Welcome to my channel in previous videos you have hopefully learned how to do all the different
Technical elements in butterfly swimming
in today's we are going to cover how to combine all the elements
Helping you to swim butterfly perfectly and also easily
To achieve the correct technique for butterfly swimming
It is important to do each movement at the right time
So you should do the movement of the body, arms and legs at the exact time that each movement is required
However, the time for the movements can vary slightly for each swimmer
For example, the kicks can be done a little earlier or a little later
In this video, I will talk about the standard timing of these movements that should be suitable for everyone
In one complete stroke, the swimmer will perform an arm stroke, the back movements and two kicks
Each of these technical elements was discussed in the previous butterfly lessons on my channel
If you skipped something about butterfly technique, you'll find it in the previous videos
While swimming, it is important to do as few extra movements as possible
These extra movements lead to increase water resistance
Additional water resistance slows down your swimming speed
So, do only the movements that will push you forward
In the beginning of the arm stroke, your body should be stretched forwards
Your legs and back are straight and close to the water surface
While doing the arm stroke, your legs are starting to move up
towards the water surface to get ready to kick
Pay attention, your legs should not rise out of the water during swimming
When you move your legs up, you should continue doing the arm stroke
One very important thing to take note of
You should finish the arm stroke at the same time as performing the first kick
If you do these elements correctly
You will feel a strong speed increase
if your legs and arms perform their movements at the wrong time
The swimming won't be as efficient
The main idea of doing the end part of the arm stroke at the same time as the kick
is to get the highest possible speed
Swimming forwards and returning the hands forward with the least possible resistance
For example, if you legs kick earlier than needed your arm stroke technique can suffer
But more importantly, after the arm stroke you won't get that high speed
and your hand return will be done when you speed is much slower
Imagine one boat moving at a low speed
and another boat moving at a high speed
The boat which goes faster rises from the water and goes above the water
Therefore, the water resistance doesn't become a problem because the boat has the shape and position
That allows it to keep the resistance as low as possible
However, the boat the goes slowly has its body sinking in the water and the water resistance is high
The same applies to swimmers
if there is no speed after the arm stroke, the body won't rise from the water
So it will be deep in the water
The speed will immediately slow down and it will be difficult to perform the hand-return
Many swimmers stayed too deep in the water while swimming,
which leads to difficulties in performing the movements and their speed slows down
This is why, the kicks must be done when the arm stroke is being finished
After the arm stroke, you should immediately start returning your hands forward and take the breath
These two technical elements are done together
Just in the very end of the arm stroke, you should start moving your head up
And as soon as your hands are out of the water, you take the breath
Straight after the breath, you should move your head down into water
before the hands enter the water surface in front
When your hands enter the water, you should do the second kick which is a bit stronger than the first one
in the video, Alexander performs the second kick a little later then what I would recommend
I suggest you to do the second kick at the same time as when your hands enter the water
His technique is correct and it works fine for him
As soon as you finish all these elements, the stroke is finished
Now, we will talk about a few technique drills which will train you to perform the movements at the right time
Butterfly swimming on your back is a great exercise to synchronize the movements of the hands and legs
You should do the arm stroke with both hands simultaneously while on your back
After the end of the arm stroke, you do the first kick and then return your hands about the water to the starting position
At the moment when your hands enter the water, you should do the second kick
Don't be in a hurry and do the exercise carefully
This is another drill that will help you to synchronize your arm strokes with your kicks
First, you return your hand forward and do the kicks
Then, return the second hand and perform the kicks
Once the hands in the forward position, you do the arm stroke with your both hands and perform the kicks
Try to remember how it feels for you and attempt to regain the feeling while swimming butterfly
Also, you can do all the drills that I've shown you previously
But you can do them focusing on performing the movements at exactly right time
Many swimmers develop their personal technique on their own
In this case, swimming may feel differently or not exactly as I explained
You might feel not comfortable, when you first try to work on these technical elements
or when you change your timing as I've suggested
The main reason for this, is that you've probably quite used to doing the movements in a different way
or using a different rhythm
So it's very useful to make a video of your swimming to check whether or not your technique is correct
Leave your comments about how your technique feels in your own body
and let me know what mistakes you think you need to fix
As you already know, smooth movements are very important in butterfly
to achieve this you should transfer weight forward at the right moment
and smoothly dive forwards in order to save the speed
In the previous lesson, you did the exercise
to learn how to transfer your own weight forward during the hand-return
Now, we will take a look at rolling in the water
After the arm stroke, your body weight must be concentrated around the pelvis
At this moment, you should have a high speed and a high position in the water
So you move forward with little resistance in the water
However, the speed slows down during the hand-return
but it's very important to maintain the speed at this point
During the hand return, you should do the same back movement as in the training exercise on the land
Move your back forward and lift your legs up while returning the hands forwards
Pay attention when you move your back forward, there is no need to flex the back, keep it straight!
The movement will shift your center of gravity forward and automatically pull you forward
If your center of gravity is kept behind you'll be pulled back, during the hand return
To get the correct body movement, rhythm and coordination of movements
You'll need to focus on the elements while swimming
it's a lot to think about and also it takes time
However, once you achieve it, you'll literally fly over the water surface
Now, we are going to learn how to glide
Gliding is a difficult process in swimming
on the one hand gliding is useful because it allows you to move forward
using the speed gained from the arm strokes and kicks
On the other hand, the speed is decreasing during the gliding
because the swimmer doesn't do any movements
So the water resistance slows the speed
While gliding you need to feel that moment when you speed is still high but starts to decrease at
At this moment, you should start doing another arm stroke so that you don't lose too much speed
The amount of decrease in gliding speed is different for every swimmer and every swimming style
Therefore, gliding time is different for everyone
in butterfly, the speed gets slowed down during the hands return
But the second kick boost the speed up again so you can theoretically glide with it
However, the speed won't be high enough to glide very much
If you glide too much
your speed will slow down a lot and you'll need to start the stroke from scratch
I'm not saying that you should do arm strokes without any gliding
when your hands enter the water
you can slowly start a new arm stroke like Alexander does in the video
In the very beginning, the water grabbing is done slowly, but then the hands start accelerating
Having this grabbing phase of an arm stroke
will allow the swimmer to glide forwards and it'll be while doing the first phase of an arm stroke
and also, helps to maintain the speed for a new arm stroke
In butterfly, the tempo or pace depends on the distance you are swimming
The main difference of the swimming pace is the speed of a stroke
So depending on distance, only the speed of the arm stroke changes, but the technique of the movements remains the same
In a sprint, the movements are done as frequently as possible
In long distances, the movements are long, similar to what Alexander is doing in the video
In the five butterfly lessons you've learned all different technical elements of fly technique
Now, you should be able to swim well both aesthetically and efficiently
spending less energy and swim long distances
Remember, butterfly technique is difficult and it takes time to set up the technique
I can guarantee that if you follow the tips from these videos
your technique will improve
let me know in the comments which swimming stroke you'd like detailed videos of backstroke breaststroke or freestyle