arms with relaxed hands on Wide Tracks. Then push into glide.

• If legs sink as glide slows, let them.

• To glide farther, engage core, and press streamlined legs together.

• Stand for a breather, self-assessment, and mental reset.

• Repeat.

• Choose one focus from checklist. Repeat several times.

• After each repeat, assess body position and strength of focus.

• Choose a new focus from list and repeat. Progress focus from head to arms, then core, and finally to legs.

Superman: Partner Practice

You have three options for towing or support:

1. Hold wrists. Lengthen arms, ensure they are on parallel shoulder-width tracks.

2. Cradle head. Ensure absence of tension in neck. Draw forward for a sense of spine lengthening.

3. Support feet. Check head-spine alignment, arm extension, and leg streamline.

Group One (Balance and Body Control) exercises rely entirely on gross-motor skills. These involve large body parts and major muscle groups. They’re relatively easy to coordinate—and to sense when you’re performing them correctly. This makes them ideal as the first step in improving efficiency.

Group Two exercises introduce many fine-motor skills, requiring the coordination of many more, and smaller, muscles. There are nearly limitless opportunities for error and a very narrow range of effective solutions. This greatly increases the difficulty of coordination and requires much deeper sensory awareness.

To reduce the learning curve, we’ve broken this section into many ‘bite-size’ skills—some in rehearsals, some in whole-stroke—and devised new forms of partner-assisted practice. But, these challenges can also be an opportunity—to develop Super-Learning habits that prepare for years of continued improvement . . . and will apply to learning any skill.

As noted earlier, moving an arm through the air—where it weighs 10 times as much as in the water—has enormous potential to create instability in your core body, making it much harder to learn skills and swim efficiently.

Control these destabilizing forces by imprinting three qualities in your recovery:
Symmetry. Each arm should be a mirror image of the other. This equalizes the forces affecting the body.
Relaxation. This gives arm muscles a ‘rest break’ between strokes. It also averts the creation of ballistic forces in recovery—which can divert your body off its intended path . . . forcing you to do constant course correction.
Direction. Any body part moving through the air should move in the same direction you wish to travel. This channels energy and momentum forward.

And finally, besides closely complementing the lessons learned in Group One, providing a solid foundation for efficiency and skill development, Group Two skills are also the most important for injury-free swimming.

This lesson teaches two small and distinct actions (think of them as ‘micro-skills’) that combine smoothly to save energy and increase efficiency. We call the first Ear Hop and the second Mail Slot. We call the combined action Hop-and-Slot.

Ear Hop
Visualize a laser extending from your ear. Hop your fingers barely over the laser on recovery.
This teaches you to keep fingertips close to the surface on recovery. An arm in the air weighs 10x its weight in the water; every needless inch of clearance wastes energy.

Mail Slot
Think of the slot through which you slide letters at the post office. Visualize cutting such a slot on the surface with your fingers—then slide your forearm through the slot. This saves energy in three ways:
Reinforces the muscle relaxation taught by the Rag Doll focus.
Minimizes drag by teaching stroke timing that keeps your bodyline long as one hand takes over the lead position from the other.
Teaches a clean, steeply angled entry that maximizes the transfer of propulsive energy from the weight shift into your stroke.
Together, the Hop-and-Slot teach a movement that will enable years of pain-free, injury free swimming. In this lesson, you rehearse and practice the Ear Hop first, then rehearse the Mail Slot and combine them seamlessly.

Ear Hop: Rehearsal
Rehearse the Ear Hop with goggles on and face in the water, as shown, to minimize distance from fingertips
to surface. Practice as follows:

• Extend left hand as if to start the next stroke.

• Paint a Line with right hand (as in 2.2) dragging fingertips lightly over surface.

• Hop over an imaginary laser from your ear and immediately drop into water.

• Return right hand to your hip and repeat.

Repeat 6 or more times with each arm, then alternate arms in a rhythmic but deliberate ‘mini-stroke’ as shown in video. To complete more repetitions without interrupting for a breather, use a snorkel.

Ear Hop: Practice
Starting with a brief ‘Superman’ glide, swim six or fewer non-breathing strokes. On first couple of reps, swim exactly as in Paint A Line (2.2) practice for three to four strokes before hopping the laser for the first time. This will make you more familiar with the subtlety of the new movement you’re introducing. Then focus on the following:
Lightly drag fingertips in a wide straight line.
At your ear, hop and immediately drop into the water. Minimize clearance and time out of water!
Enter the water silently and splash-free.
Do eight or more non-breathing repeats. Progress to Mail Slot when these actions feel natural, unforced, and consistent.

