Hi, new to the board, back in the pool about 4 months.
Worked up to doing Mo Chambers workouts, but always substituting for fly in the IM's because I just never learned it.
I've always been a lousy kicker, but I bought a pair of Zoomers and quit using the board, which has helped a bunch. I do dolphins front and side and flutter on my back. I just started to dolphin kick off the flip (without the fins), which has really helped reduce stroke count (10 catchup; 13 -- 14 normally; 15 + is a failed lap). I'm 6'2" and dropped from 200+ when I started down to 190 - 195, which feels great.
Today I tried doing the fly legs in the IM's wearing the Zoomers, and I think there's some hope. Can a 44 year old lousy kicker learn to fly? Is it OK to learn with fins? Are there bad habits to watch out for when learning with or without the fins? Or should I forget about fly and just concentrate on the other three strokes?
I'm having a lot of fun swimming again, love the workouts and chat here, and am not afraid of looking like a complete dweeb.
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Former Member
Paul, have you tried various combinations of one armed fly? I always do a few lengths of one arm fly before starting into full stroke. You can do 4-4-4 (4 right-four left-four full) or 3-3-3 or 2-2-rest of the way or whatever pattern allows you to swim whatever distance you want to do. One arm fly allows you to relax and focus on your undulation or other aspects of the stroke. I find the one arm really lets me get the feel and rhythm which I can then continue into the full stroke.
You do have to make sure you are doing one arm fly and not one arm crawl with a dolphin kick.
Paul, have you tried various combinations of one armed fly? I always do a few lengths of one arm fly before starting into full stroke. You can do 4-4-4 (4 right-four left-four full) or 3-3-3 or 2-2-rest of the way or whatever pattern allows you to swim whatever distance you want to do. One arm fly allows you to relax and focus on your undulation or other aspects of the stroke. I find the one arm really lets me get the feel and rhythm which I can then continue into the full stroke.
You do have to make sure you are doing one arm fly and not one arm crawl with a dolphin kick.
