How To Swim Butterfly Stroke In A Right Way?

First, how to swim butterfly stroke?

Among the most challenging swimming strokes is the butterfly. It’s also known as “Fly” in some contexts. It requires very precise technique, strength, and rhythm despite being the second-fastest stroke when performed by a skilled athlete. It takes a lot of practice to get it right, but once you do, it is one of the most satisfying, prestigious, and aesthetically pleasing swimming strokes currently used in competition. A true competitive swimmer can be identified by their proficiency with the butterfly stroke.

Check out our instruction manual below if you’re prepared to learn the butterfly swim stroke. 

What Is The Butterfly Stroke?

A fundamental swimming move is the butterfly stroke. Fitness and perfect form are needed for the dynamic stroke. During the butterfly stroke, swimmers kick their feet together while symmetrically moving their arms. This action is referred to as the “butterfly kick” or the “dolphin kick.”” Swimming’s most difficult stroke is the butterfly.

Steps To How To Swim Butterfly Stroke

The butterfly stroke is an oblique motion that combines arm motion and a dolphin kick. The dolphin kick involves a small kick followed by a bigger kick, whereas the arm movement involves a pull, push, and recovery. After the recovery phase, you will occasionally take a breath. The butterfly stroke is demonstrated here:

Body Movement

The undulating body motion is the ideal place to begin learning the butterfly stroke. One of the most crucial butterfly stroke swimming steps is the up and down motion that mimics a dolphin throughout the entire stroke.  A push from the side is the best place to start. 

1. Start by holding the poolside behind you. Then, inhale deeply, dunk your face in the water, and spring forward across the water’s surface. 
2. Keep your hands and feet together while keeping your arms out in front of you.
3. By dipping your chin toward your chest and then pushing it forward and up, you can start moving your head.
4. Continue moving your head up and down, letting it travel through your shoulders and chest.
5. Continue moving your head, allowing the ripples to pass directly through your hips and down to your legs.

Ensure that:

• face is in the water
• legs are together
• hands are together

Butterfly Stroke Kick

The butterfly leg kick is a strong, simultaneous motion that originates from the knees. An excellent way to develop this is to add it onto the ‘push and glide’ exercise above.  

1. As you did above, position yourself on the pool’s edge, tucked up and prepared to push off.
2. With your head as the point of departure, push off and start the swaying, up-and-down motion.
3. Kneel while keeping your legs close together and raise your feet up toward the water’s surface.
4. Kick down with both feet in a forceful whip-like motion.
5. Repeat this kicking motion while coordinating it with your body’s swaying motion.

Ensure that:

• legs are together and move simultaneously 
• knees should not bend excessively
• legs should whip down like a dolphin tail

Arm Movement

For the butterfly stroke, the undulating body action must be coordinated with a very large, simultaneous, accelerating arm action. The butterfly swimming technique’s next most crucial step is this one.

Performance over a short distance is the most effective way to learn this.

1. Commence as before, leaning against the poolside and getting ready to push.
2. Start the body movement by pushing off with your arms and hands stretched out in front of you.
3. With both arms at the same time, pull under your body in a ‘key hole’ shape, pulling around, inwards and then outwards towards the thighs.
4. Then, with your fingers and thumbs positioned first, you raise your arms out of the water and bring them back up to the surface, in line with your shoulders.

Ensure that:

• elbows remain higher than the hands
• hands accelerate through the water
• arms are straight as they recover low over the water surface

Breath Technique

When the arms pull through and the head lifts, the butterfly stroke’s explosive breathing begins.  Try slow arm pulls while walking through the water to practice timing your breath inward with your arm pull back.

Try adding the technique for explosive breathing to the leg kick practice outline presented above to get some practice.

1. As you start your body movement, push away from the poolside.
2. Groups of four kicks are counted when adding the leg strikes.
3. After each set of four kicks, raise your head and breathe out. 
4. Inhale as your chin breaks the surface of the water, then dive back down for another four kicks.

Ensure that:

• exhalation takes place as the head begins to rise
• inhalation is short and sharp

Time & Coordination

The timing cycle of the butterfly stroke typically involves two leg kicks, the first of which is stronger, occurring as the arms enter and start to pull.  The second kick happens as the arms finish pulling and start to exit and recover. Using the entire stroke is the most effective method of practice.

