In Matt Donovan's article from 4-Feb-2019 entitled, "Four ways to make butterfly easier" he mentions when to breath as one of his points. To quote: (CAPS emphasis is mine.)
"Another big mistake that swimmers make is breathing too late. If you see your hands or forearms, you know that the timing of your breath is late. Your breath should be initiated by picking your head up out of the water the instant your hands have ENTERED the water. Your breath should be taken at the surface DURING THE CATCH (the small out-sweep just before the pull) and into the start of the power phase of your stroke. Your head should go back into the water by the time your hands reach the midpoint of the recovery (straight out from your shoulders)."
This seems backwards to me. I thought the butterfly breath happened as the hands are EXITING the water on the way to recovery over the water. I'm confused.
To All,
There is one aspect of fly/*** (the short axis strokes) that has not been touched on and it can be a very subtle point (ourswimmer touched on part of it).
The beginning of the fly stroke is a combination of two things: the catch and the arm/hand press downward/backward coupled with an upward "press" in the middle of the back between the scapulae (the opposite of a "T" press in the other direction). This upward press lifts the upper torso which results in the hips dropping a bit. This makes it possible to "jut" your chin forward (like Phelps) to breathe instead of lifting your head upward which really drops your hips.
Many butterflyers, without realizing it, press downward with their chest AND their arms at the beginning of the stroke. Because their chest is down during the pull, they are forced to breathe at the end of the stroke and during the recovery. This means they see their arms during the recovery. Not a good thing.
I always told my swimmers: when you pull, your chest is higher than your hips. And, it stays this way until right before the arms/hands enter the water to begin the next stroke. BTW, same thing applies to breaststroke. :)
Windrath
To All,
There is one aspect of fly/*** (the short axis strokes) that has not been touched on and it can be a very subtle point (ourswimmer touched on part of it).
The beginning of the fly stroke is a combination of two things: the catch and the arm/hand press downward/backward coupled with an upward "press" in the middle of the back between the scapulae (the opposite of a "T" press in the other direction). This upward press lifts the upper torso which results in the hips dropping a bit. This makes it possible to "jut" your chin forward (like Phelps) to breathe instead of lifting your head upward which really drops your hips.
Many butterflyers, without realizing it, press downward with their chest AND their arms at the beginning of the stroke. Because their chest is down during the pull, they are forced to breathe at the end of the stroke and during the recovery. This means they see their arms during the recovery. Not a good thing.
I always told my swimmers: when you pull, your chest is higher than your hips. And, it stays this way until right before the arms/hands enter the water to begin the next stroke. BTW, same thing applies to breaststroke. :)
Windrath
