Welcome to the “Swim Drill of the Week”. Swimming World will be bringing you a drill, concept, or tip that you can implement with your team on a regular basis. While certain weeks may be more appropriate for specific levels of swimming (club, high school, college, or masters), Drill Of The Week excerpts are meant to be flexible for your needs and inclusive for all levels of swimming.
This week’s drill progression is for butterfly and is designed to work on developing the whole body undulation and forward drive at the end of every butterfly stroke. Take a look at the progression below and the description that follows:
1 x 50 dolphin dives
2 x 25’s boom drill
1 x 50 short axis combo
2 x 25’s perfect butterfly
The progression starts with a fun drill that should get your athletes excited: dolphin dives! While it may feel more like playing than working on stroke technique, the first 50 of dolphin dives will cue your athletes in to how their whole bodies are moving through the water. Encourage them to be as fast but also as graceful as possible, working on clean entries and exits from the water to develop some body awareness
Next is boom drill, which is a more traditional drill that has them tapping into that body awareness to find a forward drive at the end of each stroke. This drill is challenging because it requires swimmers to dive forward without the help of their arm recovery, which really forces them to use the rest of their body to move down the pool.
The final drill is short axis combo, which mixes butterfly and breaststroke to teach your swimmers how to maintain fluidity in their stroke while moving through the water in a different way. This drill sequence is all about making your athletes aware of how to drive forward with their chest without the aid of their arms, creating a more efficient stroke that engages their whole body and ultimately makes a more consistent butterfly. Happy swimming!
All swimming and dryland training and instruction should be performed under the supervision of a qualified coach or instructor, and in circumstances that ensure the safety of participants.