I don't know if any of you have been following the new feature at the Swimming World website called "A day in the life" which has been following the daily routine (written by the subject) of various swimmers. It has been fascinating reading anyway, but now they feature a masters swimmer: Dennis Baker. We have expressed awe and admiration for his feats, now learn what he does to achieve his high level plus his life on a veritable coaching merry-go-round. And do note that most of his workouts are in meters. Day 2 has just been posted.
This pretty much says it all:
"In Saturday's practice, my main set was 10x300's Butterfly on the 4:15, descend slightly all the way through and hold stroke and hold every other breathing pattern. I tried to stay steady on this and started at 3:45 and got down to 3:35. This is in a 25-meter pool."
If you've seen Dennis swim you'd believe he could do this, but still, wow! :eek:
About the fly commentary, why the obsession with breathing every other stroke when one of the two fastest flyers in the world breathes on every stroke?
That might work for Michael Phelps, but it doesn't work for everybody. My body position suffers when I breathe every stroke.
That might work for Michael Phelps, but it doesn't work for everybody. My body position suffers when I breathe every stroke.
I only learned fly about 3 years ago (still learning) and find that by breathing every stroke my rhythm is better. And when I try to breathe every 2nd or 3rd I lose both the rhythm and body position. Besides, I'm an air hog. I want all I can get as often as I can get it.
That might work for Michael Phelps, but it doesn't work for everybody. My body position suffers when I breathe every stroke.
Me too. Breathing every stroke makes my hips drop and I feel like I'm swimming uphill. I can't get into a rhythm either.
10 x 300 fly is insane ...
That might work for Michael Phelps, but it doesn't work for everybody. My body position suffers when I breathe every stroke.
Ditto. The harder a set gets, the more I try to keep my head down. Though I might amend it slightly and say my energy suffers because it is harder to keep my body position. Besides, I get better breaths if I exhale for two.
10x300s fly? I could not locate where he did that.
Is there a link for that Sat workout?
Yeah, he mentioned it in his day one writeup: www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../13563.asp
Me too. Breathing every stroke makes my hips drop and I feel like I'm swimming uphill. I can't get into a rhythm either.
10 x 300 fly is insane ...
That is my main challenge on my Butterfly:frustrated: . How many strokes do you take between each breath, Fortress, and do you keep the rhythm up consistently, or just take a breath when you need one?
That is my main challenge on my Butterfly:frustrated: . How many strokes do you take between each breath, Fortress, and do you keep the rhythm up consistently, or just take a breath when you need one?
Kathy:
I think it totally depends on many factors such as whether you've been engine building, age, race distance, core strength, personal preference.
As for myself, if I'm swimming a 50, I try to breathe only 3-4 times. I'm now trying to stay underwater SDK-ing for awhile. (I can't do nearly the whole 15 meters on the second length though. Working on it.) On the 100, I would breathe every other stroke. I find I need the oxygen swimming the 100. I never do the 200 (see "whine" thread where I left you shoulder advice). That is left in my youth. In practice, I'd say unless I'm doing 25s or race pace 50s, I'm pretty much breathing every other stroke on most fly sets or IMs. But I'm sure others may be different, and they can weigh in. Good luck!
Kathy:
I think it totally depends on many factors such as whether you've been engine building, age, race distance, core strength, personal preference.
As for myself, if I'm swimming a 50, I try to breathe only 3-4 times. I'm now trying to stay underwater SDK-ing for awhile. (I can't do nearly the whole 15 meters on the second length though. Working on it.) On the 100, I would breathe every other stroke. I find I need the oxygen swimming the 100. I never do the 200 (see "whine" thread where I left you shoulder advice). That is left in my youth. In practice, I'd say unless I'm doing 25s or race pace 50s, I'm pretty much breathing every other stroke on most fly sets or IMs. But I'm sure others may be different, and they can weigh in. Good luck!
Fortress - Thanks for the advice and info. We are pretty much the same age. Since Fly is a struggle :laugh2: for me (oxygen-wise), I will be sticking with 50's (in competition) until I prove to myself that I have the same talent for Fly that I had at one time in breastroke (I will try to do a 100 in competition in March and see how close to my high school time I can get). I believe from what I am reading from you and others that my main emphasis needs to be on engine building for my Fly. Last Sunday I went to the pool by myself and in addition to other things, including 1 X 25yd Butterfly, did lots of SDK's (25y) all underwater with no breath. At least that was my goal and I was able to do most of them. I think if I can build my engine to only need one breath/25 of Fly I will feel much better about this stroke. My technique is good (unless I have to breathe a lot), otherwise my coach would not be pushing me in this direction. I just have to get used to using my shoulders this way. Thank for the shoulder advice on the 'Aches and Pains' thread. I will be doing some research on your suggestions. :agree:
Kathy:
I think it totally depends on many factors such as whether you've been engine building, age, race distance, core strength, personal preference.
As for myself, if I'm swimming a 50, I try to breathe only 3-4 times. I'm now trying to stay underwater SDK-ing for awhile. (I can't do nearly the whole 15 meters on the second length though. Working on it.) On the 100, I would breathe every other stroke. I find I need the oxygen swimming the 100. I never do the 200 (see "whine" thread where I left you shoulder advice). That is left in my youth. In practice, I'd say unless I'm doing 25s or race pace 50s, I'm pretty much breathing every other stroke on most fly sets or IMs. But I'm sure others may be different, and they can weigh in. Good luck!
Breathing in butterfly is really inefficient. Since your head is like a rudder, breathing straight ahead like we do in fly gets your whole body position out of whack and we then have to fight to quickly get back to a correct position (thats the 2nd dolphin kick of every stroke cycle).
I tend to breathe at least every other stroke until the piano starts falling. :dedhorse:
You should try a 200 once or twice for sheets and googles. Unless you are actually trying, its not really as bad as it sounds
