How To Swim Butterfly: Stoneskipper Drill

Stoneskipper is the next swimming drill in the learn to swim butterfly drill progression. It teaches the underwater pull phase of the arms and the correct timing for inhaling in the butterfly stroke. It follows the slide to the corners drill.

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 underwater and restarting the cycle.

Swimming Drill Video

How to do the drill

• Push off the wall in a prone position with arms extended to the front, hands shoulder width apart.
• Execute a first hand-lead body undulation.
• Execute a second body undulation, sliding the arms to the corners.
• Release the chest and start the underwater pull of the stroke with the arms.
• As the arms pull, the head and chest rise out of the water and the chest passes above the arms.
• During the pull, the hands trace kind of a keyhole shape in the water: at first they sweep out, then sweep inwards toward the belly, and finally sweep outwards again until the arms lie in the water at the sides of the body.
• After the pull phase, keep the arms to the sides and execute a first head-lead body undulation.
• Execute a second head-lead body undulation at the end of which you sneak the arms underwater back to their initial position. To do this, simply bend the arms at the elbows and pass them under the body before extending them to the front again.
• Pause, then restart the cycle.

Some tips

• First do the drill while pausing and breathing between each cycle.
• Afterwards, inhale at the start of the pull phase, when the head and chest rise above the water. Exhale in the water.

• Make sure to have mastered the previous body dolphin and slide to the corners swimming drills before attempting this one.
• As always, be patient. You can't learn to swim butterfly in one day. Regular mindfull practice of the drills is the key.

Related Pages

• How to Learn to Swim the Butterfly Stroke: Overview
• Next Drill: Hip-delay Butterfly
• Previous Drill: Slide To The Corners