Butterfly Swimming Technique For Beginners

Why Butterfly Swimming Technique For Beginners?

Why would I do a series on butterfly swimming technique for beginners on a learn to swim site? After all it's not exactly a beginners stroke.

Wait... Get Your Lesson Plans Here

Basically because I'm sick of all the stuff on the net that teaches it wrong!

I see videos on You Tube that expound just how good their method of learning butterfly is and then proceed to tell every one that it is simply a process of pulling both arms straight down as hard as you can.

In other words they are trying to tell you that butterfly is simply a double handed dog paddle and nothing could be further from the truth.

Butterfly is A Difficult Stroke To Master

Butterfly is a difficult stroke to master. It requires strength, timing and practice... Lots of practice. But with the right drill it's a whole lot easier. And if someone is doing a double handed dog paddle, declaring they have mastered butterfly, as do some swimmers who come to me, it takes a very little time and just a few drills to change their mind.


But by the time they leave my classes they are doing butterfly on a whole new level. That is, correctly, even if not perfectly.

I'm not going to attempt to get perfect butterfly here. That really is a job for your coach. Besides there are many drills on on the web on how to improve your butterfly. But none of them are any good if you don't have the basics correct. That's what I want to give you here, the correct basics on how to swim butterfly.

The First Step

The first step is, if you are doing a double handed dog paddle as your butterfly, stop right now!

And don't do any more butterfly at all.

From now on, until I say so, I don't want you to do butterfly. The only thing I want you to do are the drills I'm going to give you over the next few sessions.

Butterfly is Not Easy

If you stick to the drills I can get you started. If you insist on doing your incorrect butterfly, before, after or during, you are probably going to fail.

So Lesson one is if you are doing an incorrect or grossly inefficient butterfly stop trying and don't do it any more.

The next lesson is on getting the Butterfly kick right.

Enjoy
   Richard