Biondi helps develop the catch position, pull, and stroke timing in butterfly. Butterfly is a
very challenging swimming stroke and requires a lot of upper body strength and a strong dolphin
kick. Possibly one of the most important things on butterfly is the timing and technique of the
breath. As you breathe forward on butterfly the change from being in a horizontal position
to a more vertical position results in your upper body creating more drag in the water.
The breath occurs during the fastest point in the stroke cycle.
So, practicing Biondi will help make your butterfly technique easier and faster.
The way to do Biondi is by starting off in a horizontal position on your front. Your arms
should be extended out in front of you and your hands shoulder width apart. You then perform
three dolphin kicks and as you're about to do the fourth kick, your first movement should be
to bend your elbows and then push your hands down towards the pool floor. Keep pushing your
hands down until your forearms are vertical with your elbows pointing upwards. Once your forearms
are vertical, accelerate your hands down past your hips until your arms are fully extended.
During the drive phase of the drill, you should now be breathing. Breathe by lifting your neck
rather than your chest to avoid that frontal drag, and aim to keep your chin in the water.
You then do the recovery phase by sliding your hands under the water
back up to the starting position and then repeat.
There are a few main things to remember when performing Biondi.
One is that you should be bending your elbows so that you can feel the
pressure against your hands and forearms, therefore making your pull a lot stronger.
Another thing to remember is lifting your neck rather than your chest to minimize frontal drag.
And lastly accelerate your hands back to your hips by engaging
your lats making your pull more powerful.
Common faults do occur with this drill and the most frequent one is having a straight arm
pull. Having a straight arm pull reduces your power as you will potentially slip the water.
You want to get used to pulling with bent elbows so that you can increase
your strength when moving onto fullstroke.
Another fault is going too deep. The aim on Biondi is that some parts of your back must be dry at
all times as you want to try and replicate fullstroke butterfly. Due to the undulating
nature of the stroke, either your upper back or your lower back should be out of the water.
A last fault is lifting your head and shoulders too high when breathing.
The last thing you want is to make butterfly harder than it needs to be.
Lifting too high will make your hips sink and create a lot of drag. Aim to breathe by
lifting your chin forward rather than up as this will help with the momentum and make it easier.
Give this drill a try in your next swim and tell us how it went by leaving a comment down below,
we'd love to hear your views on it. Also let us know if there's any other drills
you'd like to see us film and we'd be more than happy to film them for you. Make sure
you SUBSCRIBE to Propulsion Swimming for next week's tutorial. I'll catch on the next one!