Learning to fly

I don't watch many swimming tapes, but a teammate lent me Michael Phelps Flying Lessons (which he rented from this site). Some things that were emphasized: 1. Soft hands on entry. 2. Short distance repeats (25s, 50s, 75s)--with short rest-- so your form does not deteriorate. 3. One arm drills like 2-2-2 (two strokes with one arm, two with the other, than two complete strokes) to work on timing over longer distances without tiring. 4. Emphasis on the "body dolphin" (kicking with the core as well as the legs), with repeats on the surface, underwater, on the side, and vertical (with weights). His coach considers this now a fifth stroke.

Originally posted by Scansy All of that being said I must ask Lindsay...What is the benefit of one arm fly? I will try it the next time I'm at the pool, but want to make sure I know what I am looking for. Craig beat me to answering your question: Originally posted by Scansy 3. One arm drills like 2-2-2 (two strokes with one arm, two with the other, than two complete strokes) to work on timing over longer distances without tiring. To elaborate, one arm fly allows you to slow down the stroke and do it with less energy and therefore for a longer period of time and distance. In Phelps/Bowman terminology it is an energy management issue. I can do one arm fly almost indefinately keeping good form and concentrating on timing and form where swimming whole stroke I exhaust too quickly. The slower pace also lets me better concentrate on the timing of the various parts of the stroke. With freestyle you can swim it at any speed you like, with butterfly it is harder to swim it slow and relaxed, and I find I swim differently when I swim it slow than fast. I think the key difference is that you don't need to lift yourself as far out of the water with one arm. I don't think one arm fly really has anything to do with concentrating on that one arm.

OK, one question. The arm that is just along for the ride.... in front or at your side?

OK, one question. The arm that is just along for the ride.... in front or at your side?

Michael Heather I like what you say basically. When I learned to fly, I found my kick interferred with my timming so I reduced my effort on the kick and thought more about my arm entry, the kick then came natural. Next was the breathing, I stopped breathing every stroke then the rythm started to kick in. I had never done the butterfly until the dolphin kick came into the stroke. My training was all crawl work out and no drills. With a few 25s, 50s and 75s, of butterfly thrown in. I never swam more than a 75 fly during training. It was Bill Yorzyk and Jack Nelson who showed me how to fly. My first fly race was a hundred after two weeks of learning the fly. I set a new Canadian record... slow by todays standards, 57 seconds for the 100 yards but fast for those days. I did get down to just under 1:00 for a LC 100 fly. I like full stroke workouts forget the drills...

Thanks for all the great feedback, I've been reading the posts each day before hitting the pool and trying to remember them as I work on the stroke. Here are results so far, and a question: The fins were helpful at first in feeling the rhthym and keeping forward momentum, but quickly turned into a crutch and, as suggested, slowed down the kick, so I quit using them. But I can recommend them if you are having trouble, as I was, in even getting going at the outset. I used the short red Zoomers. Without the guidance of a coach or at least the videos, I didn't attempt the drills, but just concentrated on trying to swim the stroke consistently. I did get some feedback from a woman in the next lane, who pointed out I was raising my chin too high. That helped me lead with my head and get the swimming downhill feeling going, at least until I get tired. I noticed I tend to start kicking with my knees as I get tired, too. And a guard reminded me that I don't need to breathe every stroke, but can keep my head down for a cycle. A couple more questions. What kind of stroke count should I be looking for in a 25 m length? Looking at the videos, it appears that a quick turnover rate is more important in fly than a whole lot of glide, so that means a relatively high stroke count? I'm going 10 -- 12 right now (although I'm staying underwater off the walls and dolphining for all I'm worth to cut down on the amount of time I actually have to swim the stroke :)) And the rules say I don't need to breathe every stroke, right? Thanks for all the tips.

The rules don't specify how often you have to breath, you can breath every stroke or not at all or anywhere inbetween.

I'm no expert, but at Berkeley I used to swim next to a girl named Mary T., aka Madame Butterfly... I asked her: "how do you do that?" She replied: "NEVER think of pulling your arms out of the water - it's impossible, so if you think about it you'll never be able to do it. Forget that part. Think only of THROWING your hands back into the water for the re-entry. And, enter your head in the water leading with the crown, NOT with your face... the rest follows." I know it's not much, but it came from a lady who knew what she was doing, and sure helped my stroke! I just love doing 50m fly!! Mary

One post here made a great point with the advice regarding short dist. workouts in the fly. Once a swimmer gets super tired in the fly, the next thing that happens is the stroke falls apart. Once the stroke falls apart swimming fly is as helpful as getting drunk at practice.

LOL! Tom...I had to reread your post because I thought it read, "....once the stroke falls apart it is helpful to get drunk at practice...." I was thinking, "OK...that's one way to look at it. At least I'd be relaxed..."