Mail Slot: Rehearsal
Stand with arms extended and parallel—as in Superman rehearsal (1.2), hands relaxed with fingers in the water. Then practice as follows:
Lift one elbow—up, not back.
Then drop in—as if cutting a slot with fingertips—parallel to opposite wrist.
Repeat this action with one hand eight to ten times, then with other.
Finally, alternate hands, deliberately at first, then with a continuous, leisurely rhythm

Focus on:

• Maintain a Rag Doll feeling in Forearm

• Hand Relaxed—but Firm—on entry.

Mail Slot: Practice
Though you’ll focus mainly on cutting a slot, it’s almost certain you’ll retain the other recovery mini-skills you’ve worked on up to this point. This may feel like a drill, but think of it as swimming . . . with efficiency habits you’ll use the rest of your life.
Starting from ‘Superman,’ swim six or fewer non-breathing strokes. On first few reps, Paint A Line (no hop) for three to four strokes, before introducing Ear Hop. This will make you more familiar with the subtlety of the new movement you’re introducing. Then focus on the following:

• Keep hand super relaxed—fingers loosely separated.

• Drop—don’t thrust—through the slot.

• (Let gravity—instead of your muscles—do the work. Think of ripe fruit dropping from a tree.)

• Enter without disturbing the water.

• Maintain ‘patient’ lead hand—waiting for fingers of other hand to enter the slot.

• Enter parallel to wrist of lead hand.

Mail Slot: Partner Practice

This is a two-step exercise, starting with a rehearsal, then progressing to ‘assisted’ wholestroke
swimming.

Step One: Mirrored Rehearsal
Stand facing each other—bowing forward slightly—with arms extended, relaxed hands, and knuckles touching just below the surface.
Lift elbow (right elbow for one partner, left for other) to Rag Doll position, to create a mirror image.
Together, drop hands through Slot and extend until knuckles meet . . . at same time lifting other elbows to Rag Doll position.
Do this s-l-o-w-l-y until both partners achieve coordination in all key movements and positions, then make it rhythmic.

Step Two: Assisted Practice
This is similar to Elbow Swing (2.1) Partnered Practice in that helping-partner walks alongside swimming-partner. Swim six to eight non-breathing strokes on each repeat.
Walking near front, lightly touch wrist of nearside arm to aid in dropping through the slot— and avoid overextending to a too-flat entry.
Swimming partner: Focus on keeping lead hand in place until you feel wrist-tap.
Touch left wrist on one series, right wrist on next.

How Much Whole Stroke Practice?
We recommended that Total Immersion novices minimize or abbreviate (short repeats only) whole-stroke practice after mastering Balance and Body Control exercises. Whole stroke practice is a far better option after developing solid recovery skills. This is for two reasons:

• With a relaxed, symmetrical recovery, your stroking skills (i.e. the pull and kick) should be much improved—and your chances of ‘practicing struggle’ far less.

• This series didn’t include any drills—in the conventional sense. Other than rehearsals, all your practice was actually whole-stroke swimming.

So the logical next step is to simply swim more. Which means breathing more. Thus, if breathing problems get in the way of maintaining the form you’ve developed thus far, we recommend you proceed directly to the next two groups of skill exercises.

However, if you have a good baseline of breathing skill already, you can spend some time integrating new recovery skills into your stroke. As you do be mindful of what you’re putting to the test as you swim more and farther—movement skill and strength of focus.

Make it a conscious goal to improve both together. Do that by using Focal Points in an organized way. Here’s a summary of Recovery Focal Points for whole-stroke practice, in the  order we presented them.

Swing the Elbow

Swing the elbow to the side as hand exits. Avoid lifting.
Move upper arm away from body.

Your swing should feel strikingly low and wide.

Wide Straight Line

Lightly trace a straight line with fingertips from exit to entry point.
Make the line as wide as possible (without curving).

Maintain Rag Doll sensation in forearm and hand.

Cut a Slot

Cut a ‘slot’ in surface with fingers. Slide forearm through slot.
Make entry too short and too steep.

Keep entry silent and splash-free.

