You downkicked while you were pulling
Your legs went proactive
Your arms slammed
You heaved when you should have surged
You yawed when you should have pitched
You lost track of your legs
You hemmed when you should have hawed
YOU KNOW YOUR BUTTERSTRUGGLE WHEN -
You are worried about your looks
Your breathing is like a woman in labor
You got a mouthful
You've redefined top dead center
Your arms lost their lift
You got a literal ton of feedback
Gulls are circling
Kids are drowning
Parents
Former Member
I forgot that one - true to form. I know all this because I watched you all the way from California!
My "you know you're a" type list came all from my personal fly experiences. After several months of working on fly once or twice a week, I still haven't figured out the damn thing. However, I am finally getting much closer. I am a testament to what will likely happen to one who doesn't enroll in a Masters swim class.
I apologize that my first post is a somewhat stupid corny one. I intend on pulling up an old discussion thread here on various butterfly technique. Hopefully, I'll get the time to organize my thoughts and experiences. Now that I got this solid joke post out of the way (I wrote and added a few lines to it each of the last three days), maybe I'll be able to get myself into the real discussion.
I'm surprised there isn't even more discussion on butterfly technique here and elsewhere on the web. I'm assuming I've already found most of it (that which is free).
In the last year, I've been swimming all four strokes most times out. I had never swum fly before and my breaststroke was oldstyle. Not to mention that my crawl strokes were very bad technique. Essentially I've been trying to learn all four strokes simultaneously on my own in one to three hour swims once or more often twice a week. I've had great progress except with the fly. The fly has been mostly an exercise in failure except that it has turned into a serious motivator. I love the challenge, and in the meantime, it is still superior exercise. I am now very fit for performing it; all I have to do is do it right. Which I will.
A couple weeks ago, a neighbor friend said to me, "Why don't you give it up?" This should go to my Butterstruggle list! But I loved when she said that to me - I was the one who brought up my difficulties with the fly - she has seen me several times - and I had been getting worse - for me, I had to get worse before I get better.
Perhaps, for most people, learning the fly is purely an endeavor of perseverance. I would love to be able to ride a unicycle or play the guitar. But the effort to learn is 100 times over not worth it for the unicycle and a 1000 times over not worth it for the guitar. The fly payoff IS WORTH IT 10000 times over.
What would be funny is if everyone that even thought about swimming the fly and gave up, even with a one or two time weak effort, would describe their mental experience. Honesty or brutal humility required.
I forgot that one - true to form. I know all this because I watched you all the way from California!
My "you know you're a" type list came all from my personal fly experiences. After several months of working on fly once or twice a week, I still haven't figured out the damn thing. However, I am finally getting much closer. I am a testament to what will likely happen to one who doesn't enroll in a Masters swim class.
I apologize that my first post is a somewhat stupid corny one. I intend on pulling up an old discussion thread here on various butterfly technique. Hopefully, I'll get the time to organize my thoughts and experiences. Now that I got this solid joke post out of the way (I wrote and added a few lines to it each of the last three days), maybe I'll be able to get myself into the real discussion.
I'm surprised there isn't even more discussion on butterfly technique here and elsewhere on the web. I'm assuming I've already found most of it (that which is free).
In the last year, I've been swimming all four strokes most times out. I had never swum fly before and my breaststroke was oldstyle. Not to mention that my crawl strokes were very bad technique. Essentially I've been trying to learn all four strokes simultaneously on my own in one to three hour swims once or more often twice a week. I've had great progress except with the fly. The fly has been mostly an exercise in failure except that it has turned into a serious motivator. I love the challenge, and in the meantime, it is still superior exercise. I am now very fit for performing it; all I have to do is do it right. Which I will.
A couple weeks ago, a neighbor friend said to me, "Why don't you give it up?" This should go to my Butterstruggle list! But I loved when she said that to me - I was the one who brought up my difficulties with the fly - she has seen me several times - and I had been getting worse - for me, I had to get worse before I get better.
Perhaps, for most people, learning the fly is purely an endeavor of perseverance. I would love to be able to ride a unicycle or play the guitar. But the effort to learn is 100 times over not worth it for the unicycle and a 1000 times over not worth it for the guitar. The fly payoff IS WORTH IT 10000 times over.
What would be funny is if everyone that even thought about swimming the fly and gave up, even with a one or two time weak effort, would describe their mental experience. Honesty or brutal humility required.
