Our Halloween practice this upcoming Wednesday is normally a ‘fun’ practice so I wasn’t particularly surprised when Coach Brad scheduled our first fly main set of the season Monday night. After a five hundred warm up we went into a dolphin kick drill:
2 x 50 fly kick on back @ 1:10
2 x 50 fly kick on side @ 1:10
2 x 25 Pablo drill @ 0:45
4 x 25 heads up free with fly kick @ 0:45; all repeated twice.
Seeing where this was leading (Brad likes to hide the upcoming sets from us until the last moment) I used my fins the entire set. I can’t do Pablo but normally I make it a contest to see how quickly I can master new drills. The heads up free pull with fly kick was a new one to me and I thought I had it down in three 25s (decent) but then Brad told me I was forcing my stroke, so when we repeated the drill the second time I eased up a bit and finally got into the groove on the sixth 25 (not good) but at least I was both smooth and fast with minimal effort at the end.
The next set was our fly (surprise!):
4 x 50 fly @ 1:00
8 x 25 fly @ 0:30
100 fly (neg. split)
I kept my fins on which isn’t kosher I know, rationalizing I would concentrate on maintaining the little technique I possess throughout the set. Besides, with close to thirty individuals trying to swim fly in a small pool it got rough out there. A couple of times I caught myself laughing as I battled through waves which would make an open water swimmer comment. By the time my 100 rolled around I was pretty well shot and did it single arm drill. Warm down was a simple 8 x 100s @1:30, with the fourth and eighth 100s supposed to be choice on 2:00. Damon, who was leading my lane, went ahead and did fly for his choice but decided to leave on 1:30 anyways, which meant the rest of us were dragged along at the shorter interval. Coming in on my first backstroke I immediately started questioning my speed when I saw teammates launching themselves past me on the next rep before I even hit the wall. All said a tiring night’s practice and the normal regrets from not completing the fly set properly. Maybe I’ll be able to do a better job the next time fly rolls around.
About Me
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- Scott
- I know for someone who’s had a broken back I’ve been very lucky but in August, 2004, having not worked out for at least a couple of years and packing on several additional kilos of flab, my continued neglect finally caught up with a vengeance. My back gave out. Three months bed rest and a further six months forced to work on my stomach gave a lesson not to be forgotten. Even then months more therapy, yoga, and light exercise (and two further relapses) were necessary before I reached the point where I could start regular physical workouts. By January, 2006 I was ready for light weights, a couple of kilometers jog trussed up like a turkey, more yoga and, of course, a weekly session of swimming. Now, as the result of my local pool closing for five weeks, I’ve joined a masters swimming club. While I first only sought to learn proper butterfly and to master the new backstroke turn it’s developed into a six year challenge to see just how far I can go in today’s world of competitive swimming (well…the not-so-very-competitive world of masters swimming). If you’re interested follow along.
2 comments:
That was a trick, wasn't it? My fly kick S-U-C-K-S so I used fins for that. However, I fought the temptation to use them for the swim portion and instead went sans fins. The 50's weren't too bad. I tried to think about Brad's "keep your thumbs pointing down" trick and it seemed to work. I was even catching Keira on the last two reps. :-)
I cheated on the 100, however, and mixed in a bit of single-arm fly. I don't swim 100 fly at meets so there's no harm, I guess.
A tip of the hat to you Joe! You must have had a good night as swimming 400 meters fly with no fins is no picnic, and catching Keira over a short 25 is quite the accomplishment. Of course you have had some success in the butterfly sprints haven't you?
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