I'm seeking advice on training for the 100 fly. Decided to start swimming it last year. Swam it 7x on the three courses. I can only remember 3x times where I didn't suffer from complete paralysis the last 15 meters or so and worry about a DQ. Gah. So how can I fix this?
I've read that you don't need to train fly in practice. I'm not sure I buy this. The muscular fatigue from fly seems unique. And I don't want to substitute freestyle training for it.
What are some good sets? How many SDKs per length should I take to prevent oxygen debt? If too much fly hurts the shoulders, is kicking a decent training substitute?
I also seem to swim better 100 flys on a week rest. The paralysis seems to be associated with a 2 week taper. Does aerobic fitness drop off that quickly? Is this an age thing? Or is it that I just don't train enough yards for a 2 week taper?
Fort - I'll chime in with my two favorite fly sets. I only do the first set during mid season and toward the end of season (meaning not now because I would fail at it). I tried the second set this week but am not ready for that, either (I had to do an easy 50 free on 1:00 in between each of the 3 parts). Lastly, I swim in a SCM pool.
4x100 on 3:00 done as follows: 75 fly all out (I mean 100%). Stop, get time. Swim easy back to the other end. Oh, and I rarely am able to do all 4 on 3:00. Usually after the 3rd one I wait until at least 5:00 to do the last one with the goal of coming close to what I did on the first one. Again, I think you should be in pretty good shape to do this right. This is my main set on days that I do it.
Other set is not as brutal:
3x75 on 1:30, 3x50 on 1:00, 3x25 on :30. All fly. You try to descend each set of 3. I typically descend just 1 second for each 75 and each 50 (can't really tell the times for the 25s accurately so you just descend your effort). In my opinion when you finish the 3rd 75 fly hard, it becomes a challenge to go into active recovery to do the first 50 easy. Maybe this is actually better preparation for a 200 fly. Just add an easy 50 between each set of 3 if you are not conditioned enough to make the whole set.
I think the second set helps build endurance to stay strong on the last length of a 100 fly or help with the middle of your 200 fly. And the first set, if done in SCM, means you are swimming hard fly (75m) for almost as long as your taper time will be for 100y fly (within 5 seconds).
Jeff Roddin
Fort - I'll chime in with my two favorite fly sets. I only do the first set during mid season and toward the end of season (meaning not now because I would fail at it). I tried the second set this week but am not ready for that, either (I had to do an easy 50 free on 1:00 in between each of the 3 parts). Lastly, I swim in a SCM pool.
4x100 on 3:00 done as follows: 75 fly all out (I mean 100%). Stop, get time. Swim easy back to the other end. Oh, and I rarely am able to do all 4 on 3:00. Usually after the 3rd one I wait until at least 5:00 to do the last one with the goal of coming close to what I did on the first one. Again, I think you should be in pretty good shape to do this right. This is my main set on days that I do it.
Other set is not as brutal:
3x75 on 1:30, 3x50 on 1:00, 3x25 on :30. All fly. You try to descend each set of 3. I typically descend just 1 second for each 75 and each 50 (can't really tell the times for the 25s accurately so you just descend your effort). In my opinion when you finish the 3rd 75 fly hard, it becomes a challenge to go into active recovery to do the first 50 easy. Maybe this is actually better preparation for a 200 fly. Just add an easy 50 between each set of 3 if you are not conditioned enough to make the whole set.
I think the second set helps build endurance to stay strong on the last length of a 100 fly or help with the middle of your 200 fly. And the first set, if done in SCM, means you are swimming hard fly (75m) for almost as long as your taper time will be for 100y fly (within 5 seconds).
Jeff Roddin
