How To Swim Butterfly: 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.

It follows Head-Lead Body Dolphin in the sequence of butterfly stroke drills.

Swimming Drill Video

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How to do the drill

  • Push off the wall in a flat position.
  • The face is turned towards the bottom of the pool.
  • The arms are extended to the front and shoulder width apart.
  • Now press the chest and head down a few inches in the water, then release them.
  • When you release the chest, the buoyancy of the lungs should bring it back to the water surface.
  • As you release the chest and head to the water surface, press the hips down in the water, then release them.
  • Press the chest and head again in the water, the hips should come back up to the water surface.
  • Continue this cycle and progress down the pool.
  • Let the legs simply follow the hips in their up- and down motions. The body undulation should simply travel down from the arms through the body to the legs.

Breathing

  • In the beginning, try to simply do a few pulses without breathing.
  • Later on, try to fit in breathing, for example by inhaling every third pulse.
  • Fit in breathing by raising the chest and head further up out of the water. Keep the head looking down and fit in a quick sneaky inhale.

Some Tips

  • As the arms are extended to the front and the body is longer, you should notice that the wave-like motion is slower and feels longer than in the head-lead body dolphin drill.
  • Don't be afraid to use swimming fins in the beginning to get used to the wave-like body undulation. This is especially useful if your ankles are inflexible and it is difficult for you to flex your feet so that they point away from the body. Later on, you can try to remove the fins or try to progressively trim them.
  • There shouldn't be overt kicking in the body dolphin drills. When you swim butterfly, it's the chest and hips that drive the body undulation which finishes in the dolphin kick, and not the other way around.
  • As you press the head down in the water, the nose extend to the front, then returns to a neutral position as the head is released to the water surface.
  • Be patient with this drill, it can take some time to master the wave-like motion.
  • Check out this additional page with body undulation and dolphin kick drills if you still have trouble learning the body undulation.

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