Training for the 100 fly?

Overall conditioning is the main factor, but 25 and 50's fast will help the most.... not lots of fly. I like to mix in some extreme speed using fins about once a week. Try not to breath every stroke during speed in practice and never breath off the walls.... ever. Race fly from a dive and when in meets whenever possible.

I equate the 100 fly to running the 400m. It is very pshycological. Many times in practice I could not bring myself to run hard 400's. To practice for the 400, I used to run alot of 300's and 350's. The thinking being you imprint the right race pace at practice without enduring the piano and in a meet there will be something left to bring it home. If you run full 400's in practice for time, you will probably run it wrong and take it out too slow so there will be something left. Maybe for the 100 fly I would try race pace 75's, turn, SDK agressively and break out free and glide 25. Get comfortable doing these. Finally the best training is done at meets. Try doing the 100 fly at every meet this year.

25 and 50's fast will help the most.... not lots of fly. I like to mix in some extreme speed using fins about once a week. Try not to breath every stroke during speed in practice and never breath off the walls.... ever. Race fly from a dive and when in meets whenever possible. Well, I've done lots of this, Al, but I think I need something more. It's not enough to stave off the piano! Rob, You're right! That's why I've tried to swim it a lot last year. Can't do it every meet because it's often a back to back event with backstroke. Paul, I wonder if you (and Ande and JF) can get away with not doing much fly because you've been swimming masters for so long? I think my super long layoff killed my aerobic base somewhat. My fly "feel" bounced back more slowly than my long axis strokes. Greg, thanks for the advice! I will try the 10 x 75 fly. I do think in a couple of my 100 flys where I've crashed it's been due to taking too many SDKs. So I either need better hypoxic training or fewer SDKs. The long course 100 fly WAS a different experience and I breathed every other stroke. Not doing that again without better conditioning!

There's a fellow Potamic Valley swimmer who comes to our pool in the summer. He's also a 100 fly enthusiast. Being in his 50's, he's mindful of potential shoulder breakdowns. His training method basically involves a 100 fly towards the end of each workout. If he does it well, he knows he's ready to push through a race no problem. He rarely does full sets of fly. Mainly small sets of 50's keeping good form, or broken 100's with very little rest. By knowing you can drive home a full 4 lengths, the mental reservation of fading away on the home stretch is gone. And you can focus more on your event instead of playing survivor.

There is a lot of good advice already. This is my two cents: -- When I crash at the end of the 100, I think it may be because I haven't breathed enough going out. It's tempting to not breath when you take it out but you pay in the end. -- Last year I started incorporating 75 flys into my workout. About once every ten days I would start with a set of 10 75's, going about as fast as I can, on 1:30. I think rest is very important and if I don't rest enough I break down completely and there is no point sloshing through. So, find out how long you need to rest to be able to swim the 75's quickly. It's not race pace because I breath each stroke, but I think it helped in the 100 and the 200. -- For the 100 I also do sets of 50's off the blocks, pretty much all out. Not often, but a few times in the weeks before a meet...just to get the feel of the start, break out, turns, etc. I also do 25's, and for both I give myself plenty of rest. Whatever you need. -- It's a "feel" stroke and you'll have to find the best way for your body to swim it. Since you've already raced the 100 fly--including LCM, which is almost a different race altogether, and more difficult--you've already overcome the toughest hurdle: just doing it. Good luck.

Out of curiosity, as you die at the end, do you find it is pulling or recovering that you have trouble with, or both? It seems like the muscles used in the pull should be similar to crawl, but the recovery might work a set of muscles not used as much in free? There's a race club video with Cavic with his chest on a ball using stretch cords to resist the fly recovery motion. Lindsay--Do you have a link for that video?

I have nothing against people who may want to swim longer distances and more reps of fly...it just hasn't ever been something that I needed to do to prep for a race. Also...if your seizing up at the end of the race your probably making the most common mistake in fly and swimming with your arms vs. your "core". One last thing....I really think that flexibility is far more important than strength and aerobic conditioning when it comes to swimming fly well & not seizing up at the end of a race. That's cuz you're you! I don't have your swimming background. What kind of yoga are you doing for flexibility? How do you ensure you're swimming with your core?

I think no one approach fits all swimmers, as noted above, but here are some things that help me: 1) work on technique, and if you can get a private lesson with a strong stroke coach, so much the better. 2) if you are struggling with the recovery at the end of the 100, it's likely that you are swimming too flat - ie, not using your chest to start your stroke. Do enough fly in practice that you swim some tired and work on keeping your stroke together. For me, it's always about not getting too flat - press you chest down and see if that helps you to get your hips up and arms out easier. 3) Favorite fly sets: 8 x 50 fly, desc. 1 - 4, desc. 5 - 8 on an interval that gives you enough rest to descend them. 10 x 100 75 strong free, 25 fly on about 30 seconds rest. Once these are easy, then it's 50 strong free, 50 fly. I swam the 100 fly and 200 fly in college and always died on the 200. I still die at the end of 100 LCM fly, but 100 yard fly is much, much easier for me. I *like* walls and SDK. Best of luck with your 100 fly!

That's cuz you're you! I don't have your swimming background. What kind of yoga are you doing for flexibility? How do you ensure you're swimming with your core? Leslie...remember....I didnt start swimming till I was a sophmore in high school so according to Ion I missed most of the best training window as a kid. Even in college I rarely if ever trained "traditional" fly sets...the 200 fly guys ate that stuff up however. As for yoga I've practiced various versions since college but stumbled on Anusara about 8 years ago and really connected with its emphasis on proper alignment. As for ensuring I'm swimming with my core i guess its just something I do every single stroke...TI refers to it as "mindful" swimming. If at any time in any stroke I feeling any one part of my body (arms, legs) then i know I'm overemphasizing those areas vs. a central, core driven sensation. Typically I use low speed drills and focus on core contraction before and thru each movement....however Jeff Comings, Sam Perry, my wife and many others bascially call BS and say I'm swimming slow, daydreaming and simply not training hard!

Paul or others, do you do any sort of stretching for fly-specific flexibility other than yoga? I definitely run into the piano wrt recovery. I'm not a flyer, but would like to do an IM where I don't go into the backstroke dead. Although I stretch from the core down religiously, I rarely ever stretch my shoulders. Anytime I've done shoulder stretching in the past, it's led up to an injury.