The Butterfly Lane

JP has hit on the two things I saw so I will elaborate a bit. If you stop the video about halfway you will see your elbows drop and your forearms parallel to the surface of the water. So two things: Your upper arm is now creating frontal drag and the next part of your pull is essentially down with your hands instead of back to your hips. Try to think of your hands and arms forming a diamond shape with the hands not touching but well within the shoulders. This is your most powerful position, which you can prove to yourself by simply pushing down on a railing or the top of a ladder in the pool, than accelerate back to the hips. The hand speed in fly, like in free, is not one speed but a acceleration under your body. Regarding the kick, try to think of it more as a whip with the feet the tip that goes faster as the whip is cracked. A bit more knee bend might help. If you kick with a board you can experiment a bit on your own. Right now I don't think you are getting much forward push out of the kick. Hi there, Dan! :wave: Thanks for weighing in! You are the first person to ever point that out about my hips at that part of my stroke. I played it frame-by-frame and I now see that! I have been trying to get my forearms in, and I can't figure out why I haven't succeeded, especially since I am a natural breaststroker, and I am much better at that stroke. As for keeping a high elbow, that is physically difficult for me to do, because of the stress it puts on my shoulders. I am unable to keep them high in any of my strokes, because of physical issues I have had with my shoulders in the past that are unrelated to swimming. Today, my husband shot another video of my fly before I read your post. My goal today was to eliminate the kerplunk sound of my kick, smooth out my down kick a bit more, and try to carry my stroke more forward. Here is the result: www.youtube.com/watch In doing so, I felt like I lost even more power in my kick, so I have to figure that out. Next, I will work more on my arms!

JP has hit on the two things I saw so I will elaborate a bit. If you stop the video about halfway you will see your elbows drop and your forearms parallel to the surface of the water. So two things: Your upper arm is now creating frontal drag and the next part of your pull is essentially down with your hands instead of back to your hips. Try to think of your hands and arms forming a diamond shape with the hands not touching but well within the shoulders. This is your most powerful position, which you can prove to yourself by simply pushing down on a railing or the top of a ladder in the pool, than accelerate back to the hips. The hand speed in fly, like in free, is not one speed but a acceleration under your body. Regarding the kick, try to think of it more as a whip with the feet the tip that goes faster as the whip is cracked. A bit more knee bend might help. If you kick with a board you can experiment a bit on your own. Right now I don't think you are getting much forward push out of the kick. Hi there, Dan! :wave: Thanks for weighing in! You are the first person to ever point that out about my hips at that part of my stroke. I played it frame-by-frame and I now see that! I have been trying to get my forearms in, and I can't figure out why I haven't succeeded, especially since I am a natural breaststroker, and I am much better at that stroke. As for keeping a high elbow, that is physically difficult for me to do, because of the stress it puts on my shoulders. I am unable to keep them high in any of my strokes, because of physical issues I have had with my shoulders in the past that are unrelated to swimming. Today, my husband shot another video of my fly before I read your post. My goal today was to eliminate the kerplunk sound of my kick, smooth out my down kick a bit more, and try to carry my stroke more forward. Here is the result: www.youtube.com/watch In doing so, I felt like I lost even more power in my kick, so I have to figure that out. Next, I will work more on my arms!