The Secret To Swimming Butterfly With Correct Technique Without Getting Tired

The key to butterfly is technique. It's easy to focus on how it looks, but without understanding how it should feel, you won't be efficient or fast. Let's use illustrations to break down how butterfly technique should look and feel. Technique is vital, not just for speed and efficiency, but also to prevent injuries. Butterfly is a stroke people often get wrong, rushing into it without proper technique, which leads to many injuries. As Ferris has demonstrated, we have four examples of arm For the butterfly, if we look at the one in the middle, our correct position, also called the number 11 position, we must ensure our arms enter in line with our shoulders, just like in freestyle. This helps us set up our catch correctly. If our arms enter too wide or too narrow, we will end up catching the water incorrectly, which we want to avoid. The most important thing is ensuring our arms enter in line with our As shown in this picture. Another mistake a lot of swimmers make is bending the arms. So it looks, this is a top-level view of what your butterfly looks like. So yes, this is how you should finish the stroke. And then you pull down like two freestyle strokes at the same time. But if you enter the water with your elbows bent, it's kind of like two freestyle strokes over the water. That's where it becomes incorrect. The only part that's similar to freestyle is the actual pull. You want an early vertical forearm. Just like you do in freestyle. And that starts from this position. Number 1 and number 11. A lot of swimmers make the mistake. Of bending their hands, bending their arms. And cutting in and touching the water first. With their thumbs when you should be resting. And placing your hands directly. In front of your shoulders. Coach Leo, talk about the finish of the stroke. And how you get from this position to this position. Yeah, so first of all, we need to make sure we get into our high elbow catch position once we have entered the water and again. Another very very crucial and common mistake that swimmers make is not finishing their pull which then causes them to have their arms stuck by their side. So for example, they start their stroke correctly. They've got into their high elbow catch the pull to their hips and then when they're about here. They try to bring or bring their arms out too soon. Which is then going to cause you just to get stuck in that position. So the way to fix that is to make sure. We are always pulling all the way past and through. To the hips every time we take our strokes. So ideally you want to think of your palms. Coming up to the sky as you are finishing your pull. So if you can feel, or if you can feel. That your elbows are coming out of the water first. The chances are you are not finishing your pull. So always think of your palm coming up to the sky. Before you go into your recovery. So try and get your palms dry. And then bring your arms over. Back into your number 11 position. Amazing coach Leo if I'm watching someone swim butterfly from a top level view bird's eye eagle view and I see this position. Is this right or wrong? And when do I see this position? So yes. If you were able to first of all see their back and if you were able to see their arms. That's of course the right position to be in if you are doing this incorrectly. The chances are your arms would be in the water. Your back would be underwater or it would look something like this. So always want to make sure as I've already mentioned our arms are coming out of the water before we go into our recovery. And as we are recovering our stroke. We need to make sure that our arms go over the surface. Not through the water. Which is again another mistake a lot of swimmers make. They try to bring their arms out. And then their arms are just dragging through. Which is then just creating unnecessary drag. And then their body position sinks. And everything just goes out the window. So this is the correct recovery position for butterfly. Something we haven't discussed yet. Is the importance of butterfly timing. If your kick and pull aren't timed. I've seen swimmers do this constantly. They have a strong kick and pull. But they simply aren't coordinating them. At the right moment, causing their stroke. To completely fall apart. So, timing is absolutely critical. When performing butterfly. Ensure you execute two kicks per pull. Ferris, could you please explain? When the first kick occurs. And when does the second kick occur? During your butterfly stroke? Think of your body undulating. With your arms matching that rhythm. There are several different ways. To visualize this. And it feels different for everyone. But one thing you can think of. Is like kicking into the stroke. Kicking out of the stroke. When your hands enter, when your hands exit. So there are different ways that you can feel that timing. But if your body is not undulating. It's gonna be impossible. Like