Customer Reviews

The Art of Swimming: In a New Direction with the Alexander Technique

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Whether you swim for exercise, relaxation or pleasure, this book is sure to help. While a good proportion of the text is devoted to explaining and justifying the principles behind the ideas it promotes (and I did tend to skip much of that, although I am sure it is interesting in itself), it does contain some really good advice.

I swim for an hour or more on an almost daily basis. Being a swimmer who at one time swam competitively I was finding it hard to do anything other than swim all out in the pool, but the suggestions here really helped me gain a new perspective, and derive much greater pleasure from my swimming.

Some sections are devoted to specific advice on individual strokes, highlighting both good and bad practices. Interestingly many of the suggestions contained in the book do not contradict typically taught methods, but rather they compliment or enhance them. However it does also warm against some practices which it considers physically harmful, especially some practices adopted by competitive swimmers. Overall its message is to encourage swimming techniques that are both relaxing and that make swimming a pleasure.

I found this a most useful book, every bit as beneficial for the experienced swimmer as much as the novice.