Butterfly, beautiful to watch, difficult to train.
We SDK off every wall.
We're most likely to smack hands with each other and those beside us.
Fly's fun to sprint but no fun when the piano comes down
What did you do in practice today?
the breastroke lane
The Middle Distance Lane
The Backstroke Lane
The Butterfly Lane
The SDK Lane
The Taper Lane
The Distance Lane
The IM Lane
The Sprint Free Lane
The Pool Deck
Knelson, now that you've swum the event, what are your thoughts?
My thoughts are I'm glad it's over!
It's definitely a different animal than a 200 fly short course. I think you can actually swim a good 200 fly short course just by doing lots of 25 flies in training. Not so for the long course event. To do a good long course 200 fly you need a stroke you can hold together for a long time and this means good tempo and a consistent kick. I know for me I fell into survival mode way too early. I hardly ever kick fly in workouts and I think next time I try a 200 fly this is something I'll need to do if I want to swim the race well.
My thoughts are I'm glad it's over!
It's definitely a different animal than a 200 fly short course. I think you can actually swim a good 200 fly short course just by doing lots of 25 flies in training. Not so for the long course event. To do a good long course 200 fly you need a stroke you can hold together for a long time and this means good tempo and a consistent kick. I know for me I fell into survival mode way too early. I hardly ever kick fly in workouts and I think next time I try a 200 fly this is something I'll need to do if I want to swim the race well.
I agree about the kick. In practice, I often swim the last 25 of a fly swim with the biggest kick I can summon. Yesterday I pushed off the last wall and tried to swim the last 50 with the big kick. Since I was already tired, the big kick only lasted maybe 20 meters before I realized I had to revert to my normal kick or else the piano would drop. It seems stupidly obvious now: if I want to use a big kick for 50 meters, I have to practice it that way! Alternately, I could have waited until 175 meters to start the big kick. That might have worked, though I'm not accustomed to increasing my kick in the middle of a length.
As promised... Lane 4: That Guy. Lane 5: Knelson. Rich Seibert on the mic, cracking jokes at our expense :)
www.youtube.com/watch 2010-07 Masters Doug 200 Fly
You look great through the 150, but then you can definitely see the fatigue set in. As you mentioned, you had a hard time keeping your arms above the water on the last 50. I noticed neither of us has a kick where our feet come close to the surface. Contrast this with the video of Mary T Meagher YouTube- Mary T. Meagher where her butt surfaces on every stroke cycle and you can at least see the splash from her feet.
Nice video, by the way! That camera did a good job with the low light conditions.
Hi guys! Mind if I drop in from The Breaststroke Lane for a visit? After breaststroke, the IM was my other event to round out my high school meet line-up. Then, if the coach needed me, I was thrown into the 100 fly. :afraid:
Since joining USMS, in February, I have only competed in breaststroke, including at Nationals. Now, I'm focusing on the other strokes, as well, to prepare for a pentathlon, where I will be competing in each stroke, as well as the IM. So, I'm bringing more fly into my workouts.
Question: For somebody who has had past neck and shoulder injuries (and major shoulder surgery) unrelated to swimming, what would be a less stressful breathing technique for fly; traditional breathing or turning my head to the side to breathe? I'm more concerned with avoiding injury than being faster. I plan on being in this for the long haul... :D
Cheers!
:chug:
Question: For somebody who has had past neck and shoulder injuries (and major shoulder surgery) unrelated to swimming, what would be a less stressful breathing technique for fly; traditional breathing or turning my head to the side to breathe? I'm more concerned with avoiding injury than being faster. I plan on being in this for the long haul...
Do whichever feels better for you. In general there's no speed difference between breathing like Mel Stewart or breathing like most everyone else. But there may be advantages for individuals, such as less neck strain if you tend to go vertical. When I swim fly in the ocean, I breathe to my side so I can see the next wave coming and duck under at the appropriate time. There's a guy at my gym who always breathes to his right... in breaststroke! I don't know why he does it but hey, it seems to work for him.
You look great through the 150, but then you can definitely see the fatigue set in. As you mentioned, you had a hard time keeping your arms above the water on the last 50. I noticed neither of us has a kick where our feet come close to the surface. Contrast this with the video of Mary T Meagher YouTube- Mary T. Meagher where her butt surfaces on every stroke cycle and you can at least see the splash from her feet.
Nice video, by the way! That camera did a good job with the low light conditions.
I've watched this video at least 10 times. My main takeaway is that I have a lazy kick that I have to correct. I've been working on it all week and will continue to drill into it this season. So far, when I kick with greater (but not maximum) amplitude, it pans out like this:
- a 50-second 75 turns into a 48-second 75
- a 32-second 50 turns into a 30-high or 31-low 50
- a 15-second 25 turns into a 14-second 25
How much of that is due to the aftereffects of my recent taper and shave? Too early to say. I will keep up the better kick and see where it takes me this training cycle.
Three of us are swimming the "core set" of this workout within each of our workouts in preparation for 750meter open water fly swim next month.
Warm UP
300 free, 100 fly, 200 kick, 100 fly
2 x (3 x 75 1st 25 fly 50 free, 1st 50 fly 25 free, 75 fly)
2 x 200 odd lengths fly even free
Core Set (we have been putting this in the middle of our workout. We are doing our best to pace ourselves to hold the same time. Typically the first 100 is faster but the rest of them we try to keep within 5 seconds of each other. For the long race it is important that we feel the pace that we want to do for the entire race so we don't go out too fast.) Watch the clock!
8x 100 Fy Fastest Possible Sendoff plus 15
EZ 50 free
Rest 2 min
3 x 100 Fly Fastest Possible Sendoff plus 15
Rest 2 min
Sprint 100 fly Under 1:10
Warm down
6 x 25 kick half way sprint rest of the way odd lengths fly.
200 EZ
I have been wearing legskins during most of my practices. I have found that they allow me to hold my stroke together much longer during my workouts and my times are dropping. We will be able to wear them during the race since it is the first leg of a triathlon. I have eliminated "vertical fly" by wearing these and have much less shoulder trouble as well. (Glucosamine helps too)
Charlie
Three of us are swimming the "core set" of this workout within each of our workouts in preparation for 750meter open water fly swim next month.
Make sure to let us know how it goes!
I'm continuing to work on my stroke technique. My less-lazy kick has led to a better sine wave each stroke cycle, slower turnover rate, and greater speed. If I can get the kick, the sine wave, and EVF all working in harmony, then I should see some time drops this fall.