Not sure how many times I talk about relaxing is a key aspect to becoming a really good swimmer. I have a swimmer who finally it clicked. Butterfly is a gruelly stroke, but when done right, it becomes easy. Knowing how to relax becomes very important to making it easier.
The back muscles must relax for the recovery. The lifting of the chin to breathe forward uses a lot of the upper back muscles. This lift occurs during the pull. As the hand finish the pull and come out of the water the body that you just lifted above the water during the pull, now tilts forward and the back muscles must relax to allow the shoulder to lift up and inward. If you tilt the body downward and continue to keep the face forward the upper back muscles tense up and makes it very difficult to rise the shoulders properly.
So, as the hands exit the water and the body tips forward you must relax the upper back and neck. Gravity will then drop the head (the head is very heavy), no need to force the head down. The shoulder can then rise above the spine and head, and the arms can swing around straight forward without a lot of force.
At the time of the entry, the chest should be pressed down and forward to help pop the hips upward to allow the water under the body to pass, and not create drag by going directly into the hips and lower abdomen.
Some swim Butterfly with a big body undulation that has the hands stay in front for a long glide phase. Many think that this will allow them to keep their arms fresh as they'll be doing less strokes. This is not the case though for butterfly. Reducing the strokes reduces the amount of recovery phases (the time the arms relax and swing over the water). It increases the amount of time that a swimmer will hold their hands above their slowing down and losing momentum in their stroke. The shoulders are working harder in this glide phase than the recovery.
The best thing to do in butterfly in regards to tempo is to maintain a continuous fluid stroke. You can increase tempo towards the end of a race, but do not create the long underwater glide phase. The shoulders will hurt just as bad, and you will be going much slower.
Important part of all strokes, as it is with butterfly, is to be able to relax while swimming the stroke.
worked on some of your ideas with my GOLD group last night. We had been working on this idea the day before. And then I read your blog, which helped move the concept to a more advanced level; and better descriptions to help the swimmers understand the technique. This was very helpful. Thank you. Coach H. (RCA/TNN)
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