how to train for 50 and 100 butterfly

Thanks for all the advice in this thread. I've been putting it all to good use. I'm not the OP but I needed help on this same issue. Re Gary Hall Sr's advice on building up the legs-- I started doing exactly this about 4 weeks ago, in and out of the water, and got some fins. It's already making a big difference.

here's a precious tip for anyone wanting to improve ability to swim BF at lower energy cost. I created this drill early '90s you'll see it's very simple. That really does 3 things (very well): - Improves balance - Improves timing of the two kicks and breathing relative to the undulation - Get you into a relaxed state of mind, some of it hopefully will transfer into your full stroke. I think it is self explanatory. I'd call this the 0-arm butterfly, as opposed to just body undulation. The later is often described with breathing patterns that don't fit the actual stroke. They do not make distinction between first and second kick if you will. There's a variation that is sometimes taught but I hate it. Too slow. (Turn down the sound, I am sorry) YouTube- Fly DrillSide Get to do this and you'll be able to master both breathing and arm recovery aspects. That will get you much further in term of distances.

It sounds as if more swimmers will do fly this year !

Great Thread. My favorite way to build up fly is a combination of the suggestions given here. I start with sets of 50, and mostly just do 50's... changing the rest interval, and changing what I do in the 50 as I improve my technique, strength, and conditioning. "It's all in the kick" is spot-on. Working on the kick is the only way to improve fly IMHO. For my 50's I usually start with one length body dolphin on my back, then come back with different combinations of full stroke and one-arm-fly (right now it is 2ea full stroke followed by one-arm each side, repeat), ending with full stroke the whole way... and then rest. Eventually I will string some 50's together for a few 100's mixed in... etc. When my conditioning was better I was doing as many 50's as I could in 15min., up to 3x/practice session. (That allowed me to be able to do a 400IM and a 200 Fly... not pretty the whole way, or top-ten material, but I could finish the event without feeling like I was completely trashed.) Anyway... the idea is to gradually build up. I agree about being tired. The ultimate test for me is how well I can keep my form while doing fly sets at the end of my practice session. If your technique breaks down significantly, then it is time to switch to something else (kicks? one-arm? another stroke?) till you are ready to give it another go with proper form. There are numerous fly threads here... this is a list of some of them. :)

thanks for all these great suggestions! I'm using as many of them as I can, esp legs and broken 50 flys with 10 sec rest.

I like the above advice... Last year I did my 1st 100 fly in 30 years after doing lots and lots of 25's and 50's in practice. I never did a 100 until I did it in the meet and It worked out just fine! even if you can't pull off a 100 in practice, it could be there for you on meet day... That is what I like to hear. Is a 200 fly the same way? It's pretty much a 175 of all heart.