1. push away from the poolside and use your head to initiate the whole movement.
2. perform a leg kick followed immediately by a simultaneous arm pull. 
3. perform another leg kick as your arms recover over the water surface.
4. continue the patter, using a ‘kick-pull-kick-recover’ sequence.

Try a push and glide and complete one stroke cycle if you find this step of the butterfly stroke swimming technique challenging.  Add more strokes once you get into a rhythm with the sequence. 

Butterfly Stroke Drills

The butterfly stroke, which is one of the hardest to master but also one of the most rewarding and stunning swimming strokes currently in use, is one that we have previously mentioned. In addition to taking your swimming to the next level, mastering the butterfly stroke will allow you to move through the water with incredible speed and efficiency. To help you hone your technique, try these butterfly swimming drills:

1. One-Arm Only Drill: One arm butterfly swimming will strengthen your arm and improve your technique on both sides equally.
2. 3+1 Drill: Maintaining parallel arms to the water’s surface, perform three dolphin kicks and one arm pull.
3. Blind Drill: As you swim the butterfly stroke, close your eyes and try to hold your breath to see how straight you are going.
4. Three-Stroke Drill: Put your left arm straight out in front of you, hold it there, and use your right arm to strike three times. Once your right arm is extended, use your left arm to make three strokes. Any of the other widely used swimming strokes, including the butterfly stroke, will become stronger and more balanced as a result.

How To Work Out Safely And Avoid Injury

Consult your doctor before starting an exercise program if you have a previous or pre-existing health condition. The safety and effectiveness of an exercise program depend on using the right exercise technique, but depending on your personal needs, you might need to modify some of the exercises to get the best results. Always choose a weight that enables complete control of your body during the exercise. Any exercise you do should be done with careful attention to your body; if you experience any pain or discomfort, stop right away.

Include the right warm-ups, recovery time, and nutrition in your exercise regimen for ongoing progress and increased body strength. In the end, how well you recover from your workouts will determine how well you perform. To ensure adequate recovery, wait 24 to 48 hours before working out the same muscle groups.

Tips On How To Swim Butterfly Stroke

• Aim to keep your chin no higher than 3 inches (7.6 cm) above the water when breathing. At that point, you will be forcing yourself to move upward rather than forward.
• Try not to bend your knees too far when you kick; your kick should originate from your core. Not the calves, but the core and the thighs provide the majority of the power in a butterfly kick.
• It does not make a stroke easier to recover by raising your arms as high as you can. While it may seem to reduce arm resistance, swimming uphill actually causes your body to move from a horizontal to a more vertical position in the water.” if you have your hands about an inch above the water you should maximize your stroke efficiency.

The History Of Butterfly

The butterfly stroke is a recent one. In the 1920s and 1930s, it was first introduced as a breaststroke variation. The International Swimming Hall of Fame claims that Australian swimmer Sydney Cavill invented the butterfly stroke, and American coach David Armbruster is credited with introducing the dolphin kick. 

Why Is Butterfly Such A Challenge?

1. Short Axis Stroke: Fly is a brief breaststroke-like axis stroke. In butterfly, you bob up and down instead of rotating around an axis like you do in freestyle and backstroke, which calls for different stroke mechanics.
2. Needs Complete Body Coordination: Your stroke rhythm and coordination are crucial to a successful butterfly. Early experience and improved body awareness in the water are typically prerequisites for learning butterfly for new swimmers. It’s possible to swim fairly quickly in freestyle while only kicking occasionally. Fly won’t allow you to do that.
3. Required Minimum Strength: Butterfly requires a foundational level of strength to perform well because it uses every muscle in the body. While you don’t need to be especially strong to move through the water quickly, using the right mechanics will enable you to make the most of the strength you do have.

Final Words

So, do you know how to swim the butterfly stroke? Have a try!

The butterfly stroke was the main focus of the article. Please post a comment if you’re interested in finding out how to swim butterfly stroke. I’m grateful you read. Have a good day.