How To Swim Butterfly
How To Swim Butterfly?
Butterfly
Step 1: Body Position
Your body should be flat and horizontal in the water with your shoulders and hips all inline.
Try to keep your body as close as possible to the surface of the water.
Your head and chest lead the movement. As your arms enter the water push down and forwards into the water with your head and chest and let your hips and feet follow. As you pull back with your arms your head and chest will rise allowing you to take a breath. This should create a dolphin-like motion.
Step 2: Leg Action
Both legs do a simultaneous whipping motion with the feet pointed. It is the undulation of the body that is the heart of the butterfly stroke, and it takes practice to integrate the kick with undulation of the body to get propulsion.
The undulation is initiated by your head and chest before travelling down your torso, hips and then into your legs, where it ends in a dolphin-like kick.
The heels and soles of your feet should break the surface from underneath with your knees slightly bent on the upbeat.
Powerful downbeats of the feet then propel the body forward. Try to keep your legs close together with your ankles relaxed.
Your downbeat kick should occur as the arms enter and sweep out.
Try to kick twice per arm cycle – once (big kick) to propel your arms out of the water for recovery and once (small kick) as the arms enter the water.
Step 3: Arm Movement
The arms should stretch out in front of the body above the water surface and be led into the water by the thumb. The hands should enter about shoulder width apart with elbows bent and slightly higher than the hands.
Press down and out with both hands at the same time. Turn and sweep your hands back in towards each other, allowing the force of the water to push you forward, keeping your elbows high.
Finally, turn your hands up and back and sweep parallel to the side of your body.
Recovery of the arms is aggressive as you pull your arms out of the water and throw them back towards the starting position at the same time. Keep your arms out of the water but try to avoid lowering your hips. The objective is to keep as streamlined as close to the water as possible.
Step 4: Breathing Technique
The butterfly breathing is to the front.
Take a breath in the start of the phase when your arms are starting to lift out of the water. You can raise your chin above the water slightly, looking straight ahead as you inhale quickly in through your mouth.. You can exhale underwater through your mouth and nose while you complete the butterfly stroke. Your head should re-enter the water before your arms.
Exhalation usually occurs during the final up sweep and inhalation as the arms start to recover.
The most common breathing cycle is once every two arm cycles.
Helpful Tips
Avoid breathing on every stroke. Every time you lift your head out of the water to breathe, it will slow you down slightly. Try breathe to every other stroke. On longer races you may have to breathe more, but balance your need for breath and for speed
Kick from your hips instead of just your legs
Use two dolphin kicks to each arm cycle
The first kick is a small one to balance your body position after your arms enter the water. The second kick is a big one, to propel your arms out of the water for recovery and to propel your body forward.
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