Last Updated on April 14, 2024 by admin
In this article, we will provide advice, drills, dryland exercises, hacks and tips, as part of a step-by-step guide to learning how to swim butterfly.
Learning how to swim butterfly can be physically demanding, especially for younger or inexperienced swimmers.
- Many find the butterfly stroke difficult to coach or teach, which can often lead to butterfly being swum and taught the least.
- To master butterfly requires a combination of balance, timing and technique.
- By breaking down the stroke into bite-sized drills, it can be coached and taught correctly without becoming too physically demanding.
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Teaching butterfly
Butterfly should only be performed at an intensity and distance where swimmers can maintain a good technique.
- It’s counter-productive to get swimmers to perform butterfly when they are fatigued.
- This may ingrain poor technique into the swimmer’s muscle memory* and establish longer-term stroke faults, which can be very difficult to eradicate.
(*muscle memory – the ability to reproduce a movement without conscious thought, acquired as a result of frequent repetition of that movement)
When learning how to swim butterfly younger or inexperienced swimmers should be taught over short distances until they have adapted to its physical and technical demands.
- I use swim fins for approximately half of my swimmer’s butterfly drills.
- I believe this helps them to attain the correct technique.
- It also gives them the confidence to perform the drills correctly.
The key components of a great butterfly stroke are:
- A horizontal/prone body and leg position.
- A low head position looking down at the bottom of the pool, during the arm stroke’s propulsive phase.
- When breathing the head should be kept as low as possible with the swimmer’s chin on the surface.
- A shallow ‘dolphin’ type body action, moving forward through the water with a fluid wave action with a ‘head to toes’ undulation of the body.
- Driven by the chest, core and hips
- The arm stroke starts with a high catch
- With a high catch and stiff wrists
- A long and powerful arm stroke.
- Driving the hands backwards towards the hips
- A recovery initiated by a quick hands exit continued with a low, straight arm recovery parallel to the surface
- A strong leg kick is initiated by the body’s undulation.
- There should be two leg kicks per arm cycle.
- The swimmer should kick downwards as their arms enter the water and then kick upwards at the start of the recovery phase as their arms pass their shoulders.
- The feet should be in a pointed (plantar flexion) position, which reduces drag and places the feet in the optimum position for maximum propulsion.
- The correct timing of the stroke is the key to an efficient butterfly.
- Therefore, time should be spent on perfecting the coordination of the arm stroke, the leg kick, the body undulation and breathing.
Learning Body Undulation
When learning how to swim butterfly the ability of a swimmer to undulate their body is key to mastering the butterfly stroke, as it provides the platform for an effective arm stroke and leg kick.
- The undulation of the body is driven by the lowering and raising of the head, chest, core and hips.
- To develop an effective shallow ‘dolphin’ type body action, the swimmer should move forward through the water with a fluid wave action with a ‘head to toes’ undulation of the body.
Learning How to Swim Butterfly Drills
Listed below are a series of progressive drills we use when first teaching butterfly.
Vertical Dolphin Kicking
Introduction
This drill introduces the swimmer to undulating their body in a vertical position.
How to perform this drill
The swimmer should start this drill in deep water, in an upright (vertical) position
- With their hands by their sides (hands in pockets) and their legs and feet together in a streamlined position.
- The swimmer should focus on driving the undulation of the body by quickly and powerfully alternately driving backward and forwards from their chest, core and hips.
- Ensuring that throughout the drill they remain in an upright (vertical) position
- This drill should initially be performed in 3 x 10-second bursts with a 10-second rest interval.
Variations
Once mastered, swimmers can perform this drill, but with their hands out of the water with their arms bent at approximately 90 degrees.
- This makes it more difficult to keep their head above water, which therefore requires a more powerful body undulation action.
Supine Worm
Introduction
This drill introduces the swimmer to undulating their body in a horizontal supine position
How to perform this drill
The swimmer starts this drill by floating on their back (supine) in a horizontal position
- With their legs and feet together in a streamlined position.
- Their hands should be by their sides (hands-in-pockets)
- The swimmer should then perform a continuous shallow body undulation across the pool’s surface.
- The swimmer should focus on driving the undulation of the body by quickly and powerfully alternately driving backward and forwards from their chest, core and hips
Prone Worm
Introduction
This drill introduces the swimmer to undulating their body in a horizontal prone position
How to perform this drill
The swimmer starts this drill by floating in a face-down (prone) horizontal position
- Holding the top of a float (kickboard) in each hand, with their arms bent at approximately 90 degrees and their forearms resting on the float.
- Their legs and feet should be together in a streamlined position
- The swimmer should then perform a continuous shallow body undulation across the pool’s surface.
