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!
Parents
Former Member
Today I did 6 lengths at practice, along with some dolphin kicking.
My big barrier is getting the timing right from the top of the stroke. I'll bet anything that this was also my problem as a kid, tho of course I don't remember exactly why I couldn't establish a rhythm back then.
I want to begin the stroke with a down kick, but that's wrong b/c the down kick has to come at the power position of the pull with the breath. Just can't seem to begin it right on an upkick on the catch. :(
Which means I haven't been able to do Jim & Mo's one stroke / 2 kicks drill.
But I'll keep working on it.
It's freezing out, gonna be a low of 15, and there's already a 13lb ball of fur crawling onto my lap. Tomorrow I will wake up wearing cats again. I'm just one big ol' heating pad, I reckon.
Today I did 6 lengths at practice, along with some dolphin kicking.
My big barrier is getting the timing right from the top of the stroke. I'll bet anything that this was also my problem as a kid, tho of course I don't remember exactly why I couldn't establish a rhythm back then.
I want to begin the stroke with a down kick, but that's wrong b/c the down kick has to come at the power position of the pull with the breath. Just can't seem to begin it right on an upkick on the catch. :(
Which means I haven't been able to do Jim & Mo's one stroke / 2 kicks drill.
But I'll keep working on it.
It's freezing out, gonna be a low of 15, and there's already a 13lb ball of fur crawling onto my lap. Tomorrow I will wake up wearing cats again. I'm just one big ol' heating pad, I reckon.
