The Butterfly Lane

That was what I was afraid of. I guess I can try to get up at 4 for a 6 AM practice an hour away on Saturdays, but we'll see. I'm a full time student and I work, so Saturday mornings are kind of sacred. ;) I also have discovered the awfulness of short-axis strokes on a full stomach. Blech! It just mixes everything up in there. I did some fly and IM this morning and I completed a legal 200 IM for the first time in probably 10 years. 2:53 from a push. I think the 100 fly is in sight. While more practices are better, you can definitely still improve your fly a lot only doing 3 practices a week. It sounds like you don't practice fly every often, so just adding some fly each practice could make a big improvement. I swam a 200m fly in a meet last year after only training 3x a week.

Sisswim, When outside of the pool, work on your core strength, front and back, it will help a lot. Crossfit emphasizes the core as a stabilization area of the body. The stronger you can get your core, the better the upper and lower parts of your body will work together. Also, slow way down on your fly to start and don't speed up. If you go really slow with a glide, you can go for a long time. This is a different style than a sprint, but it will still help build your endurance.

Yeah, SuperChloe is a student which I'm guessing means she is young; at least a lot younger than me (51)! And, you probably are, too; right? At my age, I don't believe I could achieve that kind of improvement swimming just three days per week. :cane: I am 31. It might be hard to swim 2000 continuous fly swimming 3x a week but at almost any age for someone who can only swim 25 fly they definitely have a lot of room to improve.

How about a 1650? :banana: Ohhhhhh all right, but only because you put that dancing banana in there. If that had been, say, a caterwauling cucumber, things might have turned out differently. I completed a 1650 fly at the meet in Olympia yesterday, and blorged the experience: forums.usms.org/entry.php

Here is a good video by Gary Hall Sr. on body position and breathing in butterfly. It includes some excellent slow motion underwater video: www.youtube.com/watch

I completed a 1650 fly at the meet in Olympia yesterday ... :applaud::applaud::applaud::applaud::applaud: Well done!!!

Ohhhhhh all right, but only because you put that dancing banana in there. If that had been, say, a caterwauling cucumber, things might have turned out differently. I completed a 1650 fly at the meet in Olympia yesterday, and blorged the experience: forums.usms.org/entry.php :bow: :applaud: :chug:AWESOME Butternut swim, That Guy! Loved, loved, LOVED the blog post about it, too. :lmao:

Okay..another question. I really haven't been practicing fly more than maybe 2 25s once a week but this weekend we did a 100 Meter and then a 50 Meter Fly for time during practice and I surprised myself by coming in ahead of all the "better swimmers." (I surprised them too..and all I heard was "Wow..you're a FLYER!!!!" Even the coach was a little surprised by my lead and said "You're obviously made to sprint fly!" So..now my question is..if I want to start seriously training to "sprint fly"..50 meters if not someday 100 meters. How much fly, fly drills should I do in a regular practice. Today I felt like ignoring the whole workout (mostly freestlye and some IMs) and just focusing on my "new" (or rediscovered natural talent). Can someone help me figure out how to actually train for this event??? I want to really take it somewhere. I'm already doing serious dryland training but now I'm actually motivated to be doing it!!! As for reaching the 200 in fly...I know I'll be able to do it eventually when I get in better shape but the way the coach reacted to my sprinting ability..I'm not in any rush!! For the record, I wasn't a speed demon by any means but it wasn't off the blocks, it was in the middle of a practice and I had been swimming all week. Plus..I had only even swam a 50 meter fly 3 times before. So..Im excited for my potential here. Drum roll (or eye roll)...51 seconds. Thanks for any help. Again, 51 might only have been good compared to the rest of the team that seems to excel in the other 3 strokes..

:bow: :applaud: :chug:AWESOME Butternut swim, That Guy! Loved, loved, LOVED the blog post about it, too. :lmao: Thanks! I think this is the first time one of my posts has gotten over 100 views. :rofl:

Can someone help me figure out how to actually train for this event??? For the 50, you need strength and technique. The HIT workouts are almost certainly what you want here. In general, when you swim butterfly in practice, you want to swim it exactly like you're going to swim it in a race. Avoid butterstruggle like the plague. Practice short distances really fast, and make sure you get enough rest to keep up the intensity.