- The swimmer should focus on driving the undulation of the body by quickly and powerfully alternately driving upwards and downwards from their chest, core and hips
- Their head and bottom should alternately duck below the surface and then break just above the surface
- So that as the swimmer’s head breaks above the surface, their bottom is just below the surface and when their bottom break above the surface, their head is just below the surface.
- The swimmer should raise their chin on the surface to breathe every two kicks
Variations
Once mastered, swimmers can begin to perform this drill with their hands by their sides (hands-in-pockets) instead of holding a float in each hand
Floating Worm
Introduction
The floating worm drill helps the swimmer to further develop the undulation of their body in a horizontal prone position
How to perform this drill
The swimmer starts this drill by floating in a streamlined face-down (prone) position.
- With their arms fully extended, shoulder-width apart.
- This should enable the swimmer to feel their whole body undulating more easily
- Feet and legs are fully extended, in a streamlined position
- The swimmer should then perform a continuous shallow body undulation across the pool’s surface.
- The swimmer should focus on driving the undulation of the body by quickly and powerfully alternately driving upwards and downwards from their chest, core and hips
- Their head and bottom should alternately duck below the surface and then break just above the surface
- So that as the swimmer’s head breaks above the surface, their bottom is just below the surface and when their bottom break above the surface, their head is just below the surface.
- The swimmer should raise their chin on the surface to breathe every two kicks
Floating Catch Scull
Introduction
The floating catch scull is a great way to introduce the swimmer to the catch which is the start of the propulsive phase of the butterfly arm stroke.
How to perform this drill
The swimmer starts this drill by floating in a streamlined face-down (prone) position.
- With their arms fully extended, shoulder-width apart.
- Feet and legs are fully extended, in a streamlined position
- While focusing on keeping their elbows high
- The swimmer performs a simultaneous double-arm catch scull
- With their hands and forearms, in line and towards their shoulders
- With their face still in the water
- The swimmer then recovers their hands underwater,
- While taking a breath
- Then returning to the starting position
Floating Push Scull
Introduction
The floating push scull introduces the swimmer to the push phase, which is the final propulsive phase of the butterfly arm stroke.
How to perform this drill
Once the swimmer has mastered the floating catch drill,
- They should add a simultaneous double-arm push of the hands toward their hips
- Without a pause or break,
- Finishing with their hands past their hips.
- With their arms fully extended and their hands level with the surface and their palms facing downwards towards the pool floor.
- The swimmer then recovers their hands underwater, takes a breath as they return to the starting position
Adding body undulation
- Once mastered the swimmer can progress by incorporating a continuous shallow body undulation (chest-core-hips-legs) into this drill.
- During this, their bottom and head should alternately duck below the surface and break just above the surface
- Their bottom should rise when performing the catch, with their head ducking just below the surface.
- While their head should rise when performing the pull, with their bottom ducking just below the surface.
- Swimmers should raise their chin on the surface when needing to breathe during the pull phase.
Floating Butterfly
Introduction
- This drill is performed exactly as the floating butterfly scull.
- However, the swimmer now recovers their arms over the water, when returning to the starting position,
- By quickly exiting their hands backward, ensuring their little finger is first on the exit
- Then bringing their extended arms over and close to the surface, to return to the starting position. (See the picture above)
Adding body undulation
- Once mastered the swimmer can progress by incorporating a continuous body shallow body undulation (chest-core-hips-legs) into the drill.
- During this, their bottom and head should alternately duck below the surface and break just above the surface
- Their bottom should rise when performing the catch, with their head ducking just below the surface.
- While their head should rise when performing the pull, with their bottom ducking just below the surface.
- Swimmers should raise their chin on the surface when needing to breathe during the pull phase.
Focusing on the two-beat legkick
Once the undulation has been mastered
- Swimmers should finally focus on a two-beat butterfly leg kick.
- The first kick should be an upward kick during the propulsive phase of the stroke (the push phase of the stroke)
- The second kick should be a downward kick during the recovery phase of the stroke (the push phase of the stroke)
Related butterfly articles you may find useful
We have produced a series of related articles on butterfly. You can view these by clicking these links: An Overview of the Butterfly Stroke | Common Competitive Butterfly Faults |Dryland Training Exercises for Butterfly | The Major Muscles Used During Butterfly
Learning How to Swim Butterfly: Takeaways
In this article, we will provide advice, drills, dryland exercises, hacks and tips, as part of a step-by-step guide to learning how to swim butterfly.
Learning how to swim butterfly can be physically demanding, especially for younger or inexperienced swimmers.
- Many find butterfly difficult to coach and teach, which can often lead to butterfly being swum and taught the least.
- To master butterfly requires a combination of balance, timing and technique.
- By breaking down the stroke into bite-sized drills, it can be coached and taught correctly without becoming too physically demanding.
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