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Butterfly Drill Library
BUTTERFLY KICK
Purpose: ESSENTIAL, ESSENTIAL, ESSENTIAL. Learn to kick with your whole body while keeping the head going almost straight forward and streamlined, with hands ideally moving only max 3-4 inches above and below the line of motion. Head stays between the biceps, or just under them if you want a narrower cross section. Fast and efficient/tight kick is the first building block of the whole stroke.
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
On stomach, on back, on sides. Arms up or down. Use fins or not. Try to not use the kick board as it can put pressure on your lower back and restrict correct movement of the body.
PS! Kicking on side with bottom arm up, top arm by the side is a great way to practice up and down kick equality as it’s equally hard to kick to both sides. Practicing on back is essential for backstroke. And being able to rotate side to side and back to front is needed for fast turns.
Aim for 50-70 degree knee bend and 20-30 degree hip bend.
THE FLOW
Purpose: ESSENTIAL, DETAIL, APPRECIATION. Learn to kick with whole body and use all the muscles including the core and your back just like a dolphin. Or describe it as flowing on the water and not fighting it.
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Kicking in Superman position with arms shoulder width apart in front and really paying attention to elements of kick. Hands open and on the surface of the water. The movement can start from fingertips (small movement) and move all the way down to your feet (bigger movement), but get started by pressing the chest down, which raises the hips and you can go from there. Keep head on the surface of water and eyes glued to the bottom of the pool. Idea is to try to move on or near the surface of the water with only undulating motion, which moves chest down, the hips up and legs will follow by themselves. Butt should come to the surface on every kick! Use snorkel if desired or breathe forward. Fins help, but should not be used to kick, but rather to really accentuate the feel of whole body undulation. Once you master it on stomach you can do it on your sides and back as well
BUTTERFLY WITH FINS
Purpose: ESSENTIAL, BEGINNER. Helps younger swimmers to swim/learn this difficult stroke easier, or more experienced swimmers can do longer laps/reps and not drown/lose the technique
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Swim fly with fins during longer fly sets or when just learning to get the arms over in a smooth motions and in concert with the kick. Just don’t over do it to the point where the swimmer is totally dependent on fins.
ONE ARM BUTTERFLY
Purpose: Timing and straight arm recovery. Pressing chest down
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Can be done with resting arm either in front or in back. However, keeping the other hand on side so it doesn’t interfere with the natural movement, seems to work slightly better for timing, even if it’s harder to do. Try breathing to the side and to the front- side for arm recovery component (so you stay flatter) and front for practicing to press the chest down(and to work on breath/head movement). Use fins to help young swimmers
ALTERNATING ARM BUTTERFLY
Purpose: BEGINNER. Helps to learn pull mechanics, while not getting as tired
Video:
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How:
Alternate hands every stroke and they meet in front. Easier way to swim than full butterfly
CHEST DOWN DRILL
Purpose: BEGINNER, DETAIL. Practice pushing chest down
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Have arms wider (Make a Y) in front, keep them straight and then press your chest down with each kick, but keep hands going straight with palms facing down. Kicks might be smaller than regular kicks. Use a snorkel for easier breathing. Take it slow!
BIONDI DRILL
Purpose: ESSENTIAL. For timing the kicks and pull. There’s a reason why this guy won 11 Olympic medals, including 8 golds, 25 years before Phelps
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Get up to speed with a few dolphin kicks and then do a full arm pull with hands stopping at down position. Head goes down as the second kick happens and you glide a bit with arms on side. Can take a breath or not. Move your hands up underwater close to your body (like in breaststroke pull-out), take another few kicks and repeat
SKATE DRILL
Purpose: ESSENTIAL. Focusing on head movement
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Almost like Biondi Drill, but focusing on getting the head from almost full extension with chin out to all the way back with chin almost touching the chest. Do the underwater pull, but pay attention to keeping your chin extended to front, and staying close to the water line… out just enough to get the breath. Like skating across the on top of the water (think a penguin sliding on ice). Then after a very short pause bring the head down chin to chest and bring arms over to starting position. Go slow! Use fins if the kick is not strong enough
DIAMOND DRILL
Purpose: End of pull focus and correct hand position under water
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Basically a version of Biondi Drill, but shorter arm movement, where you start with your arms in a diamond shape (elbows and hands in line with shoulders from side view) and push past hips with a timed kick. make sure to dorsi-flex hands, and don’t push water up, but rather back at the end of pull. Bring hands up underwater again. Use a snorkel if you don’t want to lift the head to breathe as often
BUTTERFLY WITH FREESTYLE KICK
Purpose: ESSENTIAL. Flattens the stroke and helps with rhythm and tempo. Also helps to keep the head low during the breath and snap it down hard… as well as keeping the shoulders low.
