Yes, I'm back again with yet another request for video feedback on my fly. :rolleyes: It may not look like it, but I have worked hard trying to improve my fly technique and speed. I train on my own, so I am grateful for you all who coach me by (online) committee! Thank you!!
As I mentioned in the 2020 goal thread, I am trying to improve my 200 fly time. My best ever was in the low 3:50's back in 2012, and my best in 2019 (at age 57) was 4:10.62. Both were ridiculously slow-- not even on the motivational chart as a "B". :cane:
Although I would love to get back under 4:00, I would be happy to just get on the motivational chart as a "B" with a 4:02.57.
I have increased my fly training yardage to anywhere from 400-700 yards of my 2,500 yd (av.) workout that I typically do six times per week. Twice per week, my fly is a USRPT set where I am doing 50's on 1:20 (decreasing the interval as I get closer to meet time) and making 1:01 as my fail time. Otherwise, fly gets worked in as part of 400 IM training or sprint training for the 50 and 100 fly. (My core stroke is breaststroke, so I am doing the same for breaststroke on as well.)
In addition to pool work (including body dolphin sets with fins), I have been working on strength and flexibility during my post-swim on deck workouts. M-W-F, I do 100 military-style push-ups as sets of 15 with a fast set of 10 at the end. I also do 100 crunches or sit-ups. I follow that with Theraband sets that I learned in physical therapy. I finish with strength yoga poses that work mostly on the back and shoulders as well as stretching. (On alternate days, I focus just on flexibility and balance with my yoga with less emphasis on strength. This is a stretch that has helped my fly a lot:
12243
So, what next? I have great endurance when I swim fly slow with a long glide; however, when I try to speed up, I can't make a 200 without pauses at the wall. What else should I be doing with my technique and training to improve my time? The following are front view and back view videos of my fly while I was in Charleston. (Love those 50 meter pools!!!)
https://youtu.be/t_-DInNBOs8https://youtu.be/aSj1G4WQvNc
Parents
Former Member
Elaine- My coaching experience is not as robust as many here (in fact it is quite minimal), but I have a few thoughts about your fly.
Things I notice
1) when you push off the wall, breathe or are in a streamline or glide position, your head position looks a little high (or neck extended) to me- almost with your brow facing forward. This is really common and seems to come from a few places. Sometimes watching where we are going or spotting for other swimmers in our lane, other times from a lack of shoulder flexibility or just old habits. Either way, that brow/eyes forward position increases your frontal drag significantly and drives your hips down lower in the water, meaning that you need to do a lot more up/down motion to get going and does bring you to a dead stop during your stroke cycle.
2) Your second dolphin kick looks late in timing to me. This I would want to confirm with someone who coaches more butterfly, but in some stroke cycles I only see 1 kick and others two, with the second one not well coupled to your arm recovery. It also looks like that kick (and maybe both) are generated from yours knees rather than thinking of your whole body as a whip and starting that kick from your chest or at least hips.
3)Underwater pull pattern. I would love to be able to see your pull pattern in person! I can see it best when I slow down to 1/2 or 1/4 speed in the "Front view" and just like with the kick, I think you've got some fatigue at this point. I think both A) your entry and B) your pull pattern have potential opportunity. If you watch your hands enter the water, the entry is right in front of your ears/head (with arms extended which is great), but then your hands slide even more towards the center of your body and then they slide back out to the side, your elbows drop and your begin your pull. I would be curious about a slightly wider entry and thinking of your hand and forearms as a pulling "unit" where that "unit" pushes straight back towards the wall/touch pad behind you. Basically (and it may just be fatigue), your arms are slipping through the water with elbow dropped and not generating much propulsion. In most frames i see your palms facing the bottom of the pool with the elbows straight behind them, leading your pull. Just like in freestyle, dropping that elbow before your pull starts will increase drag and decrease power. You want to push the water back rather than down.