In the companion ebook, Ultra-Efficient Freestyle, Terry referes numerous times to Bill Boomer’s maxim “The shape of the ‘vessel’ matters more than the size of the engine.”

Chapter 6 “How Streamlining Works” provides powerful supporting evidence, including:

Fish scientists and DARPA engineers learned that dolphins are over 2500 percent more efficient than human swimmers—and can swim 700 percent faster than their muscular power should make possible possible—because of “a natural ability for active streamlining.”

Olympic medalists generate strikingly less stroking power than slower and less successful swimmers, proving that their success and speed is primarily due to “a superior ability to avoid drag.”

This lesson teaches you the lowest-drag position possible in freestyle. It will also transform your idea of freestyle technique from Upper-Body-Pulls/Lower-Body-Kicks to Streamline-Right-Side/Streamline-Left-Side.

Single Arm Rehearsal

As you did in Recovery Rehearsals, refine and imprint the action of one arm, before progressing to alternating arms. Because bilateral breathing is critical to stroke symmetry, perform this with each arm—both as a single-arm and whole-stroke rehearsal.

Step One Breathe Without Recovery

• Repeat six or more times on each side.

• Pause in each position to familiarize and memorize.

• Right Hand at Bumper;

• Then Turn Nose Down

• Laser Forward During ‘Risky’ Breath

• Left in Cargo Pocket

Step Two Breathe With Recovery
This step integrates a ‘stabilizing’ recovery with the aligned breath, long bodyline; and ‘gripping’ lead hand. It also introduces proper timing of breath-to-stroke.
Repeat on each side until movements and timing feel natural and consistent, then progress to alternating arms (whole-stroke) rehearsal.

• Paint a Line—Grazing surface Pause Rag Doll Arm at Slot

• Drop Hand and Nose

• Together

• Chin Follows Shoulder

• Keep Right Hand at Bumper

Whole-Stroke Rehearsal
This rehearsal coordinates both arms with breathing. Imprint same three skills—paint a line; Rag Doll sensation; drop through a slotwith both arms. You’ll also work on coordinating the breath to the stroke. To strengthen awareness of critical moments in breath-timing, pause briefly with fingers at Slot. After eliminating pause, keep movements deliberate. Repeat on each side until new skills feel natural. Then progress to Bilateral Rehearsal.

• Right Hand Entry Initiates Rotation to Breath

• Take ‘Risky’ Breath

• Chin Follows Shoulder . . .

• Paint a Line;

• Fingertips Graze Surface

• Right Hand at Bumper

• Left at Slot

• Head to Neutral as

• Hand Goes to Bumper

Bilateral rehearsal
In this rehearsal, you breathe every third stroke, rather than every second one breath to the left, the next to the right. Bilateral breathing improves efficiency by encouraging stroke symmetry.

• ‘Risky’ Breath

• Right Hand Still at Bumper;

• Left Hand at Slot

• Right Hand at Bumper

• Left Hand Paints a Line

• Left Hand at Bumper

• Right Hand Holds at Bumper

• ‘Risky’ Breath; Paint Line on Right

Basic Breathing Drills

These drills imprint habits that are integral to breathing in whole stroke. Practicing them in simpler drills (with few moving parts) will improve coordination in the more advanced drills that follow.
Focus on imprinting three critical habits:
Rotate from hips. Initiate rotation from your hips let your head follow the body to air. Use lead hand as a ‘rudder’ to guide rotation.
Stay aligned. Rotate around head-spine line—keeping laser aimed forward. Travel through the water like an arrow through the air as you rotate up and down.
Weightless head Feel your head resting on the water at all times—before, during, and after rotation.

Simple Roll to Air: How to Practice
This drill was originally designed for novices (formerly called Sweet Spot), but has proven valuable for experienced swimmers too because it’s so effective at teaching balanced, aligned rotation around the spinal axis. As with Skate drill, don’t turn it into a kicking exercise.

1. Practice in sets of 3 breathing cycles (or half a pool length)with right arm extended (rotating to the left) going away from the end or the pool, and with left arm extended returning. Repeat this once or twice for each Focal Point.

2. Spend several moments in each position nose up, and nose down. When nose down, review Focal Points for Skate.

3. Slip through the water with minimal disturbance while rotating up or down. Strive to kick with more ease: Reduce drag and wavemaking.
   

