I'm new at the butterfly stroke and struggle to do 6x33yds with a freestyle return(100 ft pool) in one workout. I do these with a full recovery (3 min). After that I'll have to switch to some other stroke because I'm pretty much shot.
What are typical workouts and distances that strong flyers do that I should try to build to? I'm thinking that 10x50's would be a great goal?
well, duh me... I've done lots of 6-kick freestyle, but never thought to do it on my back. My usual backstroke drill of choice is single arm by 2, then switch (R,R,L,L,R... etc) 6-kick back is a great idea... and a sneaky way to force me to do some more kicking!! thanks!
Former Member
leslie and aquafeisty: you can also do 6:1 backstroke - that drill really helps me with my rotation, because with the 6 kicks, you can really get your hips turned and maintain perfect head position. If you like it on fly, you should try it for back, too. :-) good luck!
Former Member
Yay! Im happy you are excited about the drill for backstroke! I recommend rotating right arm to left arm every stroke - it's a best similator for the real thing, and will help you with rotation and transitions. Let me know how it goes. All this talk of backstroke really makes me wish I was in the pool and not at work right now! :cool:
For folks new at butterfly, a good drill I've used in teaching is a kick-heavy butterfly cycle: 4 kicks for every arm-pull.
One of the hardest things for a new fly swimmer to do is get both arms out of the pool, especially when exhaustion sets in at the end of each 25. This drill lets the swimmer focus on the arm movement w/o as much of the tired effects. An added side effect of this drill is that with the extra kicks per cycle, the swimmer has added energy (from the extra kick) helping push forward the body and aid in getting those arms out of the water.
