beginner fly problem

The first really useful thing I learned about fly is that it is all in the kick... and the kick is more of a whole body motion. Until you get a good kick and body undulation thing going, you are probably going to become an expert at butter-struggle. How I developed into being able to do a 200 fly and 400 IM in competition (at age 40, never really did fly before that), was to do a lot of "body dolphin" kick drills on my back... and it is the fly drill that I still do the most. When you get where you can body dolphin for 50-100 yds, you should be able to do a 25 fly easy. The next really important thing I learned was to "think forward, not up". And the next big breakthrough for me was when I finally figured out that you want to breathe as early and quickly as possible. Learn to keep the hips up, and the body as flat as possible. In other words, you can do fly with a long "wave" that has a lot of amplitude. But shortening the sine-wave pattern in fly is where you get the speed... and the power and the grace. There are a bunch of fly drills out there. I'm not a die-hard believer in drills, but to develop a good fly stroke you almost have to do them. I saw and age-group team doing something the coach called "rocket fly" once. As I recall they would do one fly stroke and then roll over and body dolphin on their back to the end of the pool. On the next length is was 2 fly strokes, then kick... next length 3 strokes, then kick, etc., until they did one full length of fly... then they would do the reverse, until they finished with all kicks. It is a long drill, but very effective (as long as you can keep your form). I resisted doing "one-arm fly" for a really long time. But I got to say, it really is a good thing to help in the timing. It feels really awkward at first, but it helps. I do one-arm fly with my static arm out front... others will tell you different. Do some web searches on various key words... it is a good way to find cool articles, etc. The video above looks like something I've heard called a "caterpillar drill". It is a good thing to try. You will know you are getting it down when you can start doing fly from a dead stop while floating on your stomach. Here is one page of drills I just found: www.dixiezone.org/.../Butterfly.html Check out this post/thread for more info: butterfly kick - U.S. Masters Swimming Discussion Forums ... there are some really good links there. Talk to folks you see doing fly... sooner or later you will find someone who will talk your ear off. :)

Almost certainly. Michael Phelps never touched a weight until he was at least 18, probably older. You don't need to work out in a gym to be a fast swimmer. Really? WHOA! I do think that for most of us having strong arms and shoulders would help in the butterfly. My problem with my fly is that I think that taking a breath after every stroke is really slowing me down. But I feel like when I try a breath every two strokes my second stroke is too weak.

Cheers Bud Top reply and thanks for the links