Learn to Swim Butterfly: Head-Lead Body Dolphin Drill

Head-Lead Body Dolphin is a fundamental drill to learn how to swim butterfly. It lets you practice the body undulation and dolphin kick. The video below shows this swimming drill:

Because you don’t use your arms, you have to use body undulation and dolphin kicks to move forward. Once you have mastered this technique, learning the other parts of the swim stroke becomes much easier.

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Instructions

• Push off the wall.
• Get in a horizontal position, with your face down.
• Keep your arms at your sides.
• Keep your legs close together.
• To begin the body undulation, press your head and chest downward, then release.
• The buoyancy of your lungs will push your head and chest upward when you release the pressure.
• Press your hips downward while you release the pressure on your chest.
• Let the pressure of the water bend your knees as your hips move downward.
• Release the pressure on your hips and press your chest downward again to start a new cycle.
• Extend your legs as your hips move upward.
• The focus should be on moving your chest and hips upward and downward, not on kicking. It should feel as if a ripple moves from your head down to your feet.
• Propell yourself forward using this technique.

Breathing

Practice the drill without breathing at first. Stop to breathe after a few cycles, then start again. Another option is to use a swimmer’s snorkel. It allows you to practice the drill without stopping to breathe.

Add breathing (without snorkel) once you can effectively move forward. To add breathing, raise your head some more when your chest moves upward and take a quick breath. Try to keep the rhythm of the undulation while breathing. Start to exhale when your face is underwater again.

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Some additional tips

• At first, you can use swim fins if you have trouble moving forward. Then as you progress try to get rid of the fins.
• Extend your chin forward as you press your head downward, and release your chin as your head moves upward.
• It can take some time to learn the body undulation, so be patient. Once you have mastered this technique, learning the rest of the butterfly stroke becomes much easier.
• This article features additional exercises to learn the body undulation and dolphin kick.

 Learn to Swim Butterfly – Overview Next Drill – Hand-Lead Body Dolphin