I'm pretty much only a freestyle/crawl stroke swimmer. I'll do lots of interval sets in the pool, but only swim very little of the other strokes. Often I'll just throw in an IM here and there just to break up the monotony. But I'm by no means proficient at those other strokes. Yesterday, as I rested after doing a 400 IM, the woman in the lane next to me (obviously an experienced swimmer) came to a stop and asks "Were you just swimming butterfly?" I told her I was and she responded "Hmm, ya don't see people swimming butterfly much anymore."
Dan
Wait, not sure what an increase in triathlon participation has to do with swimmers at the pool.
If you quadruple the number of triathletes (no butterfly) while the number of pool swimmers (some butterfly) stays constant, the fraction of total people swimming butterfly goes down.
At my pool, I would say way more than half the people are fitness swimmers (no butterfly), and way more than half the people training for some event are triathletes (no butterfly). Of the pool swimmers, some fraction swim fly some fraction of the time. So at my pool, fly is pretty rare.
If you quadruple the number of triathletes (no butterfly) while the number of pool swimmers (some butterfly) stays constant, the fraction of total people swimming butterfly goes down.
At my pool, I would say way more than half the people are fitness swimmers (no butterfly), and way more than half the people training for some event are triathletes (no butterfly). Of the pool swimmers, some fraction swim fly some fraction of the time. So at my pool, fly is pretty rare.
True, most of the folks its freestyle, sometimes backstroke or breaststroke. Some use fins to do butterfly.
Butterfly swimmer here, what do you want to know?
I rarely do any butterfly sets any more, mostly due to lack of motivation. Even when I am raring to go, I don't do more than 5-600 yards per workout, it is the one stroke that will end your day early if over indulged. Crawl is similar enough to get the muscle groups strengthened and doing a lot of dolphin kick helps with abs if done correctly. Weight work also helps a lot and running stairs or stadiums helps with aerobic conditioning. glutes and leg strength.
The last thing is something you cannot train for, it is genetic. Flexible shoulders are a giant help swimming fly, but are not required.
Racing butterfly is best approached with the attitude that it is fun, otherwise it will surely not be.
Oh, OK. I see what you're saying. Kind of a similar phenomenon happened with bicycles back when mountain bikes were revolutionized in the 80s. Before that, about 95% of multi-speed bikes were road/racing bikes. You could get that style of bike in every department store that sold bikes. But then the mountain bike came along and they were more popular with your average non-racing bicyclist. Now, you have to go to a bicycle shop to get a road bike.
Dan
I just finished an alternate stroke set today that included 800 yds of fly (1 x 200, 2 X 100, 4 X 50 and 8 X 25). The guy in the lane next to me ask if I was a butterfly specialist. My response: No, I just have a low IQ.
LOL. good answer.
Well for all your butterfliers out there:
I learned to swim fly as a master a few years ago. I just got into doing 100 fly. I did a 400 IM in a meet this weekend. Any comments for working on it? My problem I believe is a weak core. I have problems getting the shoulders up and start to drop the stomach area. The problem is that I've dropped over 100 pounds and the excess skin, even when corsetted in a tight Speedo/Nike/Tyr/etc. still might be an issue. I've been working on core strength. Legs below the knees, I'm happy when they work. :)
Outside of that my arms are pretty strong and I work on them a lot.
The oddest thing I have though is that now my feet on the second kick are above water. I can't figure out how I'm managing that or how to fix it. Any ideas?
Thanks.
It's difficult to say without seeing you swimming in person, and what you are referring to as your "second kick". If you mean that the second kick happens when your arms exit the water, it could be because your kick is coming predominantly from your knees as opposed to maintaining a balance between your core, your hips and knees. A wide, knee-based kick could cause your feet to come out of the water. If you're referring to the second kick as the kick that occurs when your hands enter the water, there is a possibility that you are entering the water too deep with your upper body, causing your feet to pop out of the water. You can work on single arm butterfly drill, either side breathing or front breathing, making sure to focus on keeping your leading arm more at the surface of the water and minimizing the splashing caused by your feet coming out of the water. You can also work on learning to kick both when your arms are at the front and when your arms are at your side (you can do a couple of kicks at one position, then switch, and continue switching back and forth). Good luck!
