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
I agree with most of the things said here. I myself am still learning fly. To me timing is almost the single most important thing. I always try to kick my hands in and hands out. I actually disagree that you should not think about kicking from the knees at all. This may lead someone to think keeping the legs straight (as almost in freestyle). When I learned, for a short while, I was under that misconception. For me, the easier way is to think of your whole legs as a big tail with the lower part bend at some angle when propellig (45 degrees). As long as you are moving your upper legs and hips the lower legs shoudl come naturally.
Again, I am still learning it and just my two cents.
The trouble I have is more on the pull. Do you pull backward immeidately after your hands enter water, or is there an outsweep and insweep involved?
I agree with most of the things said here. I myself am still learning fly. To me timing is almost the single most important thing. I always try to kick my hands in and hands out. I actually disagree that you should not think about kicking from the knees at all. This may lead someone to think keeping the legs straight (as almost in freestyle). When I learned, for a short while, I was under that misconception. For me, the easier way is to think of your whole legs as a big tail with the lower part bend at some angle when propellig (45 degrees). As long as you are moving your upper legs and hips the lower legs shoudl come naturally.
Again, I am still learning it and just my two cents.
The trouble I have is more on the pull. Do you pull backward immeidately after your hands enter water, or is there an outsweep and insweep involved?