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Swim butterfly with freestyle kick. Use fins for easier time. Freestyle kick helps to keep the propulsion constant and enables the swimmer to not bob as much up and down as with dolphin kick to get a feel for swimming flatter butterfly.
SLOW BUTTERFLY
Purpose: APPRECIATION. Helps with timing and lengthening the stroke
Video:
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How:
Swim butterfly, but slow it waaaayyyy, waayyy down! Recommended for experienced swimmers with strong shoulders who can keep the form.
LAZY BUTTERFLY
Purpose: BEGINNER. Allows younger swimmers to reset between each stroke, focus on breathing each time a full fly stroke is completed.
Video:
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How:
Take 1 fly stroke with 2 fly kicks (normal fly) into 2 fly kicks in streamline only
FIST BUTTERFLY
Purpose: DETAIL, APPRECIATION. Works on Early Vertical Forearm and maintaining catch i.e., not dropping/leading with the elbows. Appropriate for more experienced swimmers.
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Butterfly with fists closed. Use fins. You’ll be forced to focus on the forearms, not your hands
1-1-1/2-2-2/3-3-3 DRILL
Purpose: ESSENTIAL, BEGINNER. Tying together one armed drill and full stroke. Also helps with high arm recovery
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Pull with one arm only, then with the other arm and then with both arms together. Other hand remains in the front for single arm pulls. Variations include taking more pulls in a row or taking 2-3 pulls with each arm separately and then doing one full stroke, or vice versa. Breathe to the side on one arm strokes to practice staying flatter and to the front with both arm strokes. Also helps to swim butterfly longer in sets for younger kids.
HEAD UP BUTTERFLY WITH FLUTTER KICK aka. “TARZAN” FLY
Purpose: APPRECIATION. Works on watching the hand entry position and beginning of your butterfly stroke but advanced and focused on one thing only, the hand entry/beginning of catch.
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Normal butterfly, but head doesn’t go underwater. Fins help enormously. Good for those swimmers who tend to enter arms too narrow or too wide. Don’t over-do it!!!- it’s just to show the swimmer where their hands land and get a feel for it.
SIDE BREATHING BUTTERFLY
Purpose: DETAIL. Works on keeping the hips high in the water and the chin low on the breath
Video:
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How:
Butterfly with or without fins, but breathing to the side. Alternate sides
SNOW ANGELS
Purpose: APPRECIATION. Focus on a smooth, controlled, quiet butterfly recovery movement
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Flutter kick with fins. Do a full butterfly catch from front to back, but pause on the bottom and then slowly bring straight arms back up for recovery phase. Essentially “slow motioning” the recovery phase of pull
FRONT SCULL WITH DOLPHIN KICK
Purpose: DETAIL, BEGINNER. The emphasis here is to see how the timing flows in the beginning of pull
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Perform a full body butterfly movement at the surface while only sculling out in front with the hands. You should press the chest in a downward motion on the out sweep scull, and you will move upward with the in sweep scull
4 KICKS 1 PULL aka. PUNCH BUTTERFLY
Purpose: ESSENTIAL. The focus of this drill is to improve timing, kicking power, and lengthen your stroke.
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Perform three (3) kicks at the beginning of the stroke, then begin the pull while really punching the 4th kick as the hands pull under the body. This will set up a relaxed/easy recovery and move the body forward. Same as “lazy butterfly” drill, but the emphasis is on the kick and end of pull timing and punchiness/explosiveness.
ONE-TWO-ONE-TWO FLY
Purpose: ESSENTIAL. Teaches vertical and straight arm recovery
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Pull with right, both, left, both arms, with arms always straight at recovery. Breathe to the side for single arm and to the front with both arms
BREAST-FLY SWAP
Purpose: APPRECIATION. Lifting the body in the water in a forward motion. Substitution for full fly for younger kids during sets.
