Hey, I just did a lap of butterfly!
Ok, 4 lengths, but let's split the difference and call it a lap. ;)
Back when I used to compete, I never did figure out the butterly. It was my only slow stroke. Just never got the rhythm down.
So when I started training again in September, I stuck to the other 3 strokes. Tried fly and didn't remember it at all. Couldn't do it. Not even a single stroke.
Anyway, I'm reading Mastering Swimming and there's a section in there on how to learn fly, starting with pulsing, then pulsing with kicking, then pulsing and kicking with sculling, then adding the complete pull.
In one week, I learned it. Today I did my first full length!
The trick was to find the point where the breath starts. Once I realized that I had to come up when I was both in the power phase of the pull and on a down kick, the rest worked itself out because I had done the exercises that Montgomery and Chambers described, so my body was doing what it should be doing once I found that sweet spot where my pull and kick were coordinated, and it was automatic from there.
Of course, I was splashing like a puppy in a bathtub, and I got tired pretty quick, and got a little cramp in my leg, so I know I need to do some major work on my form before I can incorporate fly into my regular workout, but hey, now I can do the stroke!
Thanks, Jim and Mo!
Oh OK. That's still awesome! It took me a long time to finally get across the pool as well. It can be easier to learn with fins. Maybe try long ones, then go to zoomers, then take them off. Remember, the head will lead the body. Be sure your face enters before your arms and let your chest "drop in", to me this is a key tip.
Keep at it!!!
It's a great feeling, y'all.
The thing about fly, of course, is that it all has to come together in the right rhythm or you're not going anywhere. It's not like the other 3 where you can start out with something passable and fine tune your way up to speed.
That 4 phase method really works. If you've practiced the earlier phases, then once you find the right position at any place in the stroke, the rest just works itself out.
They recommend focusing on hand entry at the top of the stroke, but that didn't get it for me. My sweet spot was the beginning of the breath. Probably because that had always been my albatross when it came to fly.
I know my head's in the wrong position -- my neck is bent, head up -- and I'm splashing way too much water around, but they have tips for that, too, so I'm pretty confident at this point.
If I can get to where I can actually compete at fly, even if I don't win, I'll be the happiest man on earth.
4 lengths as in 100 fly? That's awesome! You must have gotten the rythm and timing right, or 4 lengths would be near impossible. Congrats.
No, 4 lengths as in 1 length, stop and regroup, another length, stop and regroup.... :)
It really was an on/off kind of experience.
One moment, I couldn't swim the stroke, the next moment I could.
As soon as I got the kick and pull and breath in sync at that one point in the stroke, the rest was just inevitable, and suddenly I was powering my way down the lane.
It was kinda shocking, really.
When I got to the wall, I stopped and just let it sink in, then turned around and set off again.
The next step will be figuring out how to get into the stroke from a push-off, which means paying attention while I'm doing the stroke so that I can initiate it from the top of the stroke rather than from the power position of the pull, which is where I had to begin each time today.
ETA: I wanted to holler at the noodlers hanging out in the hot tub, who were the only other people there, "Yo, dudes... I can fly!" :D
