Gordon. How the hell do you swim the butterfly. I can’t breathe!! Signed, one amateur swimmer.
Heh. Sorry, not laughing at you, just the question. I’ve tried to teach certain brothers, who look more like they are drowning than swimming the ‘fly and I did actually think you were Scott there for a moment, because he truly does believe that because it’s called the ‘fly he should know how to do it and well, it’s a spectacle to behold.
I’ll keep this relatively short because this could be a series of essays and podcasts, and nobody wants that first thing in the morning.
First things first, don’t start with the ‘fly if you can’t swim a good freestyle. Like a properly technical freestyle that you’re comfortable with.
If you ask most people, they’ll tell you the most important part of the ‘fly is the timing. I’d disagree (who enjoys playing devil’s advocate, Gordon, not Gordon 😏). Timing is easy to practice and drill - pull here, kick here, lift here. You time how you leave the blocks. You time how long you’re underwater in the initial few metres. But you don’t time your technique.
(I need a whiteboard and a pen, I need to Brains-style scrawl)
Because that doesn’t get you swimming efficiently - you’re too preoccupied with timing and you end up too stiff and losing count entirely and drowning.
The most important part of learning to ‘fly is the rhythm. If you can get the hang of riding the ‘wave’ of it, it’ll make a lot more sense than trying to time it, and it’ll come a lot more naturally to you.
Before you try to focus on the arms (which is what everyone does and Gordo maintains is not the way to go about it) you need to learn to use your hips. That’s where the motion of the technique comes from and where the foundation of your swim is.
My old coach used to call it learning to dance and it still makes me chuckle, but he was right! He used to shout “you’re not dancing!!” from the end of the lane when my technique was off and I can still hear him when I swim🕺🪩
You need to master how you use your hips and your core, you need to find your rhythm.
And you need to learn to kick properly. To learn to dolphin kick efficiently, I actually think the best way is with fins on in a pool. It helps you get the idea of the momentum you’re trying to create through your legs, from your toes up to your hips, how to keep your legs together and how to move in the water. You can drill on your front and your back with fins on, and it’ll teach you how to get that glide and power in your kick.
Getting a breath efficiently is actually dependent on what we call the ‘chest bounce’, which, surprise surprise, comes from your overall core control.
(There’s more whiteboard scrawling going on that you can’t see, so just imagine for me here).
You should feel yourself start to sink a little in the middle of your stroke, as you try to come up, where you’d think about pulling your arms forward, and that’s your cue to kick to drive your hips up, chest down and ‘bounce’ with a bit of power and come up for a breath. You don’t want to come too far out the water, and you want to keep your eyes fairly parallel to the surface of the water to stop you overextending your neck and lifting your chin.
… that was very technical but important (this is the sort of stuff you look for when you’re looking back over videos of your technique because it’s really important!)
BASICALLY stop flapping your arms about and focus on dolphin’ing your way through the water first. You should be able to swim laps happily without your arms doing anything before you introduce the pull. Learn to dance. Do that, be more comfortable moving in the water (and breathing) and think about being a happy dancing dolphin.
“Think about being a happy dancing dolphin” <— Gordon Tracy, aged 24, former Olympian and certified happy dancing dolphin giving technique advice.
(I drew a happy dolphin too 🐬)
