Start to Finish Butterfly

with Rich DeSelm, University of North Carolina Head Coach;
2011 World University Games Head Coach;

Improve every aspect of your swimmers' butterfly stroke.

Rich DeSelm uses both above water and underwater videos of two female butterfliers to demonstrate drills for correct body position, breath timing and arm recovery cycles.

Coach DeSelm starts with drills that focus on proper body position from head to toe. Using these drills, you will develop:

• Balanced body position
• Improved core and leg strength
• Better stroke timing and tempo

Incorrect breath timing can put the breaks on forward momentum. DeSelm shows you drills that teach correct breath timing and head position both in and out of the water.

Butterfly requires a fast arm recovery. With these drills, you'll learn how to keep you body from sinking due to a too-high arm recovery as well as how to time arm recovery to your kick.

In addition to these stroke-focused drills, DeSelm breaks down the start, turn and finish. You'll learn how to time your breakout, how to carry stroke momentum into the walls and how to finish strong. Finally, he reviews common stroke errors, like reaching out too far or rushing the catch and how to fix them.

Butterfly can be a challenging stroke without a balanced body position, synchronized arm and breath timing, and a good arm catch. With this video, your butterfly can become easier and more powerful while giving you energy for a faster and more enjoyable race.

53 minutes. 2012.