Chris B.
Today, I’m going to review some dry-land drills I use to address common problems that plague beginning butterfliers.
Skydivers: First, we’ll look at skydivers. These swimmers tend to breath very late in their stroke. They breath when their head is up and their arms are out. Sky divers need to look for their breath early in the stroke instead of at the end. I also like to show skydivers how much easier it is to fly those arms forward in a forehead down position.
Dead Birds: Dead birds do a good job diving that head down, but they forget to bring their arms with them. Their arms tend to get stuck behind them in an awkward position. Remember, your hands are the dolphin’s nose not your head. Look for those hands as you dive forward. Look for your hands.
Some dead birds act like the stroke begins and ends at their hips. They also swim like the kick is separate from the arms. With these swimmers, we need to emphasize that the stroke begins and ends in a streamline position. Keep the arms moving. Dive, kick, kick… Dive, kick, kick… Dive.
Dizzy Dolphins: Dizzy dolphins get stuck in a heads up – hips forward position. They never dive back down for the fish. One simple drill, focuses on tilting that head: chin, forehead, chin,forehead. Then, we work on incorporating that into the stroke. Get that head down. Dive for the fish. Head down. Hips up. Head down. Hips up.
Cool!