Yanti's Swim Tip 2013 #2 - Other Strokes

Why, thankyuh. Thankyuhvermuch Axenfishie

Maybe I should write these things as articles, but then I'd have to pay attention to stuff like organization, grammar, coherence. *shudder*

I might also break down each of the strokes into their own post (for following weeks, gotta fill up 52 of 'em), something like "Simple Steps to Try Fly for Free." How to attempt fly, or if you already have the rudiments, what to emphasize to best apply to freestyle. Repeat for other strokes.

This would be excellent...part of my fear about trying butterfly is I have no clue how to start...I just know 1) watching the 8 year olds fly through the water makes me think it's got to be easy until 2) I try and can't seem to coordinate the two actions (butterfly kick with arms) so I look like I'm drowning.

Maybe a discussion about drills to slowly get us to the butterfly and then how to work the stroke into a workout?

(BTW - thanks for this - awesome idear)

well, now I know why I get no where when doing breaststroke! 

Thanks for the tips Yanti!  I know I would benefit from mixing things up a bit. 

I'd agree that the best time to learn is now, however the best time to execute is regularly, thoughout the season.

Thanks for the great write-up, Yanti!

That's a really good idea, thanks! Simple way to keep some continuity and reference for further investigation, etc.

I mean, as I said, ideally these would be articles, and grouped by topic, blah blah blah but honestly I just don't have the time. Possibly retroactively, though.

And in case anyone's still reading:

Yanti's Swim Tip 2013 #1 - Competition Doggypaddle

I would love to see an instructional video and description of butterfly. I know the elements but have a very difficult time with timing and coordinating the stroke and kick.

Thank you for this Yanti!

X2

As far as swimming goes, there's really no better endorsement than that of TJ "Hotter than Phelps" Fry.

I've really missed you. {MELON PRESS}

Excellent! 

I'd like to add that for those that have trouble counting repeats different strokes can be helpful. 

For example, 12 x 100 (25 fly + 75 free, 25 bk + 75 free, 25 br + 75 free, repeat...)

Eons ago when I was a competitive swimmer, I loved doing other strokes.  I swam breast, fly and IM (often because they were the events that the more talented members of the team didn't want to swim).  Still do a lot of breaststroke and backstroke in my workouts, if for no other reason than to break up the montony of doing freestyle all the time.

I do think it is interesting how breaststroke technique & rules have evolved since I was swimming in the late 60's.  Watching the Olympics last summer, most of the swimmers would have been disqualified for stroke violations in my day (I was DQ'd more than once for using an illegal kick that would be OK today).

Mark  

If you've never done fly before, it definitely helps to have someone in the pool giving you a few pointers on timing.  Another big help is to try it with a set of shorty fins.  They make it much, much easier to keep your rhythm with less fatigue.

When I started doing the other strokes regularly, I felt much more comfortable in the water.  Its a great way to make swimming more fun.   Continual sets of free gets old fast.

FYI, when your starting out, doing the other strokes is 100 times easier with fins, especially fly. 

I always mix in breastroke (usually at the start and finish and maybe at the midpoint) for the reasons listed....it keeps things interesting, good stroke to use when sighting, etc.  I breastroke for maybe 15-20% of my total yardage in any given workout.  It's a stellar rescue/survival stroke, too, so I always throw it in in workouts. 

One thing, the frog kick sometimes irritates my knees.  Does anybody ever breastroke with a modified kick like a dolphin kick?  This probably is easier to demonstrate than to write about, but it works for me.

Sorry Yanti you know this but...

My coach does a warm up with fins of 1km.  It's a mixture some days it's all drills - one arm, sculls whatever .  BUT in the bulk of our sessions our warm ups are 200m free, 200m back, 200m breast.  8x25 IM.  That's it.  He swears by it.  Often says a badly executed butterfly will teach you lots.

I'm not sure what, I in fact think John Van Wisse just likes to laugh at me as I splutter to the end of the pool doing the fly!

For those who think dog paddle is for little kids try alternating laps of dog paddle and free for 200 and then see how much your abs are screaming at the end of it! At high school our swim coach would have us do sets of 100s of dog paddle, we used to hate those days cause you core misled would take a couple of days to recover.

Great post Yanti.

Edited by StaceyK 2013-01-10 5:24 PM