Training for the 200 fly

Thought I would drop an update. Yesterday I demonstrated to my satisfaction that my new fly actually works for me! (Please see previous post to this discussion thread.) After doing multiple fly drills to find the stroke I wanted, I tried to do a 200 SCY fly in practice. Not only did I complete the 200, I felt like I could have done another 50-100 yards more. After waiting less time than I needed for my set of broken 200's (again, see previous post), I then did the 125/75 combination, also feeling less fatigued than what I expected. I had previously been a bit intimidated by this set. The last time I used it was 4 years ago and as part of a program with more aerobic work and more yardage. I figured out the reason for my intimidation at about the 75 yard mark of the first 200. I noticed I had a subjective feel to my stroke that I had previously associated with having about 50 yards left before falling into butterstruggle. This had previously caused me to cut it short. During yesterday's swim I convinced myself that my changed stroke meant that I would use less of the energy I had left (that is, after all, the reason I made those stroke modifications) and be able to go longer with it. Correct answer. Will it work for you? I don't know; everyone is different. But, if you'd like to try it, the keys are: 1) Undulate your body in a short axis pulse, 2) Easy pull, swim with your body, not your arms, let the arms kind of come along for the ride during your pull, 3) Breath every stroke, 4) Bring you hands together in front of you, and glide in this position. When you feel your hips float back towards the surface, that is your key to start the next stroke. I want to emphasize, I am not saying this is the stroke of the future. It is designed to let people who cannot do more than a 50 or 100 with their "normal" fly swim substantially longer distances with good form. It is a way to SLOW DOWN your fly so you can chose how fast your swim, just like you do with the other three strokes. Matt

Thought I would drop an update. Yesterday I demonstrated to my satisfaction that my new fly actually works for me! (Please see previous post to this discussion thread.) After doing multiple fly drills to find the stroke I wanted, I tried to do a 200 SCY fly in practice. Not only did I complete the 200, I felt like I could have done another 50-100 yards more. After waiting less time than I needed for my set of broken 200's (again, see previous post), I then did the 125/75 combination, also feeling less fatigued than what I expected. I had previously been a bit intimidated by this set. The last time I used it was 4 years ago and as part of a program with more aerobic work and more yardage. I figured out the reason for my intimidation at about the 75 yard mark of the first 200. I noticed I had a subjective feel to my stroke that I had previously associated with having about 50 yards left before falling into butterstruggle. This had previously caused me to cut it short. During yesterday's swim I convinced myself that my changed stroke meant that I would use less of the energy I had left (that is, after all, the reason I made those stroke modifications) and be able to go longer with it. Correct answer. Will it work for you? I don't know; everyone is different. But, if you'd like to try it, the keys are: 1) Undulate your body in a short axis pulse, 2) Easy pull, swim with your body, not your arms, let the arms kind of come along for the ride during your pull, 3) Breath every stroke, 4) Bring you hands together in front of you, and glide in this position. When you feel your hips float back towards the surface, that is your key to start the next stroke. I want to emphasize, I am not saying this is the stroke of the future. It is designed to let people who cannot do more than a 50 or 100 with their "normal" fly swim substantially longer distances with good form. It is a way to SLOW DOWN your fly so you can chose how fast your swim, just like you do with the other three strokes. Matt