TriDot Pool School (TPS) is a simple yet highly effective program for people who want to develop or improve their freestyle swim form. TPS uses a hybrid instructional approach consisting of:
- A multi-week period of dryland drills done at home guided by video instruction,
- An in-person Weekend Workshop in the pool with a 1:3 coach-to-athlete ratio, and
- Supplemental online support and video critiques.
Yes! The step-by-step teaching process used at TPS (1) allows beginners to build a solid swim stroke from the ground up and (2) helps stronger swimmers enhance their efficiency and correct the root issues that currently prevent them from reaching their full potential.
During the TPS program, you will be taught Functional Freestyle™ developed by our team of elite instructors that is highly efficient and flaw resistant. We use plain language (not technical swim lingo) and teach in a simple, easy-to-follow manner. Functional Freestyle builds your swim form from the foundation up, unlike other programs that focus on fixing isolated stroke flaws (symptoms) rather than the root causes. We will work together to develop and fortify your swim form to help ensure you maintain it and prevent future bad habits from creeping in.
A foundational instructional element of Functional Freestyle™ is a muscle memory sequence called the Miyagi Method™ developed by our elite instructor team. The innovative approach employs the Miyagi Method to develop muscle memory required to correctly perform the essential swim movements prior to attending the in-person pool sessions. It’s similar to how Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid teaches Daniel-san karate by first having him do several days of household chores like painting the fence, sanding the floor, and waxing cars. This approach allows you to build muscle memory for several aspects of your stroke simultaneously and makes the in-pool sessions highly productive. You will improve more in a few weeks than you would in many months using traditional approaches.
Prior to attending TPS, participants must already have basic swim ability or capable of swimming with their face in the water and completing a lap of a 50-meter pool kicking with long fins in 1 minute 15 seconds or less. This ensures that all participants have the basic ability to perform the drills necessary to complete the program. For those who do not already have basic swim ability, we encourage them to contact one of our coaches for individual one-on-one instruction.
There are a few items of equipment you will need for TPS (for training leading up to the in-person workshop and during the workshop) in addition to a swimsuit and goggles.
Long Blade Swim Fins for Lap Swimming
Swim bands
Snorkel for Lap Swimming
Kickboard
This equipment is found in the links below:
https://www.finisswim.com/partners/tridot
Use code "TRIDOT"
You will be asked to complete a series of “Prep Work” in the weeks leading up to the in-person workshop. As soon as you register for TPS, you can login to the TPS portal and start watching your Prep Work videos, doing the drills, and building your muscle memory.
Throughout the learning process, you will have direct access to the TPS Community Forum where you can ask questions, discuss equipment and other TPS topics. You will also be introduced to your lane instructors one week in advance of your in-person workshop. We encourage you to ask your instructor any questions you have leading up the workshop. The TriDot Pool School Instructors are passionate about engaging with you and helping you improve and succeed throughout the TPS experience.
Your weekend workshop will be a fun and highly engaging blend of instruction, demonstrations, and drills in and out of the water with frequent breaks to rest and reflect. You will be grouped with swimmers of similar ability and taught step-by-step how to turn your muscle memory into full-stroke swimming that’s smooth and fast. If you are like all the other TPS alumni, you’ll be amazed at your improvement and confidence! In addition to thorough and effective swim instruction, you will have the opportunity to socialize and meet other TPS attendees from all over the U.S. and abroad. Our registrants will be invited to join the coaches for a group dinner. The TPS weekend is concluded with a fun instructor/athlete lunch Sunday after the pool session.
After your workshop, you will receive a personalized progress report from your lane instructors with their feedback and instructions on incorporating TPS drills into your swim workouts. After you are a TPS alumni, you will be added to the TPS Alumni Facebook network where you can ask additional questions, upload videos for feedback, and “pay it forward” by offering your feedback and encouragement to others as they begin the process.
As a TPS alumni after completing the weekend workshop, you will have access through the TPS portal to a series of stroke development video lessons that will reinforce what was learned during your workshop and continue your stroke improvement process. You will be able to progress through these lessons at your own pace and in your local pool. You will have access to these for a full three months following your workshop.
You can find and register for specific TPS workshops in various locations at www.tridotpoolschool.com.
Registrations are non-refundable but may be rescheduled up to four weeks prior to the first day of the TPS Weekend Workshop. Because lane space is limited, venue and instructional commitments have already been confirmed, and new registrants would need multiple weeks to complete the Prep Work, we are not able to reschedule after this time. Up to four weeks prior to the first day of the TPS workshop, registrations can be transferred to any open (not FULL) TPS workshop listed on the TPS website.
The TPS staff is working diligently to build instructor teams in all major U.S. cities. We are certifying TPS instructors daily and launching TPS events in cities across the U.S. weekly. Please check the TPS website often to see new TPS workshops opening daily for registration!
There are countless sources of virtual content related to improving your swim. Most of them lead to further frustration and futility. TPS is committed to actually transforming performance not merely transferring knowledge. To ensure your performance improvement, instructors must observe, evaluate, and provide feedback to you in person and in the moment both on dryland and in the pool. Our TPS instructors provide verbal and physical feedback through hands-on instruction and demonstration while you master your swim stroke. Quite often, the critical element for understanding and/or behavioral change is very subtle or nuanced and requires the instructor working with you face to face to recognize and resolve it. Instructors provide you with feedback with every length of the pool to tighten the learning curve and eliminate wasteful, and possibly harmful, laps of you swimming improperly without knowing it, thus reinforcing bad muscle memory and hindering progression.