Partner Practice

1. Assist Partner Into Skate Position

2. Stabilize in Breathing Position

3. Help Return to Skate Position

This is also called ‘Risky’ Breathing because you breathe with water touching the corner of your mouth. Mastering ‘risky’ breathing here will make it easier to do the same in our final step (4.6) because, here, you have less momentum—and thus little or no bow wave. This drill has three goals

1. Minimize Rotation. In previous exercises you rotate almost to your back, with nose pointing up. Here you rotate just enough to clear your mouth trying to keep shoulder and hip just short of ‘stacked.’ This is far less rotation than in previous exercises . . . but considerably more than in the next three steps.

2. Stay Aligned. Even while rotating less, stay focused on moving through water like an arrow through air.

3. Keep Lead Hand at Bumper. This is a rare and high value skill in whole stroke breathing. You focus on it for the first time here, and reinforce in the next three steps.

Practice as in Simple Roll to Air. Keep repeats short. In fact, start by doing just one ‘risky’ breathing cycle:

Start in Skate. Rotate to breathe. Return to Skate. Stand up.. Repeat one cycle on the other side. Proceed to two or three cycles when you feel comfort and control of all Focal Points for one cycle.

Do many short reps with correct form, rather than continuing on just to reach the other end of the pool. 

The 3-Step Easy Breathing Sequence
You swim whole-stroke at each step in this sequence. You rotate your head as if to breathe in all three steps, but actually breathe only in the final step. Removing the ‘pressure to get air’ in the first two steps makes it much easier to perform three skills that allow you to keep your stroke ultra-efficient when you do breathe.
Those (by now familiar) skills are:

1. Rotate to air with head low and Laser forward.

2. Breathe with body roll: Chin follows shoulder to air.

3. Breathe with lead hand at Bumper.

In this step, you rotate as if to breathe, but keep both goggles submerged while looking to the side under the surface.

As you do check the following:

• Head Aligned: Is your laser still pointing forward?

• Head Low: Is the side of your head parallel to the surface?

• Hand Patient: Is extended hand relaxed and stable with palm facing back?

Practice Tips

• Not breathing limits you to about four ‘nods’ per repeat. Nod to left side on one rep, to right on next.

• Start ‘nod’ to left as right hand enters Slot.

• Let left-side gaze ‘linger’ throughout left-hand recovery. What do you notice while looking sideways?

• Side of head should feel parallel to surface . . .

• And right hand should hold at Bumper.

This drill is named for the thrilling moment during a whale-watching cruise, when a whale glides alongside the boat, seeming to study you with one eye. Perform this exactly as Nod, but clear the surface with just one goggle. As in Nod, let your gaze ‘linger’ there a moment and notice the stereoscopic view—seeing just above and just below the surface.

Practice Tips
Practice Whale-Eye just as you did Nod. Devote at least one set of repeats rotating in each direction—to each key Focal Point, in this order:

• Head neutral . . . and resting on water.

• Lead hand holds at Bumper

• Fingertips skim surface on recovery (see it pass your eye.)

• Head returns as hand enters.

This drill recalls the way Popeye the Sailorman stretched his mouth to 'inhale' spinach.You'll stretch your mouth to air as shown above. 

Review Breathing Rehearsals:
4.1b Whole
Stroke and 4.1c Bilateral.

Glide briefly in Superman, start stroking—then just turn your head a tiny bit farther than in Whale-Eye. Bring your mouth above the surface on every cycle—but don’t feel obliged to breathe right away. You might actually try for a breath on the third or fourth cycle. Rotate one way on one rep, the other way on the next. Is there water in your mouth? Air can still pass over it on the way to your airways.

Breathing Practice
At this stage you’re no longer drilling. You’re swimming whole stroke, integrated with breathing. Though you’ve completed the 3-step Easy Breathing sequence, you should continue practicing each of the steps for at least several weeks. There are two ways to do this:

• As you’ve done so far, doing repeats of just four or so cycles of each breathing exercise. Stand for a breather between repeats. Choose a Focal Point for each pair of repeats.

• Do four cycles of Nod or Whale-Eye at the beginning of a lap . . . then continue, breathing consciously the rest of the way. Alternate between drilling and breathing left on one length, and to the right on the next. Choose a Focal Point for each pair of 25s.