Your out of water recovery and flexibility and tempo seem just right for you and yours goals. I would work on the mechanics and timing of the kick, would keep a head position that creates slightly less drag (a slight chin tuck off the walls and with breathing), but most of all would really want to see your underwater pull pattern when you are fresh and get that adjusted. I like "swim smooths' explanation of dropped elbow/high hand regarding free style and i think this applies here. The Race Club also has some great videos of pull pattern.
I hope this doesn't seem overwhelming or off base- again my coaching experience is more in developmental/beginner kids or new-to-swim adults (triathletes etc) so the nuances of butterfly evade me and... I can't swim it at all ;) Keep fighting the good fight! I know you've had some injury and mobility issues too, so throw away any of my comments that don't apply to you. I'm always amazed by your hard work and pursuit of challenges.
Look at "stone skipper" drill and you could do this for maybe 16 x25s. The first 4, get that head more neutral, chin tucked just a bit. The second 4 work on an early vertical forearm pull (or think about getting those palms and forarms pushing towards the wall behind you). The 3rd four work on starting that kick with a chest press (like cracking a whip, the kick echoes down to your toes). The last four put it all together.
Elaine- My coaching experience is not as robust as many here (in fact it is quite minimal), but I have a few thoughts about your fly.
Things I notice
1) when you push off the wall, breathe or are in a streamline or glide position, your head position looks a little high (or neck extended) to me- almost with your brow facing forward. This is really common and seems to come from a few places. Sometimes watching where we are going or spotting for other swimmers in our lane, other times from a lack of shoulder flexibility or just old habits. Either way, that brow/eyes forward position increases your frontal drag significantly and drives your hips down lower in the water, meaning that you need to do a lot more up/down motion to get going and does bring you to a dead stop during your stroke cycle.
2) Your second dolphin kick looks late in timing to me. This I would want to confirm with someone who coaches more butterfly, but in some stroke cycles I only see 1 kick and others two, with the second one not well coupled to your arm recovery. It also looks like that kick (and maybe both) are generated from yours knees rather than thinking of your whole body as a whip and starting that kick from your chest or at least hips.
3)Underwater pull pattern. I would love to be able to see your pull pattern in person! I can see it best when I slow down to 1/2 or 1/4 speed in the "Front view" and just like with the kick, I think you've got some fatigue at this point. I think both A) your entry and B) your pull pattern have potential opportunity. If you watch your hands enter the water, the entry is right in front of your ears/head (with arms extended which is great), but then your hands slide even more towards the center of your body and then they slide back out to the side, your elbows drop and your begin your pull. I would be curious about a slightly wider entry and thinking of your hand and forearms as a pulling "unit" where that "unit" pushes straight back towards the wall/touch pad behind you. Basically (and it may just be fatigue), your arms are slipping through the water with elbow dropped and not generating much propulsion. In most frames i see your palms facing the bottom of the pool with the elbows straight behind them, leading your pull. Just like in freestyle, dropping that elbow before your pull starts will increase drag and decrease power. You want to push the water back rather than down.
Your out of water recovery and flexibility and tempo seem just right for you and yours goals. I would work on the mechanics and timing of the kick, would keep a head position that creates slightly less drag (a slight chin tuck off the walls and with breathing), but most of all would really want to see your underwater pull pattern when you are fresh and get that adjusted. I like "swim smooths' explanation of dropped elbow/high hand regarding free style and i think this applies here. The Race Club also has some great videos of pull pattern.
I hope this doesn't seem overwhelming or off base- again my coaching experience is more in developmental/beginner kids or new-to-swim adults (triathletes etc) so the nuances of butterfly evade me and... I can't swim it at all ;) Keep fighting the good fight! I know you've had some injury and mobility issues too, so throw away any of my comments that don't apply to you. I'm always amazed by your hard work and pursuit of challenges.
Look at "stone skipper" drill and you could do this for maybe 16 x25s. The first 4, get that head more neutral, chin tucked just a bit. The second 4 work on an early vertical forearm pull (or think about getting those palms and forarms pushing towards the wall behind you). The 3rd four work on starting that kick with a chest press (like cracking a whip, the kick echoes down to your toes). The last four put it all together.
