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
Syd- I know the feeling....trying to get into Fly myself. Used to swim it oh, like 35 years ago....and when it all came together it was awesome; felt like I could swim it forever. Sadly, I stopped swimming, moved on to other sports/hobbies....life etc. After multiple injuries; wear and tear on body, started swimming again a little over two years ago. Just now I can finally finish a 50 without too much stroke disintegration. Have to agree that if I did not have to breathe, I'd have the stroke down perfectly.
I find I still don't have the core strength to keep it up....am thinking of getting a monofin to help with this. Has anyone else tried to use the monofin to imporve the butterfly?
Well I think that Fortress uses a monofin because it helps develop core strength. Maybe she will jump in on this thread. I have never used fins myself. They aren't allowed at the pool I swim at .
Back to the breathing thing: I find if my neck is totally relaxed, and I barely lift my head out of the water to breath, I can maintain a much more level body position which seems to be ideal for fly. Any jerky movements or stiff necks or too vertical a neck position will cause stroke breakdown.
Syd
Syd- I know the feeling....trying to get into Fly myself. Used to swim it oh, like 35 years ago....and when it all came together it was awesome; felt like I could swim it forever. Sadly, I stopped swimming, moved on to other sports/hobbies....life etc. After multiple injuries; wear and tear on body, started swimming again a little over two years ago. Just now I can finally finish a 50 without too much stroke disintegration. Have to agree that if I did not have to breathe, I'd have the stroke down perfectly.
I find I still don't have the core strength to keep it up....am thinking of getting a monofin to help with this. Has anyone else tried to use the monofin to imporve the butterfly?
Well I think that Fortress uses a monofin because it helps develop core strength. Maybe she will jump in on this thread. I have never used fins myself. They aren't allowed at the pool I swim at .
Back to the breathing thing: I find if my neck is totally relaxed, and I barely lift my head out of the water to breath, I can maintain a much more level body position which seems to be ideal for fly. Any jerky movements or stiff necks or too vertical a neck position will cause stroke breakdown.
Syd