Exhale!
So far, our focus has been on the mechanics of breathing. But we shouldn’t wrap up this chapter without some reminders about the process of exchanging fresh air for ‘used’ air.
Here are four things to think about:

• Put most of your focus on exhaling. Let the inhale ‘happen.’

• Make air exchange continuous – never hold breath at any time.

• Expel air forcefully as mouth clears. Think of blowing the water away from your mouth.

• This helps make the inhale automatic by creating a vacuum. Air will rush in.

Finally, inhale just enough, and exhale just enough. Neither try to fill nor empty your lungs

Lessons 1 through 4 of this video series illustrate a step-by-step method for increasing the efficiency of every key component of your stroke. This whole stroke study shows how all the pieces work together as a holistic system. We do that via a series of stroke studies, from multiple stroke views, to show each part of the stroke from it’s most revealing perspective.
In a holistic system all parts are intricately interrelated. This study guide, in combination ith the video studies, is designed to deepen your understanding of those relationships and empower you to make confident and knowledgeable choices about your own stroke.

Each view is shown first at normal speed to let you take in the natural flow of the stroke.
Then it’s repeated at slower speed to allow you to look closely at fine points.
You will learn the most by using the cursor key or your computer’s mouse to advance or reverse the video one frame at a time, while following the study cues we’ve provided for each stroke view. These study cues provide a systematic way to understand the synergies between all parts of the stroke.

This is a good perspective for observing:

• Head is a Still Point . . . while other body parts are in motion.
• Relaxed Hands: Barely clear the water, and enter without splash.
• Core Body Rotation: Controlled and symmetrical.
• Path of Elbows: During recovery, elbows travel straight forward (no lateral motion) outside torso.

Slow Motion Study Cues
Click through video, one frame at a time, to study:
• As right hand enters, left hand is well forward of head. This reduces drag by maintaining a ‘long vessel.’
• Right hand extends on Right Track--directly forward of shoulder.
• As left shoulder and elbow lift clear of water, entire body is aligned from right hand to streamlined feet.
‘Click’ left hand forward through recovery and study:
• I maintain an extended stable bodyline on Right Track with right hand ‘anchored’ in place. Feet barely begin to separate only as left fingers enter Slot. This requires an engaged core.

As left hand extends:
• Head follows right shoulder toward the air.
• As I breathe behind the bow wave (i.e. beneath the surface), head stays perfectly aligned with only right goggle showing.
• On recovery, relaxed right hand follows a wide straight track forward. Fingertips graze the surface. (Don’t lift 10x arm more than necessary.)
• Head returns to neutral (nose down) as right hand slices cleanly through Slot.
• Left hand remains forward of the head at this moment.

On next left hand recovery:
• Pause with left hand adjacent to ear and notice equilateral triangle beneath my arm.
We call this the ‘geometric recovery.’ It’s orthopedically-healthy, and biomechanically strong.
• Bodyline is extended, stable, and streamlined on Right Track.
• As weight shift begins, right hand moves slightly wider to hold water more firmly.

Right recovery is a mirror image of left recovery:
• Relaxed hand ‘paints’ a wide, straight line.
• Fingertips graze surface.
• Equilateral triangle as right hand passes ear.
• Left hand is firmly anchored as right hand approaches Slot.

On final (left) breath:
• Head is aligned with spine, but slightly higher. [Note: Left was my natural breathing side; I didn’t begin breathing to right until I’d been swimming 25 years. Today (25 years later) my right-side breathing technique is better, because I hadn’t practiced 25 years of improper breathing habits on that side.]
• Right hand is firmly anchored as I inhale to left.

Overhead: Forming Lines
A key element in an ultra-efficient stroke is to form lines with your body as you move through the water. This angle displays the three lines the body should form and maintain during each stroke cycle:
1. Spinal Axis: Always moving forward, as rest of body rotates around it.
2. Right and Left Tracks Align body on these as you reach extension—then hold that line as other arm moves through air during recovery.
3. Recovery Line ‘Paint’ this with your hand. A wide straight line (and an engaged core) keep your extended side aligned on Track as your ‘10x’ arm moves through the air in recovery.

Slow Motion Study Cues
Segment begins with left arm on its Track, and right arm following its Track forward (I notice it moves a bit toward centerline, which will make me more mindful of avoiding this.)

