So, I'm a bit scared to try to learn Fly

Without getting into detailed specifics of how to learn the fly (I read and agree with suggestions made so far in the thread), I'd still like to share my passion and approach to Fly with you. I'll just go with a few statements that apply to me. - I do have to be careful with shoulders issues. This is one of my main limitations to swimming (that and knee issues) - Freestyle may sometimes hurt my left shoulder, although I have a more than decent technique - Biggest obstacle for me in learning the Fly (way back then) was making sure that my arms could recover without touching the water. For this, I practiced a lot of fly arm recovery dryland, laying in my bed, on my belly. I would recover back and forth several hundreds of times - These days, I am preparing for a swim training season where I intend to develop butterfly. In preparation for this, my actual regiment is very simple: 5x200 butterfly (full stroke) done at relatively low speed (I touch 3:45 off 5:00) - This regiment has Absolutely NO negative impact on my shoulders whatsoever. In fact, all my articulations (shoulders, neck, lowerback, knees) agree with this regiment and never show any sign of weakness or pain, during and after the sessions. - I am pretty much convinced that once the technique is in place, BF isn't nearly as dangerous as what some people might suggest - Main problem with BF, is that most people swim it at a very high intensity most of the time. Any stroke done at very high intensity without having gained the technical skills can be harmful for articulations - When swam at lower intensity, BF is a very slow stroke, and it's important to acknowledge this fact. At first, speed should be built by reducing drag at low speed (in my humble opinion), so months of slow BF done at a pace slower than swimming breaststroke is a mandatory step. This allows for properly learning how to breathe, synchronize breathing with body ondulation with kicking and pulling action, recovering the arms while keeping shoulders open (not closed). It takes a lot of practice which should be done at the lowest level of intensity possible (again, in my humble opinion). Lean it with the fins like other have suggested, and enjoy the process! Soon, I will post a short clip of what my slow butterfly technique looks like.

Without getting into detailed specifics of how to learn the fly (I read and agree with suggestions made so far in the thread), I'd still like to share my passion and approach to Fly with you. I'll just go with a few statements that apply to me. - I do have to be careful with shoulders issues. This is one of my main limitations to swimming (that and knee issues) - Freestyle may sometimes hurt my left shoulder, although I have a more than decent technique - Biggest obstacle for me in learning the Fly (way back then) was making sure that my arms could recover without touching the water. For this, I practiced a lot of fly arm recovery dryland, laying in my bed, on my belly. I would recover back and forth several hundreds of times - These days, I am preparing for a swim training season where I intend to develop butterfly. In preparation for this, my actual regiment is very simple: 5x200 butterfly (full stroke) done at relatively low speed (I touch 3:45 off 5:00) - This regiment has Absolutely NO negative impact on my shoulders whatsoever. In fact, all my articulations (shoulders, neck, lowerback, knees) agree with this regiment and never show any sign of weakness or pain, during and after the sessions. - I am pretty much convinced that once the technique is in place, BF isn't nearly as dangerous as what some people might suggest - Main problem with BF, is that most people swim it at a very high intensity most of the time. Any stroke done at very high intensity without having gained the technical skills can be harmful for articulations - When swam at lower intensity, BF is a very slow stroke, and it's important to acknowledge this fact. At first, speed should be built by reducing drag at low speed (in my humble opinion), so months of slow BF done at a pace slower than swimming breaststroke is a mandatory step. This allows for properly learning how to breathe, synchronize breathing with body ondulation with kicking and pulling action, recovering the arms while keeping shoulders open (not closed). It takes a lot of practice which should be done at the lowest level of intensity possible (again, in my humble opinion). Lean it with the fins like other have suggested, and enjoy the process! Soon, I will post a short clip of what my slow butterfly technique looks like.