you mentioned, there's two kicks for every stroke. Some people swim butterfly with zero kicks. So that doesn't really apply. So you gotta make sure you understand. That it starts with an undulation. And whether it's kick your hands in. Kick your hands out, when your hands enter. When your hands exit, you need to make sure. That the undulation is there as a starting point. To then even add your arms after the fact. Let's talk about some drills. Because I think we can show great butterfly. But if you don't have the steps to get there. It's really difficult. So what are some drills that can work on. Either the kick or the pull or the body position. Maybe the timing? One of my all-time favorites. Which could be used for any ability and age. Is single arm butterfly. Because again, it takes away the use of both arms. Which is kind of the hardest part about butterfly. But just extending one arm out in front of you. And just focusing on a single arm butterfly. Again, making sure you're kicking your arm in. As your arm is entering. And then kicking your arm out as your arm is coming out. It's a great way to, first of all, practice your timing. And then, of course, your undulation as well. The point at which you should undulate. Is when your arm is going into the water. So you can focus on, first of all, your timing. As I've already mentioned, but then also making sure. As your hand is entering the water. That's the point at which your hips should be coming out. So your hand goes into the water. It should be your first kick. And that's when you want those hips. To come up nice and high. And then once you start your pull. That's when you do your second kick. And finish your stroke. So that's probably one of my favorite ones. Fantastic, and here at the MyStoom Pro Training Camp. We do a lot of different drills. And one of the ones that I love to do is the flow drill. It's where you just kick. Your arms are in this body position. The number 1 and the number 11. And you're just gonna dolphin kick. You can use a snorkel. That way you don't have to lift your head up. For a breath, keep your eyes on the bottom. And you're just practicing dolphin kicking. On top of the water, kicking in the up direction. And kicking in the down direction. A lot of swimmers make the mistake. Of only kicking in one direction. But your legs have muscle on both sides. And just like a fish moves through the water like this. Uses its entire body to move through the water. So we as humans, we need to do that. On our stomach and on our back. You can do this drill on your stomach. Which is what I prefer for the flow drill. If you wanna work on your underwater dolphin kicks. You wanna do this drill on your back. You can do that at the surface. Or below the surface of the water. Now, Coach Leo, let's talk about swimming fast butterfly. You can force the stroke. But if we're trying to swim. Let's say 25 or 50 meters as fast as we can. Does timing go out the window? And we just spin our arms, what happens? Regardless of how fast or slow you are swimming. The technique more or less stays the same on butterfly. So the timing, the kicks. Everything like that stays the same. Your body position, if anything. Should always be higher when you're sprinting. Because there's more frequency of kicking and pulling. And I think one of the most important things. To swim butterfly quickly. Especially in a 50 meter race, is your tempo. Which is I think what swimmers struggle. To work on the most. So could you please, Ferris? Tell me what is one of the best ways. To increase and work on your tempo in training? You know, and one thing before we talk about tempo. When it comes to butterfly. It's actually easier to swim faster. Without giving it 100%. I know that's a controversial statement. What are you talking about coach? I'm swimming as hard as I can. You might go slower trying harder. And the reason why that's very true in butterfly. As well as breaststroke. Is because when you rush the stroke. You don't get the full range of motion. Of the kick, of the pull. Your body position starts to suffer. So sometimes you might be able to actually. Swim faster butterfly by controlling your tempo. Of the rate at which you're able to move your arms and legs. And maybe go 95, 98% effort. You're still going hard. But you're controlling that extra few percent. Which makes you spin your wheels. You're not grabbing as much water. You're losing your range of motion. And distance per stroke. And that sacrifice of distance per stroke. Might work for a very, very short distance. Maybe 15 meters, 25 meters, maybe even 50 meters. But it'll definitely won't help. In 100 meters or 200 meters. If you're trying to swim a longer distance. 100 meters of butterfly, 200 meters of butterfly. Or you're training, you're doing 450s butterfly, 850s. If you just spin your arms as fast as you can. It might only work for 25 meters or 25 yards. After that, you're gonna completely fall apart. I totally agree.