Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org
This butterfly mini-set will encourage them to swim with long strokes and work their underwater kick-outs. It is best done with one or two people in the lane.
LCM
Push off of the wall and perform 1 cycle fly. Open turn mid-pool, kick on back to the wall, then immediately push off and perform 2 cycles of fly. Keep repeating with 3 cycles, 4 cycles, 5 cycles, etc until they cover the entire 50. Upon completing the 50, rest :05 and then sprint a 50 fly for time. No underwater kicking beyond 15m allowed.
The swimmers will quickly figure out that when they get up to a number of cycles that they can make the 50m, they will perform their best dolphin kicks, and then hold long strokes for the entire 50, some even going 4+ fewer strokes than normal. Grabbing that short rest and then going the 50 sprint for time is a challenge, but they will usually step up and swim well.
The Swimming Wizard 