Butterfly stroke

The butterfly, (fly for short) is a swimming stroke swum on the breast, with the arms moving synchronously. The butterfly kick was developed separately, and is also known as the Dolphin. While other styles like breaststroke, front crawl, or backstroke can be swum easily even for beginners, the butterfly requires a very good technique to be feasible. Most students consider it the most difficult style. It is also the newest swimming style swum on competitions, first swum around 1934.

Technique

The butterfly technique with the dolphin kick consists of synchronous arm movement with a synchronous leg kick. Good technique is crucial to swim this style effectively. The wave-like body movement is also very significant, as this is the key for an easy synchronous over water recovery and breathing.

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In the initial position, the swimmer lies on the breast, the arms are stretched to the front, and the legs are extended to the back.

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The Arm Movement

The butterfly stroke has three major parts, the pull, the push, and the recovery. These can also be further subdivided. From the initial position, the arm movement starts very similar to the front crawl. At the beginning the hands sink a little bit down with the palms facing outwards and slightly down at shoulder width. This is called catching the water. The pull movement follows a semicircle with the elbow higher than the hand and the hand pointing towards the body center and downward. The semicircle ends in front of the chest at the beginning of the ribcage.

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The push pushes the palm backward through the water underneath the body at the beginning and at the side of the body at the end of the push. The movement increases speed throughout the pull push phase until the hand is the fastest at the end of the push. This step is called the release and is crucial for the recovery. The speed at the end of the push is used to help with the recovery.

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The recovery swings the arms sideways across the water surface to the front, with the elbows slightly higher than the hands and shoulders. The arms have to be swung forward fast in order to bring them to the front over water and not to enter the water too early, generating extra resistance of the arms moving against the swimming direction in the water. A high elbow recovery, as in front crawl, would save more energy, yet the movement restrictions in the shoulders do not allow this easily, and due to the synchronized movement it is not possible to roll around the shoulders as in front crawl.

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The arms enter the water with the thumbs first at shoulder width. A wider entry loses movement in the next pull phase, and a smaller entry, where the hands touch, wastes energy. After a brief rest the cycle repeats with the pull phase.

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The Leg Movement

The leg movement is similar to the leg movement in front crawl, except they are synchronized and the entire body moves in a wave-like motion to assist the legs. The first kick comes when the hands enter the water and the second, stronger kick comes at the middle of the push phase. The second kick assists in the recovery of the arms.

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Alternatively, it is possible to do only one kick per cycle, but this is not advisable as it will make the recovery more difficult. Also, it is possible to swim butterfly arms with a breaststroke kick, where the main push of the kick comes at the middle of the push phase. However, this is not allowed by the FINA, but sometimes done for training purposes. A breaststroke kick will not be as fast as the dolphin kick, but is also a feasible swimming style.

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Breathing

There is only a short window for breathing in butterfly. If this window is missed, the style becomes very difficult to swim. Optimally, a butterfly swimmer synchronizes the taking of breaths with the undulation of the body to simplify the breathing process; doing this well requires some attention to butterfly stroke technique. The breathing process begins during the underwater "press" portion of the stroke. As the hands and forearms move underneath the chest, the body will naturally rise toward the surface of the water. With a minimum of effort, the swimmer can lift the head to break the surface fully. The swimmer breathes in through the mouth. The head goes back in the water after the arms come out of the water as they are swinging forward over the surface of the water. If the head stays out too long, the recovery is hindered. The swimmer breathes out through mouth and nose till the next breath.

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Normally, a breath is taken every other stroke. This can be sustained over long distances. Breathing every stroke slows the swimmer down. Other intervals of breathing practiced by elite swimmers include the "two up, one down" approach in which the swimmer breaths for two successive strokes and then keeps the head in the water on the next stroke. Swimmers with good lung capacity might also breathe every 3rd stroke during sprints or the finish.

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Body Movement

Swimming the arms or the legs separately is difficult, and the body movement is crucial for the arms and legs to use their full potential. The body moves in a wave like fashion, controlled by the arm movement. As the hands go in, the hips go up, and the posterior breaks the water surface. During the push phase the head goes up and the hip are at the lowest position. In this style, the second kick in the cycle is stronger than the first kick, as the second kick is more in flow with the body movement.

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Start

Butterfly uses the regular start for swimming. After the start a sliding phase follows under water, followed by dolphin kicks swum under water. Swimming under water reduces the drag from breaking the surface and is very economic. Rules allow for 15m of underwater swimming, before the head must break the surface, and regular swimming resumes.

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Turn and Finish

During turns and during the finish, the hands must touch the wall at the same time on the breast. The swimmer touches the wall with both hands while bending the elbows slightly. The bent elbows allow the swimmer to push himself away from the wall and turning sideways. One hand leaves the wall to be moved to the front underwater. At the same time the legs are pulled closer and moved underneath of the body towards the wall. The second hand leaves the wall to be moved to the front over water. The legs touch the wall and the hands are at the front. The swimmer sinks under water and lays on the breast, or nearly so. Next the swimmer pushes himself off the wall, keeping a streamline position with the hands to the front. Similar to the start, the swimmer is allowed to swim 15m underwater before the head must break the surface. Most swimmers swim a dolphin kick after a initial gliding phase.

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The finish requires the swimmer to touch the wall with both hands at the same time.

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