Liled27 said:I just have a quick tip on a few drills that I found really helpful...
One arm fly...but instead of breathing to the side here- continuing breathing to the front. Its
harder, but definately works on timing.
Also...and you may do it...but do combos of breathing rotations...every 2/3/5/7, etc.
And...do 2 kicks 1 arm as well as 2 arms 1 kick
all would help with timing I think..but I a not a coach or anything...just going from why my
coaches told me...
mmmm, drills are often useless if they aren't done with a particular goal in mind. A favourite
example of mine is one arm fly - there's many ways to do it which all look, superficialy, the same
but have rather different goals. It really can help to have a good coach handy to give some
feedback. That being said, a few of my favourite drills:
-One arm fly breathing forward, as mentioned above just try to also keep the arm close to the
surface. This drill shouldn't feel balanced, or particularily 'good', you're just trying to
literally watch the timing on the entry.
-One arm fly with a 'twist', basically one arm fly (one hand up) with very little attention paid to
the top or middle of the pull. Here the goal is to time the kick with the extension of the pull. If
both are done in synch (andhard enough) the action should roll you right on your side. Sometimes
it's easier to learn this timing if you do the drill with fins & paddles
-Br/Fly drill, one stroke breast (with breast kick) one stroke fly (with dolphin kick) repeat. The
goal here being to have no gliding or pausing phases. If you've already got half decent br rhythm
this drill help to time the breath and avoid crashing (and the subsequent gliding) at the top of
the stroke
-Dolphin kick on your back, with or without fins the toes should exit the water and there should be
little knee bend. IMHO 'fly is much more kick dominated then is often given credit for and none of
my younger kids even start learning butterfly drills untill they can kick well. You'll also notice
if the abs are a little weak as the kick will be hard to hold for more then a length or too.... 😉.
A note: a dolphin kick should engage the abs at all times, but this often doesn't occur resulting in
an excessive arching of the back at the top of the kick (feet behind you). This is especially true
when kicking on your back so it's a good idea to keep the kick fairly small, the abs tight, and
focus on the down beat which in this case is 'up' as your toes push past the knees and a little out
of the water.
-Simplfy the pull, not really a drill per say but sometimes just changing one's expectation for the
shape of the pull can help. Often you see little kids learning fly told to pull like a giant key
hole - big sweeps out, in and out again. While a good fly pull does have a little curve in it the
last two aren't very big and the first should be nonexistant. Enter with the hands a little wider
then shoulder width apart, pull the hands in together asap, pull/pussh straight down as far as
possible, pull the elbows out (letting the hands follow) at the bottom. More a 'Y' then a keyhole.
Even if the strength or technical proffeciency don't allow this never, _never_ enter with the hands
together & pull out. Not only is this action useless, propulsion wise, but it's just asking for a
shoulder injury.
Theres all sorts of other drills to try but I think that if you can kick, breath reasonably early,
and keep your elbows (as opposed to your hands) moving in the approximate arcs you'd like there
really isn't much else to worry about. For the most part everything else is cosmetic.
GL Mike
