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?
The key is to not simply to "swim more fly" in practice; rather, it is to swim more intelligently in practice. Because the butterfly is such a challenging stroke, the more you swim fullstroke, the more quickly your technique tends to fall apart. Working on your timing in this stroke is one of the most important ways to improve efficiency and to avoid fighting against the water's resistance.
The Bob Bowman set mentioned above is a great way to break down the stroke so that you are building up your endurance and fine-tuning your technique at the same time. Bob and Michael produced a training series after the Sydney Olympics which includes quite a few good drills and insights into the butterfly. Here is the series: swimswam.com/.../
The key is to not simply to "swim more fly" in practice; rather, it is to swim more intelligently in practice. Because the butterfly is such a challenging stroke, the more you swim fullstroke, the more quickly your technique tends to fall apart. Working on your timing in this stroke is one of the most important ways to improve efficiency and to avoid fighting against the water's resistance.
The Bob Bowman set mentioned above is a great way to break down the stroke so that you are building up your endurance and fine-tuning your technique at the same time. Bob and Michael produced a training series after the Sydney Olympics which includes quite a few good drills and insights into the butterfly. Here is the series: swimswam.com/.../
