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Swim Speed Secrets: Master the Freestyle Technique Used by the World's Fastest Swimmers (Swim Speed Series)
by
In Swim Speed Secrets, 4-time Olympian, gold medalist, and triathlon world champion Sheila Taormina reveals the swim technique used by the world’s fastest swimmers.
Over the course of 4 Olympic Games and throughout her career as a world champion triathlete, Taormina refined her exceptional technique as a student of the sport, studying the world’s best swimmers using
...moreGet A Copy
Kindle Edition, 212 pages
Published
September 27th 2012
by VeloPress
(first published May 1st 2012)
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Start your review of Swim Speed Secrets: Master the Freestyle Technique Used by the World's Fastest Swimmers (Swim Speed Series)
Exactly what I needed!
Before talking about the book I will give you some background on myself so you can understand where I am coming from. I was a competitive swimmer when I was a teenager, between the ages of twelve and sixteen, then got bored and stopped for 20 years and only occasionally would I get back in the pool for a few months at a time. A couple of years ago I decided to get in shape, so I started swimming again and got into triathlons. My swimming technique was decent, but I ...more
Before talking about the book I will give you some background on myself so you can understand where I am coming from. I was a competitive swimmer when I was a teenager, between the ages of twelve and sixteen, then got bored and stopped for 20 years and only occasionally would I get back in the pool for a few months at a time. A couple of years ago I decided to get in shape, so I started swimming again and got into triathlons. My swimming technique was decent, but I ...more
The corrective to all the Total Immersion bullshit that seems to think you can swim fast with good body position alone. Let's dispense with this by comparing the very aerodynamic Prius to the bulbous and not so aerodynamic Pontiac GTO muscle car; horsepower wins. Get your propulsion in order.
Well written and somewhat funny, but the gist of this book (three words: "high elbow catch") can be conveyed in a short internet article instead of this full color book on heavy weight paper.
This might sound silly, but when I finished reading this on the bus, I had to stop myself from sobbing, but that's because of what's on the last page. And also that I am probably a freak.
I've been a long time admirer of Taormina's since she first made the Olympic team in 1996. She's my age, so that achievement, at the age of 27, and then that she made three more Olympic teams after that, in two more sports, helped instill in me, maybe foolishly, that anything is possible. Which goes back to that ...more
I've been a long time admirer of Taormina's since she first made the Olympic team in 1996. She's my age, so that achievement, at the age of 27, and then that she made three more Olympic teams after that, in two more sports, helped instill in me, maybe foolishly, that anything is possible. Which goes back to that ...more
A fantastic book with that explains the most important factors affecting speed along with a handful of carefully selected drills that will make the most impact on your speed. The book is kept simple and is very easy to understand and implement.
There are only two ways to get faster in swimming: take fewer strokes (more propulsion) and turn over strokes more quickly.
Increasing propulsion is more important that reducing resistance from drag. The key factors to increasing propulsion are:
1. ...more
There are only two ways to get faster in swimming: take fewer strokes (more propulsion) and turn over strokes more quickly.
Increasing propulsion is more important that reducing resistance from drag. The key factors to increasing propulsion are:
1. ...more
Summary
The 80-20 rule (Pareto principle) is applicable to freestyle swimming: a few critical elements of swim technique determines a large part of the result. This book focuses arm pull (high elbow position in particular), the most "vital element" of freestyle technique.
Suggestion on how to use this book?
Read until Chapter 4. Then, study every photos in Chapter 5 and 6 carefully. Check out Sheila's youtube playlist. Finally, read the Epilogue and Appendix B.
How do I like it?
- I hear ...more
The 80-20 rule (Pareto principle) is applicable to freestyle swimming: a few critical elements of swim technique determines a large part of the result. This book focuses arm pull (high elbow position in particular), the most "vital element" of freestyle technique.
Suggestion on how to use this book?
Read until Chapter 4. Then, study every photos in Chapter 5 and 6 carefully. Check out Sheila's youtube playlist. Finally, read the Epilogue and Appendix B.
How do I like it?
- I hear ...more
The main idea of the book is very interesting, useful and worth applying to your swimming. But for the book as a whole, it's somewhat lacking. There are a number of chapters that didn't really have much added value. A less subtle way of saying it would be; the real message could have been written in a (longer) blog post, instead of a whole book.
Good instructional book, pretty straightforward. Not too much fluff in the front sections. Note the book is a gateway to buying a product co-produced by the author - the Halo swim system.
It's good technique tips
Лучшая книга по плаванию, что я читала! Но она однозначно не подойдет новичкам и тем, кто только начинает осваиваться в бассейне, разве только для общего понимания процесса плавания. Полная противоположность книгам подобным "Полному Погружению", где все сосредоточено на положении тела в воде. Но положение тела дает только 20% к скорости вашего движения в воде. Эта же книга полностью сосредоточена на главном элементе в плавании, который дает 80% скорости пловцу - подводная часть гребка. Если вы
...more
Mar 19, 2013
Brian
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
sports-training,
swimming
This book is not to be missed, if you are swimming and feel as though you spend a lot of time in the water and just are not getting faster, look no further, this book will get you on the right path. The information is straight forward, not technical in most places, great color pictures in the kindle version and book. The author, an olympic swimmer, is focusing this book on the "Pull", the point at which your fingers enter the water and get to your hips, its super specialized but there is a
...more
Strength and conditioning provide little benefit unless a swimmer is "holding" the water. I now realize I have an exaggerated S motion in my "pull" and haven't been feeling/holding the water for good forward propulsion. I still need to work on body position and kicking, etc, but feel like this book, focusing on the "pull," is an important first set to get me in the moving forward as a beginning swimmer. If you aren't pulling the water effectively, then the rest of it just doesn't matter that
...more
This is exactly the book I needed to help me improve my swimming technique. Instead of covering a wide range of swim techniques, Taormina (an Olympic champion) focuses on the most important part of freestyle swimming: the stroke. Her arguments for mastering the high elbow technique are convincing. Although she includes a lot of exercises, they are described rather than laid out like a week-by-week plan. Fortunately, Taormina had written just such an exercise book to complement this one, and it
...more
I really liked the focus on the pull. With limited training time, it is easy to buy into all the technique books thinking they will magically cut your swim time in half. She makes the point that without putting in the work to develop a strong pull, good technique will only get you so far. The book doesn't cover everything, doesn't cover breathing very much, but there are some decent photos throughout the book.
150 pages to say "keep a high elbow". Oddly, it's not fluffy or padded: there's a lot of content to implement that one technique, which Taormina claims is 80% of swimming. You will need other books for the other 20%. Good photos with excellent print quality; something lacking in many swimming books.
Great alternative to body position swimming (ala Total Immersion). Looking forward to trying out a high elbow catch and seeing if I can bump a couple strokes off my 50. Quick read. Author has a fun and friendly tone.
The book discusses one thing and one thing only, the pull for the freestyle stroke. Yes, it does explain that one thing very well, but it is only worth 3 stars. Maybe I will swim freestyle faster now.
Can't see slideshow
I can't get the slide shows to work on kindle or iPhone app. This doesn't allow me to see any of the drill sequences so the book is almost worthless.
I can't get the slide shows to work on kindle or iPhone app. This doesn't allow me to see any of the drill sequences so the book is almost worthless.
Awesome insight for even the casual and recreational swimmer
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