Last summer I got some video of various swimmers at a club in Montreal and I put together some videos that compare two swimmers' butterfly timing:
Above water comparison:
YouTube- Butterfly Stroke Comparison
Below water comparison:
YouTube- Underwater Comparison Of Butterfly Strokes
Above and below of just the lower swimmer:
YouTube- Alfonso Split Screen Butterfly
I wrote some thoughts about the differences in timing here:
mymsc.ca/.../butterfly_stroke_timing
In addition to the timing there are some other issues like kicking from the knee, but I am interested in what approach people would suggest to help this swimmer improve his stroke, whether it be an approach to changing his timing or something else.
I've got a couple swimmers in my club that have similar timing issues and are having a hard time changing.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
My fly looks a lot like that of swimmer 2. Two drills have helped me with the timing issues:
1. "No kick" 25s. Swim a 25 concentrating on not kicking at all. The body naturally undulates anyway, and seeks its own more naturally correct timing. This also helps to cure the overkicking. Press the chest and keep the hips up.
2. "Full stop" drill. Float prone with arms overhead, then initiate one stroke by pressing down with the chest, kick, pull, and recover arms to overhead prone float position. Float, regroup, think, and take another stroke. Repeat for a length. I like to follow up with a length or 2 of whole stroke between 25s of drill.
YMMV.
My fly looks a lot like that of swimmer 2. Two drills have helped me with the timing issues:
1. "No kick" 25s. Swim a 25 concentrating on not kicking at all. The body naturally undulates anyway, and seeks its own more naturally correct timing. This also helps to cure the overkicking. Press the chest and keep the hips up.
2. "Full stop" drill. Float prone with arms overhead, then initiate one stroke by pressing down with the chest, kick, pull, and recover arms to overhead prone float position. Float, regroup, think, and take another stroke. Repeat for a length. I like to follow up with a length or 2 of whole stroke between 25s of drill.
YMMV.
