How To Learn To Swim
Butterfly Stroke Swimming Drills

If you want to know how to learn to swim the butterfly stroke, the sequence of swimming drills on this page is all you need!

You can't learn the butterfly by deciding one day to try out the complete stroke and then hope that it will somehow work itself out. The best approach is to learn each part of the stroke separately and then to integrate the different parts one by one until you can swim the complete technique.

That's how the following swimming drills teach the butterfly stroke.

Swimming Drills

Head-Lead Body Dolphin: This is the first drill in the progression of swimming drills to learn swim butterfly. It is a core drill that teaches how to properly do the body undulation and dolphin kick. Because the arms and hands are not used in the drill, the swimmer must learn to properly undulate the body to progress in the water.

Hand-Lead Body Dolphin: To effectively swim butterfly you will need to master body undulations both with the arms at the sides and with the arms extended to the front. Hand-Lead Body Dolphin teaches you body undulations with the arms extended to the front. While doing this swimming drill you will notice that the wave that travels down the body is longer and hence slower.

Slide To The Corners: Slide to the Corners is the next drill in the sequence of How To Learn To Swim the Butterfly Stroke drills. It's an extension of the Hand-Lead Body Dolphin drill. It teaches the right setup of the arms and body in the butterfly stroke just before the arms start to pull.

Stoneskipper: Stoneskipper teaches the underwater pull phase of the arms and the correct timing for inhaling in the butterfly stroke. The drill can be thought of as executing two Hand-Lead Body Dolphins, then executing the butterfly stroke underwater pull, then executing two Head-Lead Body Dolphins and finally sneaking the arms back to the front under water.

Hip-Delay Butterfly: Hip-delay butterfly is a swimming drill that teaches the correct technique and timing to recover the arms to the front in the butterfly stroke. You will have pretty much learned all the skills needed to swim butterfly once you have mastered this drill.

Body-Dolphin Butterfly: You put the arm motions learned in the Stoneskipper and Hip-Delay Butterfly drills together in this drill to execute the complete butterfly stroke as one continuous motion. To avoid struggle, body dolphins are added between each arm stroke.

Easy Butterfly: Easy Butterfly is the last drill in the sequence of How To Learn To Swim the Butterfly Stroke drills. It ensures that you only swim butterfly without struggle, which is important for an effective stroke. You do this by only taking as few strokes of butterfly as you can while maintaining good form.

Learn the Dolphin Kick and Body Undulation: This article contains additional swimming drills that you can try out if you struggle to "get" the body undulation and dolphin kick. It describes drills with swim fins, without fins, at the water surface and under water. It also provides some additional tips for the body undulation and dolphin kick.

Have A Favorite Butterfly Stroke Swimming Drill?

Do you know a great drill to learn how to swim or improve the butterfly stroke? Click here to share it and let other swimmers benefit from your experience!

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Others' Favorite Butterfly Stroke Drills

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One Armed Butterfly  starstarstarstarstar
This swimming drill helps your butterfly technique because it is easier and isn't as tiring as the full stroke so you can do it for a longer time.

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