Customer Reviews

The Essential Swimmer

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a great tool for learning how to swim the freestyle, or just for pointers when you need to improve your technique. It provides drills for improving freestyle technique, and great tips on how to design swim workouts. The only problem I had with this book is that it does not devote any time at all to the other three strokes, as they are all compiled into one chapter which does not include any drills or pointers. The rest of the book, which includes tips on nutrition and stretching, is meant as a tool only for beginners. If you are new to swimming or don't have access to a coach, I highly recommend this book to improve your swimming technique.

The brevity of this effective, perfectly edited swimming manual is sweet indeed. Not one word too long, it will teach you to swim better than you ever have before, teaching you the fundamentals of freestyle, improving your freestyle, and then using a goal-oriented drill program, developing the four main strokes of swimming (freestyle, breastroke, backstroke, and butterfly). It touches on strength training and the brief nutrion chapter, which basically says, if you eat garbage (empty calories) insteady of health food (fruits and vegetables) is better than a lot of popular nutrition books I've read. Practical, resourceful, and knowledgeable, the books is truly like having a coach right there.

I wanted to learn how to swim better. I tried a few other books, worked hard, and got nowhere. I began to believe it was impossible to learn swimming from a book. Swimming books tend to be lists of little things which can make you swim better. These lists are addressed to people who already know how to swim and do not add up to instructions for a new swimmer.

Tarpinians book is different. It told me in a simple fashion what I needed to do, how to do it and why. Reading just a handful of pages from this book has been the single most effective thing I've done to improve my swimming.

This book is a useful addition to anyone who wants to improve his/her swimming. I wish the author had spent a little more time on back, breast, and fly. Some drills and workouts for these strokes would be helpful.

Finally a book that blends new and tried and true swimming principles together in a straight forward and usable fashion. I found the chapters on technique and training to be the best of any swimming book available. Chapters on flexability, strength training and goal setting have sent me on the path to hyper improvement. I made a strength training swim bench from the instructions that rivals $800 swim trainers.

It is a book you can count on just like if it was your coach! It covers every point involved in training and improving your swimming, from techniques to food... A great book for all ages!

This book is the best book on the market for anyone who wants to improve their swimming skills. From the basics to the advanced stroking,this helps you step by step. By reading this book, I improved my swimming dramatically and brought my times down by at least ten seconds. Like it says, this book is essential for the essential swimmer.

I spent a fortune on private, Total Immersion swim coaching and still couldn't swim more than 250 yd without a splitting headache. Didn't expect to get much from a book on swimming, but was desperate. It was great! I figured out exactly what I was doing wrong (kicking too fast), and went out and swam a mile. I'm not making this up! Would have given it five stars, but the pictures were not as clear as I'd hoped. Could have used more illustrations or photos, but directions were extremely clear.

I thought that it was a great book for all ages. I improved my times by 11 seconds. It needed more instruction for drills and explain more about how to figure out your intervul times.

I have never seen a book like this that actully goes into drills and workouts that not only are usefull but work! It is a must for all swimmers, young and old!