Before I get started, I just want to say that I'm already aware of how nothing can be better than simply swimming the stroke.
Anyways, I swim at my city's community center pool and it is quite crowded in the lap lanes, on top of that, the people are not exactly polite. I need to work on my butterfly(and other strokes too, but mostly fly) for when my school's swim season starts, so it's pretty important.
Does anyone know any good drills or weight sets that I can possibly do to improve my butterfly without much time in the water? (I'm kinda starting to get sick of playing frogger every day trying to avoid people)
Thanks!
Oh, on a side note, whenever I swim for a while, I get really noticeable dark circles under my eyes, does anyone know the cause?
I guess all I can do for now is just strengthen my arms with weights and try to swim a length or two of butterfly whenever I get the chance.
A lot depends on several factors - what distance you're planning to race, if your stroke is dominant in the upper body, lower body, or just based on rhythm. Additionally, and probably more important, what are you weak points currently? For example, if you're targeting the 100 Fly and when you swim it in a meet (not practice - that doesn't count) then when do you die and which body parts give out first? Basically what is the limiting factor?
As a case in point, my stroke is upper-body dominant and I swim sprint distances. In college it was very different - I had to work a lot more on legs since I had to swim 200's all of the time, but now I'm focusing on the 50 with a secondary focus on the 100. Therefore, in the weight room I concentrate on lower chest and triceps to give me enough strength to surge out of the water. This is because I touch my hands together in the sculling motion underneath the chest, and push forcefully in the latter half of the underwater stroke with my triceps. It's extraordinarily effective, but takes a great deal of strength to do it right - especially for a 100. With that in mind, my primary strength exercises are close-grip dips and the decline hammer strength press. I'll add some exercises for my rear delts, but with lighter weight and higher reps. This is because I'm not trying to add strength there - the goal for those muscles is endurance as that's what gives out in the last 25 of the 100 Fly.
It may not work for everyone, but it's been proven to work well for me. Earlier this year I had to be out of the water for 3 months due to a broken toe. I lifted during the 3 months in this manner, and was only able to get 2 weeks of swimming in before a big meet. Despite being out of the water for 3 months, I still swam incredibly fast.
I guess all I can do for now is just strengthen my arms with weights and try to swim a length or two of butterfly whenever I get the chance.
A lot depends on several factors - what distance you're planning to race, if your stroke is dominant in the upper body, lower body, or just based on rhythm. Additionally, and probably more important, what are you weak points currently? For example, if you're targeting the 100 Fly and when you swim it in a meet (not practice - that doesn't count) then when do you die and which body parts give out first? Basically what is the limiting factor?
As a case in point, my stroke is upper-body dominant and I swim sprint distances. In college it was very different - I had to work a lot more on legs since I had to swim 200's all of the time, but now I'm focusing on the 50 with a secondary focus on the 100. Therefore, in the weight room I concentrate on lower chest and triceps to give me enough strength to surge out of the water. This is because I touch my hands together in the sculling motion underneath the chest, and push forcefully in the latter half of the underwater stroke with my triceps. It's extraordinarily effective, but takes a great deal of strength to do it right - especially for a 100. With that in mind, my primary strength exercises are close-grip dips and the decline hammer strength press. I'll add some exercises for my rear delts, but with lighter weight and higher reps. This is because I'm not trying to add strength there - the goal for those muscles is endurance as that's what gives out in the last 25 of the 100 Fly.
It may not work for everyone, but it's been proven to work well for me. Earlier this year I had to be out of the water for 3 months due to a broken toe. I lifted during the 3 months in this manner, and was only able to get 2 weeks of swimming in before a big meet. Despite being out of the water for 3 months, I still swam incredibly fast.
