As a kid my father and my coach always wanted me to swim the fly but I always resisted. Only once was I ever persuaded to swim the 100m fly. I went out hell for leather in the first 50 and even turned in front but the wheels came off in the second 50, in a bad way, and I ended up limping in the last 25m swimming one arm butterfly! I never tried again!
Now after a 20 odd year abscence from swimming I find myself actually wanting to swim fly and enjoying it when I do. It's a beautiful feeling when the fly is executed well: smooth, rhythmic and exhilarating. When you hit the zone in fly it is an even better feeling than hitting the zone in crawl. It is an addictive feeling.
How did I get into fly? Well it has only been recently really, but I started to do a set of 25m at the end of every practice. I started off really slowly: 10 times 25m at 30 sec's alternating fly and crawl. Slowly I have built that up to 40 times 25m at 30sec and more recently I have been adding a set of 10 times 50 fly at 90sec. Next I plan to cut the repeat interval down to at least a minute on the 50's and then add some 100's. I can't wait to try the 100's but I don't want to try before I am really ready for them.
I always laugh when I see SwimStud's "Fly: Just say no!" because that is exactly how I felt but I have to say now, a practice without fly is a a practice without my 'fix'!
Anyone else have a similar experience?
Syd
Parents
Former Member
People have told me I have a nice fly.../QUOTE] Quite. That is exactlty what my father and my coach used to tell me too. And it did feel nice - for the first 25m. It felt like I had the wind behind my back. But somehow after that the rhythm went, my butt started to sink and my shoulders and my legs started to work independently of one another.
I aspire to 200 sometime down the road./QUOTE] I would love to do that too!
So I have begun to drill one arm fly and do 50s with lots of rest./QUOTE] I do the one arm drills as well. One of my favourites is one a picked up from a Phelps video. It requires you to extend the non swimming arm to the front and take two strokes with the swimming arm. Now change and do two on the other side and finally finish off with two full strokes, both arms. It is quite exhausting at first but it forces you to keep that butt up otherwise you lose rhythm fast and start to sink.
If I could only avoid breathing, it would be really easy! That picking up the head thing really slows things down. I am trying to learn to breathe looking down at the water instead of straight ahead./QUOTE] I know exactly what you mean. When I am really flying I am breathing with my head facing down. The higher you lift your head the more your butt sinks, the more resistance is caused and the quicker the wheels start to come off. I find breathing every two strokes helps me maintain a higher butt position and hence a better rhythm. In fact the single most important advice I could give anyone about the fly is: Don't let those hips sink!
Glad to know there is someone else out there who is in a similiar position.
Syd
People have told me I have a nice fly.../QUOTE] Quite. That is exactlty what my father and my coach used to tell me too. And it did feel nice - for the first 25m. It felt like I had the wind behind my back. But somehow after that the rhythm went, my butt started to sink and my shoulders and my legs started to work independently of one another.
I aspire to 200 sometime down the road./QUOTE] I would love to do that too!
So I have begun to drill one arm fly and do 50s with lots of rest./QUOTE] I do the one arm drills as well. One of my favourites is one a picked up from a Phelps video. It requires you to extend the non swimming arm to the front and take two strokes with the swimming arm. Now change and do two on the other side and finally finish off with two full strokes, both arms. It is quite exhausting at first but it forces you to keep that butt up otherwise you lose rhythm fast and start to sink.
If I could only avoid breathing, it would be really easy! That picking up the head thing really slows things down. I am trying to learn to breathe looking down at the water instead of straight ahead./QUOTE] I know exactly what you mean. When I am really flying I am breathing with my head facing down. The higher you lift your head the more your butt sinks, the more resistance is caused and the quicker the wheels start to come off. I find breathing every two strokes helps me maintain a higher butt position and hence a better rhythm. In fact the single most important advice I could give anyone about the fly is: Don't let those hips sink!
Glad to know there is someone else out there who is in a similiar position.
Syd
