The Butterfly Lane

I have a question: off the walls is it legal or not to do underwater dolphin on your side?Legal. USMS 101.3.2 "After the start and after each turn, the swimmer’s shoulders must be at or past the vertical toward the ***." However, being right at vertical may look like past vertical depending on where the stroke and turn judge is positioned.

It is a fine line from side to a DQ for being on the back, so watch out.

Thank you all for your clarifications. My butterfly has actually taken a bit of a hiatus status. With joining Masters, I have been swimming with the program and increased my overall swim yardage (my free is getting better). This is part of my plan to increase endurance, but the downside has been that I have been more fatigued and my times/distance has taken a bit of a hit. The additional plus side is that the Masters program gives me more motivation to work on my fly drills. However, swimming all out fly for multiple repetitions is not easily done with the Masters program, but that is fine. When swimming solo, I notice that I can complete my previous sets and not be so fatigued, but my times are off by a second or two. I will take this for now. I still love the power of fly.

The butterfly has always been pretty problematic for me. I am always trying to find new ways to improve on it.

After having a couple of months in the Masters program, swimming with the group 2x a wk, I have increased my swim yardage ~12k per wk. Previously it was under 10k. My fly is okay, I am slowing increasing my endurance--still fatigued b/w 75 and 100 yards, but improving and still working on relaxing as my hands/arms/chest enters the water. I am now increasing my repetitions for 75 yards (now 2). I am content as the slope of improvement is positive. Rurrell85, good luck. Just keep on trying and if you have time check out the guidance here and some of the better teaching aides in Youtube. FYI, I am not good in other strokes, only decent in fly, and my free is slowly improving but remains poor.

I dabbled in fly the last couple short course seasons, doing some short sets of high-effort 25's and racing the 50 fly in a couple meets. This year I've decided to give the 200 fly a try. I've worked up to doing 1000+ yard sets of fly that start as 50's (on a 1:10 interval, pacing ~:36.5) until the form starts to slip (usually around 8-10 repeats), resting briefly (~90 seconds), then going to 25's on :35 at ~:17.low pace. I can usually get into the 20's for # of repeats of 25's before the stroke starts to go. When I try to translate this to a continuous 200, though, it isn't working yet. I can swim a relaxed 100 and hold my form pretty well, but it really starts to go out the window after the 125 turn. Any ideas what else I could do to extend the range?

Gary P Our Longhorn coach (Olympian Whitney Hedgepeth) has made me (60-64 age group) a pretty good 200 Flyer, Backstroker, IMer so I take no credit for it as she writes the workouts and I just do them as she says! currently I go 6 days a week and 4000-5000 a practice. Coach likes a day or 2 a week of short rest interval training to build up aerobic capacity which is critical when swimming 200 Flys. For example a recent short rest interval set was a ladder of 1 x100, (we went 1:10 pace) 2x25 on :40 (recovery), 2 x100, 2x 25, 3x 100, 2x25, 4 x100, 2x 25, 5 x100, 2x25 all same interval ...minute or so rest and then back up the ladder starting with 5 x100's. Set is designed to build that aerobic capacity as the total # of 100's on short rest was 30. Pick an interval you get 5 seconds rest or less. We also do sets like these of stroke. For example a recent Fly set was 2 x 50 Fly on :50, 2x 50 Fly on :45, 2 x50 Fly on :40, 2x 50 Fly on :45 and 2 x 50 Fly on :50. Idea was to keep your pace at 3rd or 4th 50 of the 200 fly. For me I was trying to hold 33+'s. My other favorite fly set is drop down 50's starting on a minute and interval drops 1 second each 50. I usually do the first 10 Back and then at 11 switch to Fly and see if I can get down to 35-36 interval before I drop out. Again trying to build that feeling of swimming the last 50 fly of a 200! This approach has worked for me, last 2 50's of my 200 Fly in Riverside were just 4 tents apart...33.1 and 33.5. Every now and then I can execute it but always is hard both on the body and mind!

jim, your 200fly at riverside was so awesome! and it should have....new national record!!! i wish mine had felt as good as your looked. i swear they switched the water to mud for my last 50 and i hate the drop down set from 60. 15 boring as heck 10 more almost as boring 5 that get to tough 3 that are insane (its a 150 on 1:24 after doing a 150 on 1:33)

Jim, I am in awe of flyers that can do your type of sets. I am. I am out of breath after every significant set. I do not know how you guys do that, but I really want to be in that group (and I am trying!).

Jim, I am in awe of flyers that can do your type of sets. I am. I am out of breath after every significant set. I do not know how you guys do that, but I really want to be in that group (and I am trying!). there are 2 things that are required to do fly: 1) timing 2) strength/endurance if you dont have the strength/endurance to keep your timing...you die if you dont have the timing it doesnt matter how much strength/endurance you have...you will die when you lose either you go vertical and its "game over man, game over!