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
It is 2 strokes of fly and 2 of breast but keeping the dolphin kick throughout. The kids also usually like it. Can be done with fins
FREESTYLE WITH DOLPHIN KICK aka. “BUTTERFREE”
Purpose: BEGINNER. Great intro to butterfly undulating motion
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Freestyle with dolphin kicks. One kick for one stroke, meaning each arm gets a kick.
SQUEEZE THE BLADES
Purpose: DETAIL, BEGINNER. Dry land exercise for demonstrating wrist led arm recovery
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Stand straight with arms by your side, squeeze your shoulder blades together, lock your elbows (so arm stays straight) and lift your arms up to top from behind with relaxed wrists with fingers pointing down, end with fingers pointing to the ceiling or stop at any point when arms reach above the head. Do the same thing bent at the waist. Later add head movement. Can be done in shallow water as well
PINKIES UP DOLPHIN KICK
Purpose: DETAIL, BEGINNER. Helps to control the over undulation/too much chest press, as it is harder to flex down from shoulders when pinkies are up.
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Swim dolphin kick with pinkies up and above the water and arms straight fro elbows. Use snorkel for not having to lift the head and concentrating on movement
BUTTERFLY BOB
Purpose: BEGINNER, DETAIL. Helps kids learn to use the kick to get the breath in butterfly. Also encourages good chest and hip action in butterfly
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Arms at side, swimmer will take one breath and one kick, making sure to push the forehead quickly towards the water (chin to chest) after breathing and driving the face towards the wall as they start the breath. 2 second pause and repeat. Coach should ensure swimmer is driving body forward continuously throughout the kick and breath. Use fins!
JUMPING ROPE
Purpose: BEGINNER. Helps young kids with power of stroke and the timing
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
In shallow water, have swimmers simulate jumping rope using a butterfly pull as they move across the pool. Idea is to push down with palms as you jump up to practice timing of first kick and end of pull
SUPER DOLPHIN
Purpose: APPRECIATION. Over emphasize the dolphin undulation on the stroke and feeling the rhythm of the stroke. Emphasizes full range head movement. More advanced for sure, useful for bigger kids who struggle with fly.
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Reach/throw arms and face up to the sky during recovery phase and look up at hands. Drive body upwards as high as possible, then dive forward as hands are out front with head coming chin to chest. Drive hips upward towards the surface and go deep. Repeat when you surface again. Use fins!
ALMOST SUPER DOLPHIN
Purpose: BEGINNER. Teaches undulation to young kids who are first learning butterfly… plus, it is fun!
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Instead of using a kick to reach for the sky like in Super Dolphin Drill, push from the bottom of the pool in the shallow water to perform a dolphin dive and surface again. Emphasize using downwards double arms push on side at the same time as you jump up, to get as much height as possible, before diving down hands first and head down again. Emphasize straight arms with loose wrists as they fly overhead. Move from height to length gradually
PULL AND GLIDE
Purpose: DETAIL, APPRECIATION. Feel for the water in the pull. EVF. Pulling flat. Correcting short pulls or early recovery in swimmers’ stroke.
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Start with dead man’s float … arms above head palms facing down, hands shoulder width apart. Do the fly pull and stop as your hands come to the surface by your hips, palms up fully extended, head neutral in water. Ride the glide. Try to go further each time. Can breathe or not
UNDULATING POLE
Purpose: BEGINNER. Undulating rhythm for younger kids
Video:
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How:
Swimmer needs a snorkel. The swimmer holds onto the pole while in the water in streamline face down. The coach grabs the opposite end the pole and walks along the edge of the pool assisting the swimmers in the undulating movements by pushing and pulling the pole up and down in correct rhythm
LATE BREATH DRILL
Purpose: DETAIL, APPRECIATION. Good for teaching late breath technique (head stays underwater a touch longer to reduce drag before the breath). But swimmers should be able to do regular fly pretty well already
Video:
Video coming soon!
How:
Swim fly with fins. Keep the head under water until the end of pull and take a quick breath as the arms recover overhead making sure the head hits the water just as hands enter and down kick finishes. Use aggressive head movement to make the head and arms pull the body behind it. Feel the surge by gliding forward for a beat in streamline
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