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.
No, he's definitely right. If you wait until your hands are exiting the water, you suddenly have you hands and your head out of the water at the same time, which is a sure ticket to making your legs drop, which is a really un-hydrodynamic position, which leads to fatigue, which leads to "going vertical" on the last 25 of a race.
... I thought the butterfly breath happened as the hands are EXITING the water on the way to recovery over the water. I'm confused.
What JPEnge said...
But I understand our confusion. I remember so many coaches telling younger swimmers to "breathe in the back" referring to when the hands were finishing the pull. I have had to correct this more than anything else with my younger swimmers' butterfly. I tell them to breathe in the press, or breathe early.
There are also a horribly lot of pictures of butterfliers with hands AND face up for the cameras!
I agree that you shouldn't see tha arms, but the original recommendation seems a little early to me. If you lift your head at the catch it seems like that would prematurely break streamline. I think I lift my head during the power phase of the pull and lower it as my arms are recovering.
Me too. I was thinking about it a bit this morning. When my hands go in, my chest and head are down and my hips are up. My chest and head come up as I begin to pull, and my hips go down. I get the breath by poking my chin forward just a bit so that my mouth clears the water. I do try to get my head back down by the time my hands are by my midsection; but I don't breathe so early that I never see my hands or forearms at all.
I am not a very good flyer, though. I think that good thoracic mobility (front-to-back, not twisting or bending side-to-side) is the key and I don't really have it.
I vote with the majority......almost. I dont so much pick up my head as I use the pull to bring my face out of the water. I am actually starting my press (with chest) as my hands enter, and as the motion moves down into my torso during the early stages of my pull, that is when I lift my head
I agree that you shouldn't see tha arms, but the original recommendation seems a little early to me. If you lift your head at the catch it seems like that would prematurely break streamline. I think I lift my head during the power phase of the pull and lower it as my arms are recovering.
I can't tell from the pictures when he breathes relative to the catch.
This video includes a slow motion clip that shows it quite well. Watch it at the :10 mark:
www.youtube.com/watch
