How about workouts for the 200 fly?

Although I am not a great butterfly swimmer, I have taught and coached over 800 swimmers since I stopped age group swimming. Overall, I feel there are three factors that all swimmers need to overcome when they desire to swim fly well. (Note: I think that these factors apply to the development of all strokes as well) I have listed these in order l feel is most important. 1) Mental - Many swimmers feel that butterfly is a "difficult stroke" and mentally are afraid of the stroke. Fly is just another stroke. You should treat it as such. Also you should focus on the best parts of your stroke and use these positive thoughts to better your attitude on developing the parts of your stroke that you feel you need to work on. For example, if you finish a race and your analysis of the event basically consists of "I died", you are not developing the information you need to better your event next time. When you are planning an event you need to set both qualitative and quantative goals. The quantative goals are easy (how fast do you want to go). The qualitative goals are harder but will change your focus on how you approach the event. You need to set goals for how you want to feel in the water and how you are going to attack each part of the race. Maybe you want to focus on your kick, build intensity by 50, or set up good stroke timing. By focusing on developing qualitative goals, you will be able to have have more chances of success in your event. (If you have 1 quantitative goal and 4 qualitative goals, I consider a race a success if you meet any one of the goals you set) You need to analyse the event afterwords and break it down into its parts. Generally, I look at it is 50m increments. Look at what went well in each part of the race, what your goals were and see if you met your goals. 2) Techical - You must be able to swim fly technically correct, so drill, drill, and more drill. All drill work should be supplemented with full stroke swimming to incorporate the skills you are working on, so you try incorporate at least 25m full stroke for every 100 - 150 m drill performed. Be sure to focus on the component of the stroke you were working on in the drill as you are swimming full stroke. Drills should be done in progression and build up to the full stroke. Your coach should have a series of drills you can do to develop the skills you need from start to finish. Additionally the drill will allow you to work on the fly stroke for a longer period than you would normally be able to. However as you become more technically proficient in fly, you will find that you will be able to hold the stroke together for longer periods in workout. 3) Physical - I do not deny that fly is a physically demanding stroke if your body/mind is not mentally or technically prepared to swim. To help with your technical proficiecy, there are some muscle groups that need specific work to develop the strength required to hold the stroke together. These muscle groups include your gluts, abdomen and your upper back muscles (especially the ones between your shoulder blades). The gluts and abdomen are required for a strong kick. By strengthening these muscles, you will be able to maintain you kick for longer periods of time. The back muscles are needed to help with the recovery of the arms. Since most swimmers are strong in the chest, these back muscles tend to get neglected (look at the posture of most swimmers). As you contract these muscles in your back, your chest muscles relax. If you suffer from a lack of shoulder flexibility or do not work on your back muscles on a regular basis, the back muscles will fatigue early in the race and you will not be able to contract these muscles to maintain a proper recovery throughout the race. One of the keys to stroke improvement is to develop training plans that work the muscle groups that swimming does not work on. Crosstraining in other sports can be beneficial in this area. I recommend that you discuss with your coach these various points and develop a training plan that works for you. Good Luck:)

Although I am not a great butterfly swimmer, I have taught and coached over 800 swimmers since I stopped age group swimming. Overall, I feel there are three factors that all swimmers need to overcome when they desire to swim fly well. (Note: I think that these factors apply to the development of all strokes as well) I have listed these in order l feel is most important. 1) Mental - Many swimmers feel that butterfly is a "difficult stroke" and mentally are afraid of the stroke. Fly is just another stroke. You should treat it as such. Also you should focus on the best parts of your stroke and use these positive thoughts to better your attitude on developing the parts of your stroke that you feel you need to work on. For example, if you finish a race and your analysis of the event basically consists of "I died", you are not developing the information you need to better your event next time. When you are planning an event you need to set both qualitative and quantative goals. The quantative goals are easy (how fast do you want to go). The qualitative goals are harder but will change your focus on how you approach the event. You need to set goals for how you want to feel in the water and how you are going to attack each part of the race. Maybe you want to focus on your kick, build intensity by 50, or set up good stroke timing. By focusing on developing qualitative goals, you will be able to have have more chances of success in your event. (If you have 1 quantitative goal and 4 qualitative goals, I consider a race a success if you meet any one of the goals you set) You need to analyse the event afterwords and break it down into its parts. Generally, I look at it is 50m increments. Look at what went well in each part of the race, what your goals were and see if you met your goals. 2) Techical - You must be able to swim fly technically correct, so drill, drill, and more drill. All drill work should be supplemented with full stroke swimming to incorporate the skills you are working on, so you try incorporate at least 25m full stroke for every 100 - 150 m drill performed. Be sure to focus on the component of the stroke you were working on in the drill as you are swimming full stroke. Drills should be done in progression and build up to the full stroke. Your coach should have a series of drills you can do to develop the skills you need from start to finish. Additionally the drill will allow you to work on the fly stroke for a longer period than you would normally be able to. However as you become more technically proficient in fly, you will find that you will be able to hold the stroke together for longer periods in workout. 3) Physical - I do not deny that fly is a physically demanding stroke if your body/mind is not mentally or technically prepared to swim. To help with your technical proficiecy, there are some muscle groups that need specific work to develop the strength required to hold the stroke together. These muscle groups include your gluts, abdomen and your upper back muscles (especially the ones between your shoulder blades). The gluts and abdomen are required for a strong kick. By strengthening these muscles, you will be able to maintain you kick for longer periods of time. The back muscles are needed to help with the recovery of the arms. Since most swimmers are strong in the chest, these back muscles tend to get neglected (look at the posture of most swimmers). As you contract these muscles in your back, your chest muscles relax. If you suffer from a lack of shoulder flexibility or do not work on your back muscles on a regular basis, the back muscles will fatigue early in the race and you will not be able to contract these muscles to maintain a proper recovery throughout the race. One of the keys to stroke improvement is to develop training plans that work the muscle groups that swimming does not work on. Crosstraining in other sports can be beneficial in this area. I recommend that you discuss with your coach these various points and develop a training plan that works for you. Good Luck:)