 |
Secure Payment using:
| return to: swimming reviews | Customers Book Reviews |
Customers Book Reviews" I just thought I'd let you know I really enjoyed trying the techniques in your book while I was away on holiday. Was finding crawl in some ways easier and more relaxing than breaststroke after applying your techniques. A real revelation. Am looking forward to working on the breaststroke some more as well as your technique is a little bit different from what I'd been doing. Seemed strange when I tried it but I think I was going as fast as usual, maybe faster (although it felt a bit like I was going really slow due to not using the arms so much). " James, " I have read the book and went swimming yesterday with the tips it gave me in mind. I worked on pushing off, breathing and 'landing' (I have even got the terminology!). My swimming technique is pretty hopeless but I was amazed at how much difference I could make by 1. Not 'lunging' away from the poolside, 2. Making my breathing gentle, 3. Consciously relaxing into the water (especially my head, neck and shoulders), 4. Landing quietly. There is loads still to do but yesterday I managed to do length after length of front crawl without running out of breath every length, something I had not managed to do at all previously. Thank you for the most useful swmming info I think I have ever had. " Colleen, Lancs " The book is a little treasure. I've dipped into it here and there and already come away with a few nuggets. All the best." John, Italy " The book is fantastic...reading about relaxing in the water has made a big difference and it has some really helpful tips......it has been a huge benefit to my lessons." Heather " I thought "Swimming Without Stress" was excellent. I could only swim 100m of frontcrawl before having to stop out of breath before I read it. Within 1 week of reading it, I can now swim 400m without stopping! Thanks for making this happen." Gareth " Like others who have reviewed this book I had a very uneasy relationship with swimming pools, and would go as fast as I could from one end to the other (before I drowned, which is, you understand on a timed basis!) with my head up to breathe. After just one sesion with this book, I was getting my head down and gliding in breast stroke, after three weeks I have almost completed a length of front crawl. I am always remembering that I need to swim in the water, not on top of it. And I want to go to Wales and be taught by Ian or one of his associates. " Comment Posted on Amazon.co.uk " This communication is about appreciation of the book, Swimming Without Stress, which I've now bought a second copy and am recommending to friends and people I meet at our local Spa. I've also interested my physiotherapist in it....the matter of linking Alexander technique in is wonderfully freeing and I've found it really helpful in shoulder rehabilitation situation Also the Aquasphere mask, which I am finding brilliant!...and recommending to others." Christine, " STAT News Review by Ann James, MSTAT, editor, published in STAT (Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique) News, October 2006 This book started life as a series of 12 articles in British Runner magazine in 2004-5 and was published in one slim volume last year. After an Introduction on the holistic benefits of swimming, Part One, Swimming Fundamentals for Land Lovers, covers the three main strokes: backstroke, breaststroke, and front crawl. Two ‘lessons’, or chapters, are devoted to the last of these strokes, because of the complexities of the breathing. Part Two, Train without Strain, covers the practicalities of kitting yourself out, training regimes, and preventing injuries. Appendices describe the swimming holidays organised by the author and his approach to teaching children. The sub-title of this book is Lessons for Land Lovers, and the original articles were aimed at non-Alexandrian runners, so it is full of reminders about letting go, allowing the water to support you, not being obsessed with your times, allowing the air to come in on its own, and so on. The final lesson of the book gives a possible eight-week training plan for a novice triathlete, and I was pleased to see that each week includes a day of rest! As a fairly competent, fairly regular swimmer, but a non-athlete, I don’t really fit the profile of the target audience for this book. Nevertheless, after reading the relevant lesson, it was not too difficult to tweak my preferred stroke – breaststroke. The same goes for my backstroke. Front crawl, however, was a different matter. I am really a beginner in this stroke, and the breathing in particular has always been a mystery to me, so I was relieved to discover I was not alone. The author describes how “you will see people contorting their face, twisting their neck, lifting their head away from the surface and gasping as though this breath could be their last.” The secret, it seems, is to co-ordinate the breath with the rotation of the body which is going on anyway as part of the stroke. This may be obvious to many, but for me it was a revelation. Another useful idea, especially for someone like me who has a tendency to over-extend at the shoulders, is that of swimming along two railway tracks, rather than a monorail. There are some lovely pictures of poised swimming, taken at various stages of all the different strokes. But in the limited space available in this book, it may not be possible to show or describe the complete sequence of movements for each stroke in such a way that the reader is likely to be able to perform it reasonably accurately. This, of course, is the problem with learning any practical skill from a book. Nevertheless, as the title implies, the fundamentals are all there, and with repeated attentive reading, followed by plenty of calm, means-whereby practice in the pool, maybe even I could learn to front crawl from one end of the pool to the other." Ann James, MSTAT, STAT News Review, October 2006 " Just to say - I love your book (swimming without stress),hence the inspiration to order Total Swimming- really looking forward to it. I'm just so glad to have stumbled upon someone who brings both alexander technique and eastern mindfulness to western style exercise. As a taichi fanatic who loves swimming, looking to lose weight - it's perfect, Tomas" Tomas, Manchester " This book was a pleasure to read, simple yet in its way elegant and expressive, conveying clear messages to the reader on how to improve their technique for the better whether they are a swimmer for pleasure or a budding tri-athlete. Its concise and unambiguos and in an original manner uniting swimming and the discipline of the Alexander Technique to excellent effect. I already feel my swimming improving, making it more relaxed - less of an exertion, more of a relaxation session! Great book, well worth buying." Comment Posted on Amazon.co.uk " I've had an unexplained lifelong fear of water, but have recently learnt how to swim. I've been looking for a book that might help me improve my technique for some time without success, and came across this by chance. Although I could swim I lacked confidence, and was having trouble getting my face in the water. The author's approach to teaching swimming is developing your relationship with water and allowing yourself to trust that the water will support you. This is something that I found really difficult, but I followed the instructions in the first couple of chapters, and slowly but surely they worked. The advice about breathing is particularly useful. It has completely demystified this for me - it's so simple now - and after just a few weeks I am swimming calmly, and confidently, with my face in the water. Swimming Without Stress is a wonderful book and I would recommend it to any budding swimmer who wants to improve their confidence and technique. " Comment Posted on Amazon.co.uk" It's short and easy to read without any unnecessary fluff, and great for building your confidence and feeling comfortable in the water. Performance 8 " I am a registered swimming teacher in Durban, South Africa. I teach at the local pre-primary school, the University where some of the students have never been exposed to swimming, and a squad of teenagers who swim to keep fit. My daughter gave your book to me, Swimming without Stress Lessons for Land Lovers, as a gift and I have thoroughly enjoyed it" Audrey, South African Swimming Instructor " I now understand what you mean about 'making friends with the water'. Never thought this would happen, but it does eventually come. In the past week I have realised that the water will support me and am able to trust it. Your comments in the book about floating are very good and it's helped a lot knowing that I don't need to worry about star floats. I'm enjoying the book. I think, for me anyway, it's best to use it in stages, and dip in when I need to - then it all starts to become clearer." Carol, Manchester " Just have to tell you that I have read your book so many times that I went to a business store to have it spiral bound. It has been a source of motivation. My husband is calling me his "mermaid" because every day I "have to get to the pool!" I get out of the pool smiling. Me! Smiling in the water! I never would have believed this. My relationship with the water is changing and working in the water with my husband is adding a whole new positive dimension to our relationship. " Valerie, US |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|