Click through to study:
• I hold right-side line as left hand ‘paints’ a wide, straight line on recovery.
• Head-spine line continues moving directly forward as left hand enters and extends and as my head (10% of body mass) follows shoulder to right for a breath.
• Left hand ‘anchors’ and bodyline is stable and streamlined on Track, while right hand paints wide straight line and head returns to neutral.
• I then line up on Right Track. The body aligns itself on the same line my hand ‘painted’ during recovery.
• I maintain fingers-to-toes alignment on Right Track until left hand is poised to cut a Slot.

Under Water Front
This is the best perspective for studying:
• Stable Head: Keeping the head still, and always moving forward--is critical to a stable core body--which stays aligned during the breath.
• Controlled Symmetrical Rotation I rotate just enough to maximize drag avoidance and effortless propulsive power, while avoiding ‘stacked’ shoulders which would destabilize my core.
• Hands move through the stroke via a nearly straight line—which closely follows the Track—with palms always facing back.
• Legs avoid drag by ‘drafting’ behind the upper body. Note that feet are mostly hidden from view.

Slow Motion Study Cues
This clip begins with right hand (fingers separated) in position to hold water and left fingers just cutting the Slot. In the next moment, the extending arm—aided by gravity—will release propulsive energy via the weight shift.

Click through and study the following:
• Right hand presses directly back on its Track
• As weight shift begins (left hand fully below surface) right elbow flexes. This occurs automatically as weight shift accelerates forward velocity, increasing load on arm muscles. This position offers greater natural leverage. I don’t consciously bend my arm. I simply continue to hold water with palm facing back.

• Body continues rotating onto Left Track. Wrist flexes to keep palm facing to rear as right arm straightens. I don’t consciously flex my wrist. My hands have learned to instinctively find optimal position to hold water.
• Body aligns on Left Track, while left hand (fingers separated) follows that Track in pressing back.
• Chin follows shoulder to left breath as right hand cuts through Slot to fingers-down full extension.
• Right hand stays in palm-back position (and body stays aligned) on Right Track, as I breathe left--with head aligned and right goggle submerged.
• Head returns to neutral as left hand slices through Slot and I precisely replicate the previous stroke.
• At midpoint of rotation, right foot appears (barely below bodyline) adding leverage that drives left hand to full extension (in fingers-down position).
• Left foot appears barely below bodyline in midpoint of next rotation, contributing ‘Diagonal Power’ to propulsion.
• Body remains stable and streamlined on Right Track through left-hand recovery until left fingers appear in Slot.
• Chin follows shoulder to right breath, where everything that happened in left breath is precisely replicated.
Clip ends after one more precisely replicated stroke.

Beneath: Forming Lines—from below
Similar to the overhead view, this is a great perspective for studying how I form and maintain lines while stroking. Two lines are the same:
• Head-spine line moves directly forward as body rotates around it.
• Each side of body aligns and travels forward on its Track.
One line is different: From below, you can watch the hands follow the Track, holding water during the propulsive phase.

Slow Motion Study Cues
Clip begins with body aligned fingers-to-toes on Left Track:
• Left hand follows Left Track in pressing back
• As right hand enters, right hip and left foot combine to drive body into long sleek position on Right Track
• I hold a stable streamlined Right Track position throughout left-arm recovery.
• Head follows right shoulder to breath as left hand extends to fingers-down position
• Body is aligned on spinal axis from top of head to toes during inhale
• Head returns to neutral as right hand cuts through Slot
• Left palm faces back to hold water as weight shift propels me into Right Track alignment.
• Head remains stable during rotation onto Left Track.

Slow Motion Integrated Breathing Study

This brief clip of one breath to each side provides a close-up study of how head and hands move with body rotation throughout each breath. The clip opens immediately after I inhale to right. Click through to study:
• Head, torso, and hand move in unison as right hand cuts thru Slot--returning head to neutral. Left hand also moves with body rotation—not independently—as it presses back on its Track.
• Mouth remains open between breaths and head is stable through next stroke cycle.
• Notice right knuckles grazing surface at beginning of recovery.
• Then chin follows left shoulder to air.
• Head remains stable and perfectly aligned during left inhale. Right hand maintains hold on water with fingers-down, palm-back position during left recovery.

My proximity to the wall shows an interesting effect: The water between me and the wall ‘boils’ because it has to move aside for me to move forward, and the wall leaves it nowhere to go. This reminds us how important it is to slice—not muscle—through the water.