Lucky Life?

by Coach Mat | 18 Oct, 2013

Recently, after coming to Antalya for an open-water swim camp with his group, one of my coach friends remarked, “You are so lucky living in a place like this!” I appreciate the sentiment, but I feel I should clarify my story. If you’ve come to one of...

The Effort In Effortless

by Coach Mat | 12 Oct, 2013

Recently this questions has come up few times in various forms: How effortless should effortless swimming be? And here is one way I’ve answered that question: The sensation of effortless is relative – when you compare the sensation of swimming once...

Too Cool To Swim?

by Coach Mat | 6 Oct, 2013

Autumn has its grip on most of the northern hemisphere and our wild waterways are cooling down fast. I have heard the usual chatter about the ‘last open water swim of the season’ and I fully sympathize. However, I want to raise the challenge to hold onto...

Bright Spots

by Coach Mat | 29 Sep, 2013

TI coaches and swimmers give a great deal of attention to identifying, analyzing, and solving what we call our Improvement Opportunities. The core value of TI, after all, is kaizen – continual personal improvement. Finding finer and finer details of swimming...

Technique And Power

by Coach Mat | 23 Sep, 2013

For swimmers it stands repeating: What you are not willing to accomplish by technique you will have to make up for with power. ** Consider the speed problem. How do you speed up? There are just two options in physics: Apply more power. Reduce resistance. #1 is about...

2BK Defense

by Coach Mat | 13 Sep, 2013

In defense of the utility of the 2-Beat Kick I add this: If Sun Yang can set a World Record using the 2BK for 14/15 of the 1500m race – at an average pace of around 58 seconds per 100m, then we have to consider how effective it might be for you and I, when...

2-Beat Kick Purpose

by Coach Mat | 8 Sep, 2013

Here are my comments in response to a swimmer’s question about when to use the 4-Beat Kick and/or 6-Beat Kick: The Purpose Of The 2BK The point of the 2-Beat Kick is that it brings the entire body together in ONE synchronized rotation movement. The kick in 2BK...

New Technique Dilemma?

by Coach Mat | 4 Sep, 2013

Recently, one of my new workshop students (an aspiring triathlete) brought up a common question I hear (or sometimes just sense lingering unspoken) about how to respond to this new technique and training pathway that TI has opened up – in the middle of their...

2-Beat Kick And Learning

by Coach Mat | 31 Aug, 2013

Here is a follow-up to 2-Beat Kick Steps… ** Have you been struggling to get in sync with the 2-Beat Kick? You are not alone, for sure. But don’t give up. Many people give up on it because they stumble at the beginning and quickly feel frustrated and...

2-Beat Kick Steps

by Coach Mat | 28 Aug, 2013

Are you one of those swimmers who has been trying to integrate the 2-Beat Kick (2BK) into your stroke lately? Don’t feel bad if you have been struggling. I would say at least half my students find this really complicated in the first few months of practicing TI...