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.
Hi Allen,
A very subtle point. Phelps is not raising his head. His body is raising up which makes it possible to breathe. The "upward" press and the catch is what raises the upper body relative to the hips which allows the head to surface and breathe.
Beginner swimmer lift their head to breathe instead of breathing when their body position is optimal - which is what Phelps does. By breathing when he does, it does not require extra exertion.
Hi Allen,
A very subtle point. Phelps is not raising his head. His body is raising up which makes it possible to breathe. The "upward" press and the catch is what raises the upper body relative to the hips which allows the head to surface and breathe.
Beginner swimmer lift their head to breathe instead of breathing when their body position is optimal - which is what Phelps does. By breathing when he does, it does not require extra exertion.
