Training for the 100 fly?

Two more things that have helped me with my fly. 1) Kicking fly on my back When Mark Gill was my coach, he said "real men don't use kickboards" and so I began kicking butterfly on my back. This helped a lot with the amplitude of my kick and body positioning. I think it also helped me focus on kicking from my core. 2) One-arm fly with the other arm at the side I am trying to remember who taught me this but for the last few years, when I do fly drill I go one length with one arm at my side and then switch over on the following length. This helps with timing and my kick, it emphasizes kicking from the core at the right time. My fly leg in my 400IM has gotten a lot better and I feel more relaxed in the water. Both of these drills have been helpful to me. I am looking at doing some other ones too for next year.

Fort....here's one for you: 4 x 100's power kick no interval (rest till hear rate drops below 120). Go from a dive, kick as hard and fast as you can SDK (ideally to 15m) then surface and swim very easy free to the wall, execute a fly turn into another 15m SDK, repeat for all 3 turns...when you finish the 100 go right into 10 wall up's...on the last wall up get completely out and go right into 50 single leg lifts (20 left, 20 right, 10 both)....this is done lying on your back holding legs out straight 6" off the ground. Since I'm a shameless workout stealer, I tried this today. But I did 6 x 100, since I skipped the drylands. (Didn't want a noodler hopping in my lane.) Not easy! But the set does seem like ideal training for the 100 fly.

Ok, Fort, this has been my favorite training set for 200 fly since college (where doing 20x200 fly or 10x500 fly was a daily occurence). Maybe this will suffice.... 4 x 150y free AT+:05 (should get 5-10 sec rest going moderate hard) 4 x 50 fly 1:00 (as fast as you can go (may only be moderate), but hold them all the same pace) repeat 3-4 times Active recovery fly.... I love this set. To groom it for 100 fly, go the 150's with a bit more rest, but the fly must be all fast.

Fresh advice from last night's workout: Work both directions of your dolphin kick. My coach advised me to work on both the downward (easy) and upward (hella-tough) parts of my kick. This gave me more consistent power delivery during my kick although I will admit it was a bunch harder. I worked this on the kick portion of an IM set and could really feel it. -----end free advice-----

Paul, what if you can't make 15Y/off the wall? Just SDK as far as poss?? Correct.....kick as hard, fast and far as you can make...and a good burger is the key to all swimmings nutritional needs. Al....no one caes about the 200 fly except Stevenson and Baker and no REAL sprinter does 50's all out on 1:00 (try 3:00)! Fort...try it backstroke the next time (then free and IM the next two times) and screw the noodlers...do the dryland and see how hard the set really is!

Al....no one caes about the 200 fly except Stevenson and Baker and no REAL sprinter does 50's all out on 1:00 (try 3:00)! Yeah, I know, I don't do much fly except at meets in the front of a 400IM, so don't have many ideas except for 25s and 50s fast. I'm just trying to help out... the 50's are best average, not all out. Really though, my favorite fly training is short... 75's kick-drill-swim is another good set (6x, 8x, ?x). Take enough rest to finish these well. Kick 25- No board. Focus on returning legs on up kick after the down kick, staying flat. Kick to about the middle and 1 stroke, kick to the other end and 1 more stroke to the wall (could do thirds if this is too difficult). Drill 25- About 4 kicks to 1 stroke (can do some side breathing like Paul). Swim 25- Kind of a build 25. Yes, fast SDK is good here. Accelerate the kick into the stroke.

And yes...yoga is what I primarily use for flexibility but in all honesty I stretch ALL the time....I do get some funny looks for it in airports, the super market, etc. Mrs Stud is always telling me to not stretch when I do it in public... :oldman: Fort you can try my latest fly set: 3 miles OW, 6 strokes fly. Get out, hydrate, and eat a burger. I agree with the slo-mo stuff, I told you before about my kick set, but it's more for motion and feel/building strength. You can work up and down kick on this too. I may try the power kick workout soon. When I think of 100 FLY as 4x25 I'm less intimidated. Trick I guess is not to get dialed in to 25/rest/25/rest/25/rest/25.

4 x 100's power kick no interval (rest till hear rate drops below 120). Go from a dive, kick as hard and fast as you can SDK (ideally to 15m) then surface and swim very easy free to the wall, execute a fly turn into another 15m SDK, repeat for all 3 turns...when you finish the 100 go right into 10 wall up's...on the last wall up get completely out and go right into 50 single leg lifts (20 left, 20 right, 10 both)....this is done lying on your back holding legs out straight 6" off the ground. Paul, what if you can't make 15Y/off the wall? Just SDK as far as poss??

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...try it backstroke the next time (then free and IM the next two times) and screw the noodlers...do the dryland and see how hard the set really is! Was all set to do this set backstroke today when a kid ruined the pool. :bitching: Try it tomorrow. Thanks for the sets, Al and Jeff. I might try Jeff's second set soon, but it will definitely require an easy 50 between parts for me. Screw the 200 fly. No appeal whatsoever. And, Al, I was used to abuse as an age grouper, but 10 x 500 fly?!