Butterfly - Underwater Dolphin Kick with Pull Buoy

Posted by Barbara Hummel on Oct 27, 2006 10:00AM (17,854 views)

If your butterfly is feeling a little too easy these days - like comfort fly - here's a drill that will get you back on track with a little INTENSITY.

- Pick up Misty Hyman's DVD and watch a great dolphin kick.

One of the best ways to add intensity to your training is to add resistance. In freestyle and breaststroke, for example, you can swim against a tether to add resistance. In backstroke, you can use a pull buoy to do the 'spin' drill, or you can swim or kick with a parachute. For the really tough aquabuffs there are buckets and power racks. What you don't often see, however, are ways to add resistance to butterfly training. If you try to swim butterfly against a tether, parachute, or bucket, your feet get tangled up in the cord. And swimming butterfly against a rack? Fuggetaboutit. Here's an effective way to add resistance to your fly training, and all you need is a pull buoy and fins.

Why Do It:
The buoyancy of the pull buoy adds an extra bit of resistance, and makes you work more intensely with your core. The added resistance of the pull buoy forces you to be super aware of how you position your body in the water. Notice that the swimmer in the video keeps her hands, arms, and head in super streamline. She forms a stake with the front part of her body, and drives the stake through the water using her core and her legs.

The drill also encourages a quick, compact, rapid-fire movement of the core and of the legs.

How To Do It:

1. Grab a pull buoy and push off in streamline. The pull buoy tends to keep your hips high, so you may have to angle downward with your hands and arms to keep your body submerged.

2. Take 4 to 10 quick dolphin kicks underwater. When you need air, come to the surface for a quick breath or two, then drive your body back under for more kicks.

3. You can also try the drill with fins.

How To Do It Really Well (the Fine Points):
Keep your dolphins small and fast, and maintain a steady, even rhythm.

Adjust your front-end body position and streamline until you feel like you're DRIVING your body forward to the other end.

Responses

ATEFW1	Responded Oct 27, 2006 04:09PM it's a good drill but i think that fins are not necessary in fact pullboy is sufficient
sprinter	Responded Oct 27, 2006 04:26PM I took more notice of the feet of the girl- very flexible!!! It's great how she keeps the feet relaxed and uses the maximum this flexibility.
CoachKelly	Responded Dec 21, 2006 10:49PM This is a great drill. One might also think about kicking underwater kick while holding onto a kickboard. I find on some swimmers, it makes them kick harder and use more of their core muscles to keep the board underwater, while performing the kick.
isobel	Responded Aug 11, 2009 11:54PM Better to streamline as in video, with arms tight by ears, or streamline with arms/hands tight behind neck/head? I was told in a clinic that if I was flexible enough I should pub my arms into a streamline behind my head. But I'm not sure this is right. This swimmer really keeps her body in a good position with her arms against her ears.
Glenn Mills	Responded Aug 12, 2009 11:53AM There's always an ongoing argument about this... but you'll have to determine which gives your body the lowest "profile" in the water. If putting your head in front of your arms, causes the head to pop out too far, it's probably creating more drag. If you're very wide through the shoulders and lats, the putting the head between the arms may make that worse as well. So... the answer is in you... and your coach. Figure it out through testing.
isobel	Responded Aug 17, 2009 02:51PM Thanks, Glenn! I tried this drill yesterday (just for a 25; was with a friend who wanted to leave the pool; we were both tired). I couldn't seem to move forward. Hmmm. Will try again today. I need a good kick! And I think streamline by the ears is better for me, so I'm experimenting with that. (Very wide shoulders.) Love this Website! Get lots of good tips and drills from it. Thanks for putting it together, along with Barbara Hummel and others.