Today my swim coach asked what I wanted to do in practice. I said “Learn Butterfly”.
So, he gave me a great drill set to learn butterfly. Do 100 or 200 of each, resting for 10 seconds on 25:
- swim on front with arms extended in front of you doing a dolphin kick. do a scull with arms when you take a breath.
- swim on back with arms at sides, and doing dolphin kick. focus on undulation using your core, from hips to shoulders. your legs are just along for the ride.
- one arm butterfly swim. This drill helps alotwith rhythm and timing. Your free arm is streamlined in front of you. Your working arm is doing a butterfly. Alternate 25’s of right arm, then left arm. Breathe to the side of your working arm, as if you are breating for crawl. You should breathe when your arm is at your hip. Again, focus on using your core, and undulating from shoulders to hip. Focus on two dolphin kicks per arm stroke: 1 kick when your arm enters the water, 1 kick when your arm exits the water (which is when you should be taking a breath).
- now put it all together and do butterfly.
Found a really good swimming website just now:
http://www.wsumastersswimming.org/workouts/lingo.html